The Hype: The third installment in the hit franchise throws Harrison Ford, Antonio Banderas, Kelsey Grammer, Wesley Snipes and Mel Gibson into the mix alongside Sly, Statham, Arnie and co...as well as a group of young Expendables we've never heard of. Oh, and it's rated PG-13 too. The Reality: OK, so like Turtles, there was a decent level of skepticism over the movie's family-friendly rating, but we still expected director Patrick Hughes to be capable of delivering an entertaining if bloodless action flick. The result? Not so much. Though Banderas and Snipes pretty much run away with the film on their own, the action sequences are woefully uninspired, the lack of blood is both irritating and distracting, and the banter just doesn't seem as fun as in previous installments. It also doesn't help that Harrison Ford looks as though he wishes he was anywhere else throughout. As for the young Expendables? They mostly have no personality and far too much screen time is devoted to them, while the pic itself runs at least 20 minutes too long. At least we get an entertainingly demented Mel Gibson villain performance, even if his final showdown with Sly is a total cop-out.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
