The Expendables III

Posted by Itheliving 9 years, 7 months ago to Movies
1 comments | Share | Best of... | Flag

The Expendables III / Rated PG-13 for violence on and off the dance floor.
The original Expendables film was a film that was hoping for box office success based on casting. The story was poor and predictable and the attempts to create camaraderie were sorry. Most of the action sequences were routine at best. Part two was a lot better. There was an element of humor and most of the action sequences seemed better directed. Both films were still in the very average category.
Part three seems to get it all right. The story line has actual surprises. The humor is better than ever and the repartee between the protagonists is actually very funny. The old guys are back and Jet Li is back with limited screen time. Adding to the old guy network are Kelsey Grammer and Harrison Ford. They do not perform any kung fu fighting scenes although HF was reported injured during filming. One of the wheels of his walker came loose. Kelsey replaced Bruce Willis as BW’s financial demands were out of the question. Wesley Snipes joins the group after his escape from prison in the opening scene. A new young group joins the mix. Their action scenes are smart and competent. The lady in the mix is played by Ronda Rousey. RR was a bronze medal in Judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Her physical capabilities and fight scenes are terrific. Her acting is not quite up to that of Trigger‘s.
The film opens with two big action sequences. Then a long middle section when the new young guys are recruited. At this time we find out (no spoiler here as he is seen in the previews) that the evil bad guy Mel Gibson, we thought died in the first film, has returned to life and more evil than ever. He is a wanted man who absolutely does not want to be captured.
The entire film was made in Romania and Bulgaria. Not all over the world as the captioned locations read. The final biggest of all the big battles is truly impressive in its scope, destruction and fight sequences. Throughout, the film maintains a great sense of humor and most of that can be attributed to one person.
The highlight of the film is the addition of Antonio Banderas. He seems to combine the best of his Zorro and Puss in Boots characters into an incredible fighting machine. Also he is a chatterbox and funnier than Abbott and Costello put together. When he enters the scene he seems to dominate the film and bring a needed but missing human element to the macho nature of this series. Although the actors and actresses of the Academy of Arts and Sciences seem to ignore my suggestions, AB deserves to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor. If they don’t do this let’s hope the Stallone led Expendables show up at their next pre-Oscar dinner party. What fun!
Rated 3.5 out of 4.0 reasons if you believe this is the last film in the series you need to spend more time studying box office results.


Add Comment

FORMATTING HELP

All Comments Hide marked as read Mark all as read


FORMATTING HELP

  • Comment hidden. Undo