'The Expendables 3': The franchise should probably end after this film
The Expendables 3聽picks up with聽Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and his loyal roughnecks聽as they rescue an old crew member (Wesley Snipes), to assist the under-staffed Expendables team on what otherwise seems to be a routine mission. However, when their latest job brings Barney face to face with a presumed-dead acquaintance named Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), the operation quickly goes south.
Barney聽is thereafter hired by聽CIA field operative Max Drummer (Harrison Ford) to find聽Stonebanks and bring him in 鈥撀�alive. The Expendables鈥� patriarch decides that he needs some 鈥渘ew blood鈥� for the job and recruits his alley Bonaparte (Kelsey Grammer) to help assemble a pack of younger, more tech-savvy, mercenaries. Can聽Barney and his inexperienced team capture one of the most dangerous war criminals in the world?
The first聽Expendables聽movie was a relatively straight-faced throwback to the popular style of machismo action cinema in the 1980s and 鈥�90s, while聽Expendables 2聽often bordered on being an intentional self-parody (albeit, a rather violent one).听Expendables 3, as directed by Patrick Hughes (Red Hill), aims to walk the line between these dual聽approaches, but goes about doing so in a rather clunky聽manner. The most devoted聽Expendables聽fans聽ought to still get their money鈥檚 worth, but even some of them may be left feeling that the series is just running聽on fumes at this point.
Stallone co-penned the聽Expendables 3聽script with screenwriting duo Katrin Benedikt and Creighton Rothenberger (Olympus Has Fallen), but the story and dialogue is very much in the vein of聽previousExpendables聽films.听The final result聽oscillates, giving rise to unintended camp dramatic sequences (see: the 鈥淪ad Expendables Montage鈥�) and intended comical scenes; it鈥檚 an occasionally schizophrenic, if generally amusing聽mashup.
The big issue, however is that a聽good chunk of聽Expendables 3聽is devoted to introducing and developing the 鈥測oung Expendables鈥� team. As such, the main reason for this property鈥檚 existence largely gets put on the back-burner. Unfortunately, the film鈥檚 fresh-faced stars 鈥� Kellan Lutz (The Legend of Hercules), Glen Powell (The Dark Knight Rises), and real-life professional athletes Victor Ortiz and Ronda Rousey 鈥� don鈥檛 have enough screen charisma (yet) to overcome聽their thinly-painted characters, so they don鈥檛 make up the difference. Eventually,聽The聽Expendables 3聽offers its share of old-school action thrills and fun, yet it has the same problems as its predecessors 鈥� and then some.
Shoddy filmmaking has always been an issue for the聽Expendables聽franchise 鈥� and, sadly, it鈥檚 only gotten worse on聽Expendables 3. Hughes' direction tends to feel聽amateurish; he and director of photography聽Peter Menzies Jr. (The Incredible Hulk) often frame the proceedings in awkward聽closeups 鈥� resulting in a movie that not only has little聽sense of space, but doesn鈥檛 exactly make its aging stars聽look good, either. There are other very basic technical shortcomings as well (poorly-lit scenes, dubious green screen backdrops, and so on).
Hughes, despite this, still manages to stage a handful of satisfying action sequences and keeps the plot flowing at a steady pace, during the buildup to the grand barbecue that is the third act 鈥� one centered around a major set piece that, in many ways, feels like a trial run for the director鈥檚 upcoming remake of聽.听Expendables 3聽comes closest to delivering on its original promise at this juncture; though, due to (again) weak camerawork and slick CGI not being all that well-integrated with grittier practical elements, the final showdown is only just passable 鈥� even聽given the sheer amount of fireworks on display.
Stallone鈥檚 Barney Ross is,聽as in the previous聽Expendables聽films, most compelling when he鈥檚 interacting with his fellow seasoned costars, like Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Terry Crews. However,聽due to the sheer size of the聽Expendables 3聽ensemble, these supporting players get very little聽time to horse around聽with one another. That said, Harrison Ford and Wesley Snipes make the most of their glorified cameos; Ford does his crusty grump act, while Snipes hams it up as a merc who鈥檚 been locked away too long (and yes, there is a meta-joke about his time in prison).
Similarly, it鈥檚 fun to watch Mel Gibson chew the scenery as the film鈥檚 main villain (he even gets to monologue), while Kelsey Grammer likewise brings just the right amount of self-awareness to his role. Antonio Banderas also shows up, playing a wannabe Expendable who often comes off as the Rob Schneider to Stallone鈥檚 Judge Dredd 鈥� in ways good聽and聽bad. Once again, though, it鈥檚 Arnold Schwarzenegger who seems to be enjoying himself the most; armed with a wink in his eye, Arnold鈥檚 clearly quite content to riff on his legacy, wield some heavy artillery for a bit, and then call it a day.
When all is said and done, though,聽Expendables 3聽is a mixed bag. It doesn鈥檛 really work as a passing of the torch (nor does it satisfy as the promised聽鈥渙ne final ride鈥�) and the craftsmanship of filmmaking is still under-whelming. At the same time, there are still enough macho old-timers having a good time and blowing stuff up to make the whole movie perfectly watchable -聽especially if you can never get enough of this kind of popcorn entertainment. However, it might be for the best if Sly and company do, in fact, call it quits聽on the聽Expendables聽movie franchise after this third installment.
Sandy Schaefer blogs at .
