Expend4bles Movie Review

Expend4bles (2023)

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Written by: Kurt Wimmer & Tad Daggerhart and Max Adams (screenplay), Spenser Cohen and Kurt Wimmer & Tad Daggerhart (story), Dave Callaham (characters created by)
Directed by: Scott Waugh
Starring: Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox, Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Randy Couture, Andy García
Rated: R
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Plot
Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on, the Expendables are the world's last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table.

Verdict
Did this movie hope to coast on name recognition? How do you make a movie this bad? You could have told these actors to just improvise scenes and it would be better than this. It's appalling how a concept like this is so boring. Even Stallone couldn't stomach this. It seems like a lack of effort, from the uninspiring fights to the poor CGI. The story relies on tropes and scenes copied from other movies. I thought the third one was bad, but this movie wanted to prove it could sink even lower. The longer I watched this, the more irritated I became. I knew this wouldn't be good, but I wasn't prepared for just how bad it is.
Skip it.

Review
The Expendables 3 was disappointing as was the second movie.. Nine years later, I didn't expect an improvement, but I hoped with the addition of Iko Uwais that the fight choreography would take a step foward. That was one of the biggest faults with 3.

Randy Couture, Andy Garcia, Levy Tran, Megan Fox, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Jacob Scipio

This franchise's calling card has always been the ensemble cast, but this movie has less of a draw. While it adds Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais and Andy García to the cast, missing from the last installment are  Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crews, Antonio Banderas, Wesley Snipes, Jet Li, Ronda Rousey, Kelsey Grammer, Harrison Ford, and Mel Gibson. Highlights from the second movie include Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme, also not present in this one. With the cast we do get, the movie doesn't know what to do with them. It's trading on name only.

There's not much of a plot, not that a movie like this needs it. This isn't one you watch for a the plot. This starts with the Expendable crew out to stop mercenaries stealing warheads. There are lots of fights, explosions, gunfire, and blood. This movie really likes CGI blood, but it's frequently distracting due to how fake it looks.

Megan Fox, Jason Statham, and a very obvious green screen

It's really unfortunate how boring this is. They're on a mission to stop World War 3, but it just doesn't matter. We get a few one liners and big punches, but it's all so mindless. There's one boat scene with just terrible CGI. I can't believe something like that made the final cut.

I don't like anything about this movie. It's a complete waste of time. The initial draw of this franchise was seeing 80s action stars in the same scenes. This movie doesn't even include enough action stars for that to be a draw.