Hollywood's Not So Expendables

It's no secret that deep down inside I'm a 12 year old boy, and while watching The Expendables (2010), that 12 year old boy was going crazy. Initially I was skeptical of the film, because even the actors had described it as Sly getting a bunch of his buddies together and creating characters for the purpose of making a film where they blow stuff up. As much as like Sly, Rourke, and Li, that just isn't enough to get me in the theater...now I wish I had gone to see it in a theater. The explosions were great on my laptop screen (played from a DVD, not downloaded), but they just weren't as epic as they would have been on the big screen.

I should have expected more from this film, knowing that Sly was involved in the writing and then directed the film, considering that I am such a die hard Rocky fan (except for IV, I hate that one). The writing was witty at times, even though you need to have a fairly well rounded knowledge of action movies to get the jokes, and it respected the fact that this was an action film, not a drama. The dialogue was often times minimum, which was nice because it wasn't the center of the story. The one scene that did have a lot of dialogue was well acted by Stallone and Rourke, and avoided getting too overly dramatic. It got to the point, developed some character, and helped us realize that the purpose of the violence was not money or saving a country, it was saving a single person, a woman, and let's be honest, there is nothing sexier than a man going after a woman. You can say you're a feminist all you want, but at the end of the day, a guy that stands up for a woman is going to go home with her on his arm. There is just something in our nature that compels us to go for these men. Which brings me to my next point, this film was so full of testosterone that I think I may have started growing a beard halfway through watching it. There are people getting shot to pieces (tastefully), bones breaking, dudes busting other dudes balls, and two women becoming the center of conflict between men. Many of the conversations were witty pissing contests when the men weren't trying to one up each other with their fists or their weapons. Even the gag reel exudes the overwhelming testosterone that fuels this film. This isn't a bad thing, just something I felt the need to point out.

The way this film was shot also complimented the story. There were some interesting focus adjustments during shots, but it work somehow. The camera movements and effects (like the use of fast shutter speeds) made the fights seem more intense and dangerous. The lighting was also very interesting with pools of shadows placed very strategically, reminiscent of film noirs. It was at times a bit novice, often times lacking a simple eye-light, which could have been an artistic choice, or just a mistake, either way it probably won't be noticed by anyone that hasn't sat through class after class with a teacher obsessed with perfect lighting. And the grainy quality of the film was just beautiful. Although it was very unflattering for the beat up skin of the aging stars, it was honest about their age and made the characters much more real.

I won't say The Expendables was a perfect film by any means, it definitely had it flaws (unrealistic scenes, gratuitous violence not always motivated, and sometimes obviously CGI violence), but it was fun. It got my heart racing a little, made me laugh, and let me know that my favorite action stars are still alive and kicking. The movie accomplished its goal of getting every overly buff Hollywood star from the past thirty years in one movie where lots of things blow up, and still maintained some dignity.