Hey folks, Harry here with another look at the screening last night, this one the most positive of the three we've received - and more in tune with what we're seeing from Talkbackers that were there and the other online posters like Mr TurkeyLegs. It seems Sly has really made a throwback to the 80s action genre, which was what he was aiming for. Here ya go:
Hey Mr. Harry, Ever heard of a little movie called THE EXPENDABLES?!?! Well, I did, and I swore I would never return to Chatsworth unless I had a good enough reason... Last night, Sly gave me 7 -- Rourke, Crews, Couture, Stallone, Statham, Li, Lundgren!!!! These are the guys who make up The Expendables, a group of merceneraries hired to overthrow an evil dictator (David Zayas from Dexter) and his crew of thugs (Eric Roberts, Steve Austin and assorted soldiers in black face paint). If the plot sounds simple to you -- it is. You walk into a movie like this expecting to see ACTION and CAST, and I have to say, I saw some of the most famous action stars of our time sharing the screen and killing baddies in ways I never even knew possible. Here are my thoughts on the film. I've never posted anything like this before, but I've only ever been to completely shitty advance screenings before (LAND OF THE LOST anyone?). THE CAST: We all knew this film had the greatest action stars of all time in one film together, but I was worried coming in that there wouldn't be enough screen time / dialogue to make the film feel meaty... Safe to say, Stallone has written a script that gives plenty of bits to every Expendable. Obviously, Statham is the winner here as the knife expert. His character (the badass with a heart) is played perfectly and his fight scenes are absolutely amazing. Trust me, you will look at knives with a newfound respect. My second fave was Mickey Rourke, the tattoo artist of the gang, who acts as the wise sage throughout the film (think: The Wrestler but with guns instead of elbow drops). Jet Li definitely has the comedy throughout the film, playing "the little guy" as he shows everyone what's what... Lundgren was a bit of a miss for me, but only because I couldn't understand half the stuff he was saying. Terry Crews and Randy Couture both fill in their roles excellently (esp Crews, the ammunitions expert, with his magic bullets). Stallone -- He's in virtually every scene as the ringleader, but I was impressed by how he kind of hangs back and lets all of these other great action stars play out their roles. As for the bad guys, obviously Eric Roberts is pitch-perfect evil incarnate. He was born to play a bad guy. Steve Austin is a solid block of beast. (There's a fight scene in a tunnel at the end of the movie where he just Won't Go Down.) David Zayas from Dexter surprised me as the dictator, although I could've done without the beret. I think the biggest news, aside from all of these BIG NAMES, were 2 guys that I didn't even know were fully confirmed for The Expendables -- ARNOLD (The Governator) and BRUCE WILLIS. They have a hilarious scene together that's very tongue in cheek. I'm really surprised Arnold was in this and said the things he said. (I won't spoil the dialogue.) It just made the entire film come together in a really unique way. THE ACTION: Aside from THE CAST, blood is what we came to see, am I right?? Having seen all of the Rambos and really admired Rambo 4, I would label the action as a throwback to the vintage 80s actions movies we all know and loved (First Blood comes to mind). Obviously, Sly is no James Cameron – and he doesn’t care to be. This isn’t a film you watch with 3-D glasses on. This is a throwback to the pre-special effects days and I found that jarring at first – What, a movie with no blue people?! – but as the film went on, I was cheering and pumping my fists with the rest of the crowd. As for specific scenes, there are a number of memorable ones that I’m sure we’ll be dissecting for ages – Statham on the basketball court, the explosion on the dock, the tunnel fight and especially the extended climax at the end (where nothing and no one is left standing). At the end of the day, I really admire what Sly has done here. He’s always had this ability to write strong character-driven stories. What makes The Expendables unique is that there are at least 10 compelling characters to follow… Here’s hoping there’s a sequel! Signing off, PewPewPew
Then the talkbacker, PVTHUDSON wrote this:
By pvthudson My wife and I went last night and loved it, as did the rest of the crowd. The movie was Sly's love letter to 80's action. An island drug lord! Cheesy banter during tense moments! Ridiculous explosions! Bad one-liners! Saving the girl! If you go in expecting a genre-redefining movie, you'll be disappointed. But if you go in with some friends, some popcorn, and just looking to have fun, you will. And you'll remember just why we all love those silly action flicks in the first place. Nothing struck me as incredibly unique about the overall cinematography, but there were several cool parts which had their own character - a 'thermal vision' action scene, a gritty black-and-white car chase, and a great fight in underground tunnels where each Expendable gets to show off their unique style while setting a new record for broken bones in a single scene. The Sly/Bruce/Arnold scene was great - very funny and very surreal. Arnold looked about 10 years older than Sly, but not bad. If you are hoping for a scene like Arnold & Carl Weathers' handshake in Predator you'll be disappointed. It's all just dialog, though quite funny. The biggest problem was that the crowd was laughing/cheering so much after a key line that the next several lines were lost.
