‘The Expendables 2’ shoots to thrill, but comes up short

We feel the same way about The Expendables 2 as we did about the first The Expendables film. It’s an okay way to spend 102 minutes but, if there was just a little less bloodshed and a bit more character development, we’d like it more. The film seems like a good vehicle for an ensemble cast (think Oceans 11 but with action heroes), but director Simon West (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Mechanic) emphasizes explosive shoot-outs and hand-to-hand combat over a real plot, character development or dialogue. The flick largely plays on big action scenes and our positive memories of these action heroes in their past films.

The movie predictably opens with a scene in which the mercenary men must rescue a hostage. Led by Barney (Sylvester Stallone), the group defies all odds in saving a Chinese businessman from a group of terrorists (and stumbles upon an old friend in the process). But the guys can’t bask in the glory of their accomplishment for too long. They barely return home from their trip when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) employs them to retrieve a package from a safe that’s in a plane that crashed in Albania. Church sends Maggie (Yu Nan) with them and tells Barney he’d better babysit her and make sure she stays safe. She, of course, is “combat-ready” and doesn’t need any TLC.

The guys get the goods from the safe but another mercenary, Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme), intercedes and makes them give up the package, which turns out to be blueprints for a Soviet plutonium mine. Vilain then kills young sharpshooter Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) in the process. Barney vows revenge and he and his burly crew head to the Soviet mine to find Vilain. A bloodbath predictably ensues with Barney and Vilain squaring off in a brutal fistfight.

The film features a few good one-liners, especially when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chuck Norris appear in cameos. But the best acting comes courtesy of Jason Statham, our favorite modern action hero. Statham plays second banana to Stallone, who mumbles so much we could barely make out what he was saying half the time. Again, we give kudos to this concept; we just wish it could have been better executed.