2. Unique Visual Style
But why has Woo earned this rep? Primarily, it is going to be for his striking and unique visual style which has been copied in everything from Hollywood action films (The Matrix) to popular video games (Max Payne). The "heroic bloodshed" subgenre that Woo fashioned was known for its hyper-stylised - though not epileptic - treatment of violence, turning ferocious gunplay into a balletic cadence that one might even be able to deem artistic. We all know the tropes; the super slow-motion, the shoot-and-dive manoeuvring, the doves flying out of harm's way, and it's all part of the man's personal directorial signature. It is easy to tell Woo's films apart from anyone else's, and it's undeniable that his unique take on the action film would only give The Expendables 3 a more macho, and indeed, more awesome sheen. Given the auto-direction of the previous films, rendered without much personality, Woo would give us that in spades above all else.