4. It's Too On-The-Nose
I know, I know, expecting subtlety in a film like this is just asking for trouble, but there's one exchange in particular in The Expendables 2 that just feels one reference too far. During the final action sequence, as Arnie and Bruce Willis duck for cover while reloading, Arnie shouts "I'll be back", to which Bruce Willis retorts that he, in fact, will be back, before running off. Arnie shouts to him, "Yippie kay-ay!", obviously referencing his
Die Hard catchphrase, and when the two resume taking down the baddies, Arnie then says the most cringe-worthy zinger of all... "Who's next, Rambo?" I love referential humour, but by this stage, if Arnie's tongue was poking any further in his cheek, he'd be rewarded with a trip to the hospital. It feels one step too far in what was otherwise a pretty amusing exchange, paying homage to each actor's respective franchises. It took me completely out of the scene when Rambo was mentioned, and though I was amused by the sheer audacity of it, it sort of killed the comic momentum of what was going on. Sometimes less is more.