Film: The Expendables 2

Sylvester Stallone and the gang return and this time their mission is personal.

While carrying out an assignment for Mr Church (Bruce Willis) the team encounter Vilain (Jean Claude van Damme) with fatal consequences for one of them. Barney (Stallone) immediately vows vengeance and so begins the pursuit of Vilain and his feared militia.

The Expendables 2 opens with a mega-violent rescue and then goes directly into the next mission which results in the revenge scenario. No time is spent on character development and the film suffers greatly for that.

Little is seen of Statham and the first movie’s show-stealer Dolph Lundgren. In fact, with the notable exception of Van Damme (who proves he can still deliver on the big screen), there was hardly any need for the supporting cast. This felt very much like a Stallone film, which in itself is no bad thing, but the original was such a good ensemble piece that I expected more of the same.

It is pretty cool to see Bruce Willis, Big Arnie and Chuck Norris get involved in the action but all three spend most of their screen time sending themselves up, which is ok the first time, but after four or five “I’ll be back” type quotes it begins to grate.

This sequel does deliver on a strictly action level. The fight between Stallone and Van Damme is fantastic and every 80’s action film fan’s dream come true. Let’s just hope that if there is an Expendables 3 a bit more effort goes into building on the good work done in the original.

The Expendables 2 is in UK cinemas now.

Ric’s Rating: Good.         

Film: The Cold Light Of Day

When Will Shaw (Henry Cavill) joins his family on a sailing trip off the Spanish coast he thinks his lost luggage is the biggest worry of the trip. Little does he know he’ll soon be fighting terrorists and shady government agents as he attempts to locate missing family members.

Will heads ashore on a shopping trip but when he returns to the boat it’s like the Marie Celeste. Turns out that Will’s Father (Bruce Willis) isn’t the above board businessman he pretends to be and his actions have brought the bad guys to his family.

This is a typical “ordinary guy caught up in extraordinary events” type film but it’s so over the top that even fans of the genre will be disappointed.

The presence of Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver doesn’t help. Willis isn’t on-screen enough and Weaver was decidedly ill-advised to take this part, she looks completely out of place as the ruthless CIA agent.

Ridiculous and unintentionally funny this one isn’t worth anyone’s time and how it got a UK cinema release is beyond me.

Ric’s Rating: Poor

Film: Surrogates

In a world where people live their lives via robots that look like an enhanced version of themselves (Surrogates), Bruce Willis (Hudson Hawk, Moonlighting) plays a cop attempting to track down a weapon powerful enough to kill the Surrogates and their human “operators”.
All the humans are older and uglier than the Surrogates that take their place in society and they exist in their houses strapped into a kind of virtual reality world.
All a metaphor for people spending too much time on-line of course.
James Cromwell (Babe, LA Confidential) plays the inventor of the Surrogates and his son is the first victim of the killer who puts the super weapon to use.
The robot version of Bruce Willis is a bit creepy to look at but Rhada Mitchell (Pitch Black) as his partner is easier on the eye and competent in her robotic role.
Human Bruce Willis soon steps in to sort it all out and it takes him a bit of time to get used to being out in the world again as he recovers from a personal tragedy while leading the investigation and also attempting to re-connect with his wife.
Reasonably enjoyable without being fantastic, this is recommended for fans of I,Robot.

Rick’s Rating: 50%