The Expendables 4

I am a big fan of Stallone's movies and Statham too. So, consequently I love the first two Expendables. Great action masterpieces. Third one was bland because a great mistake: PG-13. Then we got this abomination that has nothing to do with the spirit of the Expendables movies. I don't know how to start but I'll try.

First, the Fx's are horrible. Why? The movie has the graphics of my PC from 1996. I mean VGA level. How is it possible to approve an action movie that looks so cheap?... Stallone's action movies are always great in action, Fx's and choreographies. What happened here?...

Second, the cast looks more tired than my grandmother, she is 92. Dolph Lundgren is excusable because his illness, but what about the others?... Anyway, I can keep going but it is not necessary. If you love the first two Expendables just watch it again. Avoid this cr@p. The franchise is absolutely destroyed.

The Expendables in its conception was all about paying homage to action blockbusters of the 1980s & 1990s. Boasting an ensemble cast of action stars of former decades, it was a delight for all the action aficionados out there and it worked with a simple premise & minimal setup. It worked for a couple films but considering its latest entry, this franchise is in desperate need to be put out of its misery.

The 4th entry in the series, Expend4bles is as lazy & lacklustre as any action film can get and is horrible from start to finish. I'm fairly convinced there isn't a single set piece in the film that was practically constructed, for nothing looks remotely convincing on the screen & the VFX is simply atrocious. The plot is not even barely serviceable, is downright predictable, and even the actors (both reprising & new) look tired.

..... I was underwhelmed. I wasn't expecting much and it delivered on that. Tony Jaa was one of the best parts of the film. As a character.

The action is what you'd expect. Fists, feet, guns, knives and explosions it was however more visceral than the previous three and whereas I like action, I don't care for violence. When it feels like it's more about shock and less about adrenaline, I check out mentally.

The humor was more juvenile than I care for also. Not all of it. But a few key moments was like "Who wrote this, Judd Apatow?" (the answer is no. Actually very decent writers including ones who wrote Equilibrium.) The cast was all over the place. I get adding Iwo Kuwais and Tony Jaa. But 50 cent, some random Spanish kid, some odd Asian chick and some second random bad guy just don't fit into who this series was for and about. And it's GLARING what they should've done different.

They added Andy Garcia which is a nice old blood touch but come on. He's not Mel Gibson, JCVD, Bruce Willis, etc level .

Megan Fox ... I really like her. I've liked her in many things. But... Not this. Her intro is so shrill it's difficult to care about her later. And she's under about 15lbs of makeup. And you still wonder about more established female action heroes that could've been used. Charlize Theron? Scarlett Johanson? Kim Basinger? Uma Thurman. IDK.

I kinda don't care if they make a part 5 and as hard as this bombed, I'm sure they probably won't.

This sequel nearly a decade in the making clearly isn't made for long-suffering fans of this franchise, as most of the iconic cast barely has any screen time. The title should've been "Jason Statham and some of the Expendables."

And this also isn't made for people who like dumb cheesy action movies, as this movie plays it completely straight most of the time, rarely allowing campiness to show.

It also isn't made for people who like slick, cool action movies, as director Scott Waugh continues this series' streak of having directors who can barely string a coherent series of shots together to tell a story. Nearly every shot looks cheap and the progression of events is clunky as hell.

Woeful incompetence is how I'd describe most of what's seen in this film. It truly has some of the worst special effects I've ever seen put to screen. And it still cost $100 million.

So, I ask again, who is this for? Whose idea was it to make an action sequel that will appeal to absolutely NONE of its potential audiences?

If it weren't for the fact that this movie does have a half-decent third act and one impressive fight scene, I'd be saying that this is easily the worst of these movies.

But it's a contender for that title, and even so, I can still say this is one of the worst action movies I've ever seen in theatres.

A film that should have been better, but unfortunately had a mediocre director.

Not everything in the movie is bad, but overall this could have been a great movie.

Well, let's start with the good stuff:

Jason Statham works well in an action movie as usual. Stallone is in his element, although it would be better if he was a little more in the film. Iko Uwais is not bad at all as a villain and he is a good addition to the film. Andy Garcia is also a good choice for this movie. The rest of the team is mostly good, with a few exceptions, some should have maybe gotten a little more time in the movie.

And now, the bad part:

The biggest problem with this movie is the mediocre director. If they had a better director, this film could have been great, it turned out to be just tolerable, and that's because most of today's film production is garbage.

There is too much "shaky camera" that makes every movie look worse than it really is. Such scenes simply look cheap.

The CGI looks pretty bad, which is odd considering this isn't a cheap movie, but a bad director made it look cheap.

The film lacks that real cinematic look, I don't know if it's because of the type of camera, so everything looks too artificial, it doesn't have the look that older films had, where everything looked monumental. This looks like a documentary, with ultra-sharp resolution, and yet it looks cheap, as if we're looking through a window.

Basically, the director is the worst thing about this movie, everything else is not nearly as bad, not even some really hilarious casting choices.

In the end, the film could have been great, it turned out to be just another mediocre film, and it's sad that even as such it is better than most of what "modern film production" offers us today.