Papa Vinyard here, and I got somethin' for ya...
Well…we saw half of this coming. We have word from various outlets, including The Wrap and Entertainment Weekly, that Mel Gibson and Antonio Banderas are 100% confirmed to be a part of Sly Stallone's next EXPENDABLES outing. Mel Gibson was heavily rumored to have been signed on as the villain for a while now, but this is the first I'm hearing of Banderas' involvement. He had been in talks to resume his Miguel Bain/Robert Rath ASSASSINS interplay on the last go-around (probably for Jean Vilain, right?), but for whatever reason, backed off until the second sequel. As to who he's playing, no clue yet, but my fingers are crossed that he's not another villain of the week, and that he gets to play around with the dream team of badasses more than once.
While the casual observer may not be aware of Banderas' action-movie cred, knowing him mostly from stuff like his so-so ZORRO movies and PUSS-IN-BOOTS (or even his Almodovar work), but I'd proclaim his work in DESPERADO to more than qualify him for this roster. That flick, which maybe stands alongside FROM DUSK TILL DAWN as my favorite of Robert Rodriguez's filmography, turned EL MARIACHI into a double-fisted gunslinger in the Chow Yun-Fat mold, a task that Banderas proved to be wholly capable of. His character was unique in that he was mentally (his love interest was killed right in front of him) and physically (the murderer shot off his guitar hand) vulnerable, and ended up needing stitches and recuperating time after each gun battle. It'd be cool to see someone more comfortable with losing their shit in the heat of battle fighting alongside the oh-so-macho crew that Sly rolls with on these flicks.
And obviously, Mel as the villain is excellent casting. With these guys, Ford, and whoever else Sly gets to sign on, I don't think anyone's missing Bruce Willy too badly out there, am I right?
EXP3NDABLES are gonna nail BRAVEHEART's ass to the wall on August 15th, 2014.
-Vincent Zahedi
”Papa Vinyard”
vincentzahedi@gmail.com
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