7 Reasons John Woo Should Direct The Expendables 3

6. He'll Make It Go the Distance

If Woo's back catalogue is anything to go by, then he probably couldn't make a short film to save his life. If anything, the existing Expendables films really lack that "epic" feel because they're just too damn short, running in at 103 minutes a-piece (so that's about 95 minutes without credits). The run-time wouldn't be so much of an issue if brisk thrills were the order of the day, but EX2 in particular is steeped in far too much downtime, in which the characters gas over cheesy gags, rather than just getting on with the mayhem (almost 45-minutes goes by in EX2 without a proper set-piece in the film's middle section). Woo, however, clearly lives for excess and his films rarely clock in at much under 120 minutes, especially his Hollywood ones. Sure, we can joke that this is because he films so much of it in slow-motion, but you're guaranteed to get your money's worth and a story that doesn't rush itself when Woo is at the helm.
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Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.