3. Versatility
Though Woo is best-known and most-applauded for his work in Hong Kong cinema - more often than not teaming with the likes of Chow Yun-fat - he has demonstrated a certain versatility in his later years, as he moved to Hollywood and continued to work as a commercially successful - if not critically acclaimed - action director, delivering the likes of Broken Arrow, Hard Target, Face/Off and Paycheck. Given the cast of The Expendables is primarily American, it's important that Woo has worked with American action stars, both so that he can cope with their massive egos and the super-stardom, and that he is better in tune with the American myth of the action hero; as such, he is extremely well-equipped to know what American as well as Asian audiences want. Having worked with Jean-Claude Van Damme (who played the antagonist in EX2 himself), alongside hugely popular Hollywood stars like Ben Affleck, Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage and John Travolta, Woo knows what he's doing, even if he hasn't reached the heights of Face/Off ever since (at least in American cinema).