The Fate of the Furious Review (Audio Edition)

Howdy ladies and gents, time for another film review and today we’ll be talking about another one of the big films of 2017; Fast & Furious 8 aka The Fate of the Furious… However this time it’ll be in audio form via my podcast, Film Focus!

Check it out below:

This episode went out last Saturday and I was meant to post about it on my blog last week, however I got a little too busy so I had to wait until now. I probably won’t do a written review so this will be the only review I do for this film, hopefully you find it informative and fun to listen to as it allows me to express my feelings on a film to the highest degree. Also if you have any feedback or suggestions I welcome them so be sure to holla at me in the comments section.

You can find my main site on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/film_focus

Or if you’re on iTunes subscribe and rate me on there: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/film-focus/id1114233892?mt=2

So if you have some spare time on your hands and would like to listen to the ramblings of a passionate/strange man then please check it out, and share it with your friends if you can. Also you have any feedback or if you’d be interested in joining on future episodes be sure to let me know, until next time, laters! 😀

 

Furious 7 Review

Howdy people of the internet, today I am here to review a film I’ve been waiting to see for AGES, I am of course talking about Furious 7. After the good times with Fast 6 in 2013 I was ready for the next film especially after secret ending with frigging Jason Statham showing up as the villain. So now we have the seventh chapter in this crazy series that just can’t die and it promises a lot of fun, action and drama. Is it good or bad? Read on and Find out!

The story is as follows:

“Dominic Torretto and his crew thought they left the criminal mercenary life behind. They defeated an international terrorist named Owen Shaw and went their separate ways. But now, Shaw’s brother, Deckard Shaw is out killing the crew one by one for revenge. Worse, a Somalian terrorist called Jakarde, and a shady government official called “Mr. Nobody” are both competing to steal a computer terrorism program called God’s Eye, that can turn any technological device into a weapon. Torretto must reconvene with his team to stop Shaw and retrieve the God’s Eye program while caught in a power struggle between terrorist and the United States government.”

The story was good, this is a tale of drama, revenge, family and remembering who your are and what you stand for. This film changes its style again becoming more of an action thriller with spy elements, and that in turn gives this film a bit more realism and familiar codes and conventions. For the most part things were fun, cheesy and emotional, though I feel like this story did get a little too busy and too melodramatic at times. That being said what I appreciated the most was the way in which this film incorporated the several elements from all of the previous films and put it into one film, and it really is fun for long-term fans of the series. If this was the last film in the series then it would have been a great ending because it is ends in such a lovely way.

Now when it comes to the cast, these actors continue to give us some good performances with nice chemistry and plenty of charisma. Firstly Vin Diesel as Dom Toretto was great, the guy is still the cool badass we’ve come to expect, but is also very caring and determined. And Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner was also good, this time his character has a little more depth to him with him adjusting to life as a parent. Walker nad Diesel have such a great connection as long-term friends/brothers and you can tell that it expands beyond the films into real life because of their good chemistry. Walker’s performances have never been of the best quality, but I would say that this is my favourite in this series, it is kind of hard to watch knowing he’s not part of this world anymore so it was nice to see him in another fun film. Oh and the send-off Walker got in this film, beautiful. Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs, wow. While Johnson wasn’t used as much as he was in the previous films, when he was on-screen he had some of the best lines and fight scenes. I loved him. But now its time to talk about Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw. Man, these days I love Statham, while his roles don’t vary much, he knows how to be charismatic, fun and badass and this has to be one of his best roles in a while. He is a threat, can fight against the toughest men and unlike some of the previous villains I feel like Statham was an actual threat that had good motivation for his actions and he was always in the thick of the action.

Michelle Rodriguez was once again good as Letty Ortiz, Rodriguez was more fun and charismatic this time around and seeing her intact with Dom and get stuck into action was awesome. Plus, Rodriguez looked incredible, I almost fell in love with her all over again. 😛 Once again he have some good times with Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris as Tej Parker and Roman Pearce. They have good banter and are mainly there for comic relief, though there was a little more for both of them to do. Tej got a little more action time, while this film established that Roman was clearly the joker of the group, he’s a fool, but a funny fool for sure. Kurt Russell as Frank Petty was someone who I got a lot of fun from in terms of his dialogue and persona, he was both serious but also humourous. And finally Jordana Brewster was good as Mia Toretto, Nathalie Emmanuel from Game of Thrones was pretty and good as Megan Ramsey, Djimon Hounsou was unexpected, but good as Jakande and Tony Jaa was totally badass as Kiet, such a badass with his martial acts.

When it comes to the presentation this films continues to deliver the goods as it is frigging awesome. By now you’ve come to expect the over-the-top, crazy and unrealistic action sequences and this film gives you more of the same, except MORE HARDCORE! If you’ve seen the trailers you know what I’m talking about. There are people falling out of the sky in cars, surviving explosions and falling from high distances, crashing cars through skyscrapers and so much more. It is absurd and I love it. The filming of the action is done in more intricate ways than before with more variety in the cinematography and an increase tracking shots especially when it comes the hand-to-hand fight scenes. They are wonderfully shot and had some shots that reminded me of Kingsman: the Secret Service if you look at the way some of the shots are framed. The soundtrack by Bryan Tyler is once again very good offering up a film score that’s energized, powerful and yet soft in the emotional moments.

In conclusion Furious 7 is great, it continues the momentum from the previous two films again with cars, beautiful women, chaotic action, one-liners and fun performances from the cast. James Wan has done such a great job at taking over the reigns as director, he gets the look and feel of this series right and continues to fuel the fire aggressively. Sure the film is ridiculous, over-the-top, and a bit messy at times, but the pros outweigh the cons for sure, and for fans of the series, you owe it to yourself to see this, it is hella good.

Rating: 8/10 (It’s over-the-top fun at its finest yo)

So have you seen Furious 7 and if so what do you think of it? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop them in the comments below and I’ll see you lot on the next film review, laters! 😀

 

Furious 7 Trailer #1 Review

Howdy ladies and gents, time for a new trailer review and today I’ll be giving you my thoughts on the latest film in the Fast & Furious series, Furious 7.

Check out the trailer below:

So my immediate thoughts after seeing the trailer? Cool, I’m down, gimme.

This trailer doesn’t hold back on the crazy, over-the-top stunts and action sequences that this series has been known for since 2009 with Fast & Furious 4. I mean the first scene involves Dominic Toretto and his crew, in cars, driving out of a plane, landing on mountain side road, then rescuing a girl from an armoured van with guns and Brian O’Connor escaping the same van as it falls off of a cliff and grabbing on to a moving car after jumping. If that doesn’t sound of look inside then I don’t know what is. It is ridiculous, but it is the kind of ridiculous action that I like.

So in seems like the theme of this film is revenge. New villain Ian Shaw (Jason Statham) lost his brother to Toretto’s gang, so he’s taken Han-Seoul-Oh from them and now both sides want a piece of the other. I like stories involving vengeance, it also adds an extra layer of tension and drama to any genre and it works here because of the personal connections that each character has to said person. I can see that Teretto and Statham are gonna butt heads at some point and I can’t wait.

Beyond that it looks like the trailer is ready to give you exactly what you’ve come to expect from this series, with drag racing, fancy cars, lavish locations, hand-to-hand combat, firefights with guns, pretty ladies in skimpy outfits, themes of family and Dom’s crew being targeted by some form of law enforcement. I can see that there is a lot of Paul Walker in this trailer, so I assume that he filmmakers want to give him the best farewell possible and show of the man’s skills one last time. Also we have your standard cool Vin Diesel moments and Dwayne Johnson looking all muscular and badass and Jason Statham looks like he’ll be making some big waves in this franchise which I can’t wait for. It is montage of madness, but it is looking so delightfully slick, stylish and chaotic and I’m actually really liking the way this film looks and I want it now.

In conclusion Furious 7 looks like more of the same except with different locations, stakes and the addition of Jason Statham. If this film is half as good as the trailer suggests then I’ll be having a good time with this film next year. Fast 5 and Fast 6 took this film series to new heights and has shown that series has a fire in its belly that hasn’t gone out yet and I can only hope that this film follows in their direction.

So what do you lot think of the first trailer for Furious 7? Are you down with it or not? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to leave them in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next blog post, laters! 😀

 

The Expendables 3 Review

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen and welcome to another film review, today I will be doing my review on one of the last films of the summer I’ve been looking forward to, The Expendables 3. Now the first film when it came out in 2010 was a nice bit of fun and the sequel just got crazier and a lot more campy too, but was still hella fun. So here we are two years later with third film which brings back the main cast along with even more established action heroes and some new faces too. So does it succeed or is this film overkill of this series of films? Well read on and find out!

The story can be summarized as the following:

“Leader of the Expendables Barney Ross augments his team with new blood for a personal battle: to take down Conrad Stonebanks, the Expendables co-founder and notorious arms trader who is hell bent on wiping out Barney and every single one of his associates.”

I thought the story was good for the most part. In terms of tone this film kind of meets somewhere in-between the first and second film where it is kind of serious and kind of campy. The story isn’t anything special and as a tale of revenge with people of the past coming to back to cause havoc it isn’t going to win any points for originality. That being said the story was solid, had a reason for being and was better than the first film’s overly dramatic tone. The humour is definitely on display throughout and while some of the jokes fall a bit flat, most of them are pretty good with nice banter between team members and the nice self referenced. This film was probably the most modern influenced of this series of films as it not only takes on a younger set of mercenaries but also take into account how technology helps with tactical-based scenarios. Now whether I like this film more so than Expendables 2 remains to be seen as I haven’t seen it since 2012, but now I like this one better.

As for the cast they’re just as good as they have ever been, but some clearly stand out more than others. The best people in this film was Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas and Mel Gibson.

Firstly Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross is pretty much the same as he was before, he’s big, gets the most screen time and while his speech is still hard to comprehend at times, the man still knows how to move for a man in his 60’s and gets the job done when it comes to action. Then there’s Wesley Snipes as Doc who I was so glad to see back on the big screen, the guy was totally charismatic and funny and I liked his banter with his other comrades, while there wasn’t too much martial arts from him, what action scenes he did were pretty cool. Antonio Banderas as Galgo was such a riot, the dude is primarily there for comic relief, but he stole every scene was in because he talked so much and was so over-the-top. And Mel Gibson as Conrad Stonebanks, damn he was cool. Gibson hasn’t been in many big films recently, but seeing him in this villain role really makes me want to see more of him. Stonebanks is your typical cold, evil and humourous bad guy that enjoys taunting and toying with his enemies and Gibson was clearly having fun with this rle which I loved.

The rest of cast are decent, Jason Statham is still badass as Lee Christmas, Dolph Lundgren as Gunnar Jensen and Randy Couture as Toll Road are fine and Terry Crews as Hale Caesar while in a smaller role was still kick ass. I enjoyed Kelsey Grammer’s appearance as Bonaparte, the man didn’t do very much but he had some cool and moments with Stallone and some of the new recruits. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench takes on a smaller role than the last film but is still awesome in several of his scenes especially when it comes to his dialogue. Poor Jet Li as Yin Yang, the dude barely got any screen time at all, the character was pretty much wasted. Harrison Ford as Max Drummer was cool, this is the most movement I’ve seen from him in recent films, he was fun and intimidating. Oh and shout out to Glen Powell as Thorn and Ronda Rousey as Luna (she was gorgeous and badass).

When it comes to the presentation The Expendables 3 is pretty good. Just like the previous films the action comes thick and fast and comes in the form of mainly fight fights, some hand-to-hand combat and big action set pieces with various vehicles and explosions galore. That being said some of the action wasn’t as special or memorable as what has come before, also annoying is the amount of CGI used in the film as it is so obvious when it’s used and it really takes me out of the film. As for the soundtrack, Brian Tyler comes back to score the music and it is pretty much more of the same, nothing that memorable but not too shabby. The music works for the film and elevates the action-based scenes.

In conclusion The Expendables 3 is possibly the best of the Expendables films in my opinion, while the laughs aren’t always there and the CGI is still pretty, I feel like this is the most consistent and cohesive of the films with a good balance between campiness and seriousness and when the action goes down it is totally chaotic. Any fans of these classic action stars should be satisfied with the film, it may not have the nostalgia factor or originality from the previous instalments but it is hard to deny the fun that comes from seeing some of these actors together on-screen having a good time.

Rating: 7.5/10

So have you seen The Expendables 3 and if so what did you think of it? Well that’s been my review ladies and gentlemen, hopefully you enjoyed and drop me a comment, let me know what you thought of the film. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

Homefront Review

Howdy ladies and gents, time for another film review and today’s second review will be on the latest Jason Statham film, Homefront. This was a film I was interested in seeing because the trailer looked cool, but then I heard the film wasn’t received that well in the US so I was thinking about giving it a miss. But since I wanted to watch something new in the cinema I decided give the film a chance. So was it worth the watch? Read on and find out!

The story in the film involves DEA agent Phil Broker (Jason Statham) sees his quiet family life turned upside down when his path crosses with a band of drug traffickers, led by Gator (James Franco), a meth kingpin.

In truth I had expected more from the plot, the premise sounds interesting enough, but the execution is kind of messy and had a lot of unnecessary baggage with some side characters. There are a lot of basic action thriller elements that this story follows. I think this may have something to do with Sylvester Stallone’s screenplay which feels like some average kind of thriller that I’d expect him to be in. But in truth the plot didn’t insult my intelligence that much and I like it just for the amount of action and the main story surround Broker and his daughter. Though I swear this is just a film to remind people about how badass Jason Statham is, like if there was a tagline for this film it’d be like: “I’m Jason Motherfuckin’ Statham bitch!” or “Remember the name, I’m Jason Statham bitch!” Haha! 😀

When it comes to the cast their all pretty good, none of the performances are overly incredible, but it’s not really bad so it serves the film’s story just fine.

Let’s start with Jason Statham as Phil Broker, in truth you’re not gonna find much difference in Statham’s performance then any of his previous films, however I feel unlike his older action films from the mid-2000’s in recent years we’re starting to get some roles for him with a little more substance to it like this film and Hummingbird (aka Redemption). But let’s be honest, we just watch Statham films to see him kick some ass and he does PLENTY of that in such a stylish and sexy way that it more than makes up for any failures in the story. And then there’s Izabela Vidovic as Maddy, Vidovic is new to the acting scene and I feel like she leaves a good impression. She can handle herself well, she’s likeable with decent range of emotions and I liked Vidovic’s scenes with Statham, they definitely had good on-screen chemistry.

James Franco as Morgan “Gator” Bodine is a strange one, firstly that accent is so weird coming out of his mouth, but other than that he’s an okay antagonist though he’s not that smart and not as calculating as he could have been. Winona Ryder as Sheryl Gott was pretty decent, Ryder I forgot was even in this film until I saw it in the cinema, but yeah her role was one of a simple yet some degree of importance and Ryder did fine. Kate Bosworth was great as Cassie Bodine, she was one of those redneck, loud-mouth, unbearable kind of people to be around and Bosworth played the role well and this was a right transformation from the that time she played Lois Lane in Superman Returns right?

Frank Grillo as Cyrus Hanks, this was my first time seeing Grillo in anything before his upcoming role in the next Captain America film and while this isn’t a good film to just his acting skills off of, I thought he was intimidating and cool in his role. Rachelle Lefevre as Susan Hatch was alright, all I really recall about her was how pretty she was. Finally Clancy Brown was pretty cool as Sheriff Keith Rodrigue, this was my first time seeing him in a live-action role because most stuff I’ve seen with him is animated because of his voice acting work.

In conclusion Homefront was a lot of fun, while it wasn’t as unique as I had hoped and there were definitely story elements I could have done without. However this was a good time in the cinema for me with Statham just showing off how many guys he can mess up in a film, and I would recommend the film just on the fact that the action is nicely choreographed and violent, good stuff.

Rating: 7.5/10 (Just some kick ass fun with Jason Bloody Statham, yeah boi!)

So what did you think of Homefront? Did you like it or hate it? Also what do you think of Jason Statham films in general, leave your thoughts below yo! 😀

 

Hummingbird (Redemption) Review

Alrighty then now we’re getting back to reviewing normal films in the cinema after all those superhero film reviews, thank god because I haven’t seen anything new for a little while now. Annoyingly I saw this film around two weeks ago but due to my house moving and lack of internet I haven’t gotten around to doing my review until now, darn that thing called life! 😛 Anyway today we’re talking about Hummingbird, the latest film starring Jason Statham.

Story involves Joey Johnson, a homeless and on the run from a military court martial. He’s a damaged ex-special forces soldier who eventually starts navigating London’s criminal underworld and seizes an opportunity to assume another man’s identity — transforming into an avenging angel in the process.

I thought that the story in this film was interesting. I had seen the trailer for this film prior to watching it but didn’t really know much about it so I was pleasantly surprised about how deep it was. Joseph’s overall tale has elements of which I have seen before in other films, but here it is done in a way just about unique enough to separate itself from other film I’ve seen. However the overall story is bit questionable and lacks cohesiveness with a few too many things going on at times and some matters that don’t get the right amount of focus. Also there are points where the pacing really slows done and gets kind of tedious.

As for the characters, well even though there are a good few people in this film, there’s only about two people you’ll remember afterwards and that’s Joey and Christina. Jason Statham as Joseph ‘Joey Johnson’ Smith, was awesome. When Jason Statham is doing his ‘Jason Statham’ thing it is totally badass, he’s intimidating, badass, cool and not a person you should fuck with. But it was also interesting to see try a little more dramatic stuff that required a bit more emotion and for that I applaud him, it was certainly different and while it may not work for everyone I enjoyed what Statham done with his role. Agata Buzek as Sister Cristina, was alright. Buzek’s character was clearly a love interest for Joey from miles away and while I would her kind of annoying at times because or by-the-books Christian nature she was a lot more fun when she let her hair down and was more playful.

Christian Brassington as Mike Forrester, was a right cruel character and he played his role nicely. As for Victoria Bewick as Isabel,she was okay but since her character wasn’t in the film as much as I had hoped I didn’t really get a chance to get attached to her character. And lastly I also want to give a shout out to Benedict Wong as Mr Choy, I thought he was pretty cool.

When it comes to the presentation I thought it was cool. Visually the film is very good offering interesting forms of lighting, cinematography and nice choices if colour in certain scenes especially at night. And while the soundtrack by Dario Marianelli sounds a little over-the-top at points it works for the most part and his score elevates the scenes in which they’re used in.

In conclusion Hummingbird for me is pretty good film, I thought that the performances were good and it was nice to see a Jason Statham film where its not just all action and no substance. While the film’s story doesn’t quite reach the emotional impact that I think it wishes to and the pacing can be very slow at points, I’d still recommend this film.

Rating: 7.5/10 (While not cohesively great it is still a good watch in the cinema)

So have you seen Hummingbird and if so what are your thoughts on it? Whatever they are drop them below and let me know. Until next time people, laters! 😀

 

The Expendables 2 Review

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen and welcome to another film review and today’s review will be of the action sequel to The Expendables, The Expendables 2!

So it is the latter half of the summer with only a few weeks separating us from September and the eventual return to academic life for us students, but before that comes around it looks like the summer film season will keep us entertained at the cinema for quite some time. And so enter The Expendables 2 and I’m just gonna let you guys know right now… This film was great, just a load of fun from start to finish. Not perfect by any means, but still better than some of the other films I’ve seen in the cinema.

Back in 2010 we had The Expendables, a crazy action film full of explosions, hand-to-hand combat scenes and loads of firefights. It was film that summoned several of the big action stars of the 80s into one place with a few new faces to fight alongside them. The cast including Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Gary Daniels, Randy Couture, Jason Statham, Terry Crews, Steve Austin and two cameo appearances from Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. While it received a mixed reception it was commercially successful and I think most people who weren’t hardcore critics enjoyed the film. So then fast forward to 2012 with the action sequel which has more stars, action and explosions and to be honest it is so much better for it.

Story

The story of this film is as follows:

“The film follows The Expendables, a mercenary group, as they seek revenge against Jean Vilain, a rival mercenary who murders one of their own, and threatens the world with a deadly weapon.”

While there was a plot in the film, like the first film it is overly important, though it is a bit better than the first film in the sense that it doesn’t drag as much and feels a little more relevent to the characters involved. Though the plot’s only there to give the characters a reason to run and gun and blow things up. It does annoy me a little bit that action films these days can’t have a good or smart plot, but for this kind of film I’ll let it slide because it’s just fun to watch. Within the plot there are references aplenty, the script for this film is funny. Humour seems to be the aim of the game for this film and it works. Heck, if it can work for The Avengers then why no The Expendables 2? There are some lines that each of the action stars are given which are hilarious throwbacks to their previous films, whether they were visual or audio references, they worked very nicely.

Characters

This film boasts an impressive cast that in a lot of ways is even more impressive than the last film. While you have Stallone, Statham, Lundgren, Li, Couture and Crews returning, you also get Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger coming back in much more substantial roles. And then add into the mix Liam Hemsworth, Yu Nan, Scott Adkins and finally the awesomeness that is Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris and you have film full of badasses!

So much badassness in one area!

Seeing all of these cool people in one film was just grand. Stallone I still applaud him for continuing to do these action films and showing us even though he’s old, he’s still kicking! Jet Li’s fight scenes in this film were a hell of a lot better than the last film, so tight and so brutal! Terry Crews who I am a massive fan of was great in this film, delivering funny lines, battle cries and just being a badass in general. Statham had some great fight scenes too and newcomer Yu Nan had some awesome scenes herself. I also loved Van Damme in this film, he was so cool, so calm and awesome as the villain. Then there’s the awesomeness that’s Chuck Norris, I wasn’t sure what to expect but he was just utterly cool, pure and simple, I loved every second he was on-screen. And then there’s Arnie the frigging Terminator!!! Just seeing him in any scene I was hyped, while he’s a little stiff (granted because he’s old), he delivers some funny lines and when you see him walking and shooting stuff I swear it was like watching him as the T-800 all over again, I loved it!

With a film that has such a huge ensemble cast, there were moments where it felt like some characters didn’t get as much screen time as others and while it’s not as bad as X-Men 3, some characters do get lost in the background.

Presentation

When it comes to action The Expendables 2 was just full of insane amounts action! It was pure and utter chaos and I loved it. The fight scenes were well-choreographed, the fire fights were so insane to the point where it looked like a crazy online game of Call of Duty and all of the explosions were great. I can’t explain why the all of these crazy scenes and action sequences were so good, but when they happened I just got a great level of satisfaction from watching all of the carnage. So much brutality, death and destruction and yet it was so good to watch, maybe it was due to all that testosterone and epic manliness. Also the soundtrack by Brian Tyler is decent too as it fuels all of the badass action on-screen and borrows the main theme from the last film and while it’s not overly memorable it still sounds good.

In conclusion The Expendables 2 is one hell of a film. It’s unashamedly loud, proud, cheesy and doesn’t take itself seriously and it all works. Seeing all of these action stars running around and fighting each other, shooting things and blowing stuff up was just so much fun. I was enjoying myself throughout. While the film wasn’t as amazing as I thought it should have been and certain stars didn’t get as much screen time as they should have done. The Expendables 2 is still hella fun and I recommend to all people just wanting some summer fun at the cinema.

Also with talks of a third film in the works, it seems like these kinds of films are here to stay! Just add Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Vin Diesel, Steven Seagal, Mel Gibson and Wesley Snipes (if he can get out of jail) and that’ll work for me.

Rating: 7.5

Well that’s been my review ladies and gentlemen, hopefully you enjoyed it. Be sure to drop me a comment and let me know what you thought of the film. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

Films I’m Looking Forward to in 2012: The Expendables 2

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to another instalment of Films I’m Looking Forward to in 2012 and today’s blog post will be on the upcoming sequel action film The Expendables 2.

Now out of all of the films coming out in 2012 this may be a strange choice. I mean most of the films I have posted about before have had a lot of great aspects about them and have genuinely got me and a lot of other people in the world excited to see what comes out of them. But now we have The Expendables 2 and in a way it does sound like a bit of a questionable film that may be fun and action-packed, but beyond that it may not hold up.

This is the crazy film that started all of the madness and it’s hella good! Just pure entertainment.

Anyways let’s go back to the first film. Back in 2010 we had The Expendables, a crazy loud and proud action film with a 15 certificate staring an immense cast including Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Gary Daniels, Randy Couture, Jason Statham, Terry Crews, Steve Austin and two cameo appearances from two of the most legendary action stars in cinema; Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I mean damn the cast was massive and immense and there was a lot of testosterone and epic manliness in that film. While there was a plot in the film, to be honest the point was irrelevant, it was only there to give the characters a reason as to why they wanted to run and gun and blow things up and boy did they do a lot of that. The Expendables was a film of just insane amounts of action and chaos from the fight scenes to the fire fights and all of the explosions that took place over the course of the film. While the film’s story was a bit weak and the actors won’t get awards for their performances in the end it was just a fun summer movie for fans of the 80s and 90s action films of yesteryear. The Expendables opened to mixed reviews from critics and casual film-goers, it also wasn’t the perfect action film that so many had hoped for and there was a good few action stars missing from the cast. However, it was still a commercial success at the box office and loads of people were talking about this film in the summer of 2010 and I watched it in the cinema when it came out and I thought it was awesome fun. So much brutality, killing and explosions, good god I loved it, though the film did drag and lacked a lot of great action sequences, it is all made up for by the last third of the film which is just a massacre of destruction. Beautiful, beautiful destruction. And so now 2 years down the line its time to summon these action stars back in a sequel, but this time with additional help…

Enter The Expendables 2 which boasts a cast that in a lot of way is even more impressive than the last. While you have Stallone, Statham, Lundgren, Li, Couture and Crews returning, you also have Willis & Schwarzenegger coming back in much more substantial roles! You also have the addition of new cast members Liam Hemsworth, Yu Nan and Scott Adkins too. Then add into the mix the awesomeness that is Jean-Claude Van Damme and the legendary badass of badassness Chuck Norris!!!! And then its like the film has become a completely different beast entirely. And again like last time there are a good few people missing from the cast like obvious choices Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Vin Diesel and Steven Seagal to name a few. But Stallone has his reasons for his casting, so I can’t argue with that, plus if there’s a third film then these other action stars may make an appearance.

Three badasses of action films finally together again to kick some ass in The Expendables 2. This should be fun 😀

In terms of plot it does sound familiar, but also inviting. Just have a read at the Wikipedia plot summary here:

After taking a seemingly simple job for Mr. Church (Bruce Willis), the Expendables find their plans going awry and one of their own is brutally murdered by rival mercenary Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme). The Expendables set out into hostile territory — with their new members Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) — to put a stop to a deadly weapon and gain their revenge against the villain who killed their brother.

Sounds like a simple plot about revenge and for this genre of film it works. One just has to wonder if this film will be either as good as the original or better (which it really should aim to be)? I hope that this film will build upon the foundation of the last film by using its cast effectively throughout the story and action scenes and sequences. I also seriously hope Jet Li will get more screen time and more opportunities to show off his proper martial arts skills. I hope all of the fights has interesting and impressive choreography and that the fire fights play out well and have some kick ass explosions! Personally I think the cast will pull through, I mean you have Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis & the epic return of Arnie the frigging Terminator!! This film has to be at least decent to watch. Either way I’m just excited just to see all these action stars come together and create some chaos! In summer 2012 The Expendables will return and kick some ass in this sequel, let’s hope that it was worth the wait.