4 Sequels Better Than Their Names Suggest

4. The Expendables 2

What the first Expendables showed, even more than that letting a meathead like Sylvester Stalone call the shots is a terrible idea, is that just having people you fondly remember all together doesn€™t make an entertaining film. For some reason, however, it does make a box office success, at least to the level that makes a sequel seem like the obvious progression. It seemed like a terrible idea and the irritating Orange advert playing in cinemas for the past few months seemed to cement that.

Yet, with a different director and an increased sense of humour the film actually turned out OK. The action is not as incomprehensible as you€™d expect from your standard blockbuster and the plot doesn€™t feel either too much, or too lightweight. I€™m not saying it€™s a good film, but it has a charm that a lot of modern actioners lack. In amongst the strained attempts at giving characters humanity (Jason Statham€™s fiancé) and plain stupid moments (the theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly playing when Chuck Norris appears) there are some cracking one liners and knowingly hilarious action set pieces €“ any scene with Willis and Schwarzenegger will leave even the biggest cynic with a smile on their face. Essentially, this is the film that the first promised to be; a modern homage to the over the top action of the eighties. This may be the only film on the list that isn€™t particularly remarkable, but it€™s certainly better than it€™s been given credit for. Though unless they can get Clint Eastwood on board, let€™s not have an Expendables 3.