Expend4bles

When they first showed the trailer for "Epend4bles" back in June I quickly got my hopes up since it looked like a genuinely fun time at the theater. Well, the trailer did its job of bringing me to the theater but the film did not do THE job! Oh, and before I begin with anything else I have to say that this title is fucking bad. Who came up with the idea of replacing the "a" with "4". Anyways, "Expend4bles" follows the Expendables who get called on a mission when all other options are off the table. But the new team members, with new styles and tactics, are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.

Let's start with what makes this movie so boring and bad! For starters, the story was generically predictable and had minimal stakes which confused me since this is an "action" movie. Earlier this year, "John Wick Chapter 4" set the bar really high for action films, and "Expend4bles" failed to execute a fraction of what John Wick Chapter 4 did and that says a lot about the direction here. Scott Waugh did a poor job at directing and editing this film 'cause this editing gave me a headache and made me want to leave the theater. The quick cuts, the abrupt and illogical opening, and how the film was structured left me wondering if there was any logic behind the editing itself. With every badly edited film comes shortcomings which was seen here. There's a clear lack of tension in those scenes due to how boring and uninspired it was. This brings me to the choreography. I will admit that the choreography was nice but how it was shot and edited made it look cheap and poorly choreographed. On that thought, the film was visually poor. In other words, it looked like shit! The obvious Green Screen replacements and the CGI did not sell the illusion that was intended by the filmmaker. Moreover, the score used here felt generic and did not add a layer of coolness to those action sequences. 

Last but not least, I would like to talk about the performances here. Statham gives his best on-screen and despite his best efforts, his character never shines due to the poorly written script. Stallone was okay and loved his presence on screen. Garcia on the other hand felt like he was phoning it in which made for an okay-ish performance. Furthermore, and while I greatly appreciate that Iko Uwais was in this film, his character did not feel menacing enough to make a strong villain. Finally, I would like to discuss the R rating. I hate to say it but the R rating here is not well utilized and I think it's due to the lack of practical blood. Nearly every kill has CGI involved which ruined the immersion and my enjoyment of the R rating. Overall, I cannot recommend watching "Expend4bles" in theaters. I would wait for a digital or a physical release to experience the film but even then, I wouldn't think that this film will be worth your time.