Expendables 3

I read a lot of bad reviews about this film, attacks on the script, plot and direction, so I was pleasantly surprised to find they were all wrong and they totally missed the point. I think these people were expecting Oscar winning performances but this film is about watching bad guys getting their a*s kicked. I also read that the actors seems withdrawn and bored of their roles and that is utter rubbish, and even if that were true it doesn't matter, im not interested in deep characters and meaningful performances in films like this, I just want to see lots of destruction and the bad guys getting owned.

There's some funny dialogue here and there and Banderas' character had me smiling a lot.

If you like action films you will enjoy this action romp, so ignore those bad reviews and grab yourself a bucket of popcorn and enjoy.

Aging mercenaries portrayed by aging action stars team with younger mercenaries to battle an international arms dealer (Mel Gibson) in a poorly written, badly shot and cut, muddled mess of an action film - the third entry in the series/franchise/action hero seniors tour begun by Sylvester Stallone (already having milked his Rocky & Rambo franchises for remaining crumbs) in 2010 with a decent first entry.

A pirated copy of this third entry was leaked online (by someone who WILL be caught and dealt with) in late July predating the August 15th, 2014 official theatrical release which is why the derision has come so fast and furious in advance. Millions have already downloaded it and spread the word about how bad it is and in particular how bad the younger actors in it are. It is also why box-office receipts won't be very impressive. Plenty have already seen it and told others not to bother.

MMA fighter Ronda Rousey, who portrays Luna - one of the young mercenaries, is sure to be nominated for a Razzie as 'Worst New Star' for her acting. I've seen better acting from Tough Actin' Tinactin. But that will inevitably be part of the draw of the movie. Audiences will want to judge for themselves if her acting is as terrible as they have heard.

Since words can't fully describe (but I'll try) how bad Rousey's performance is they won't be ready for what they see. Her characterization is composed of rolling her eyes, shaking her head and squinting in an insipid characterization given by an irritating, crass and unattractive individual with no previous acting experience.

They should've got Gina Carano if they wanted an MMA star. Gina is way cuter, her MMA comes across better on screen and she is a passable actress.

The gimmick upon which the first two Expendables movies built an audience was this 'family reunion' style casting of old action movie stars. But producers were driven to lock-up a newer audience demographic. Going younger and cheaper whilst bringing in new blood may have seemed like a good plan at first but the adverse results are plain to see.

Mel Gibson is the best aspect of the film. He could always act. But his scandalous, offensive outbursts and history of violence add all the necessary subtext for him to become Hollywood's premier villain and tack 20 more years on to his career if he does it right. This is the perfect role for him and he milks it for all it is worth. The screen comes alive when he is on it which unfortunately isn't for very long.

The remainder of the older action stars in the cast give performances as tired and sad as you might expect. Schwarzenegger inspires more pity than Harrison Ford. Antonio Banderas with his over the top acting is nearly as bad as Rousey. Bruce Willis should count himself lucky he was left out of the mix. Wesley Snipes? Let's not even go there.

Whether it is botox or just aging Stallone looks like a toy action figure left too close to a radiator. Yikes!

Jet Li is among the action stars billed but is barely on screen for 5 minutes.

Okay fine The Expendables franchise isn't a complete failure in my eyes, this is by far the best one and three movies in shows potential.

First of all I want to address a point. I've long since complained about the state of a world where it's highest paid people are actors, singers and sports people. Though I'm a movie obsessive I'll never deny that they are offensively overpaid and Expendables 3 demonstrates that with the absence of Bruce Willis. They tried to get him back in a small capacity, just 4 days work and offered him 3 million. 3 million dollars for 4 days work! In response, he demanded 4 million and they decided to cut him loose. So think about this, a man being paid more for a days work than a minimum wage worker is likely to make in their entire life! That ladies and gentlemen is the world we live in.

Anyway I digress.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that The Expendables 3 entertained me but it certainly had its moments. The action was marginally better than the previous two films but it's saving grace was the cast. No I'm not talking about the same guys who have been phoning it in for the past two movies, I mean the newbies. Antonio Banderas stole the movie, he was brilliant. Snipes delivered like I haven't seen him do so in years and despite all the criticism I think Rousey did a great job as well.

So fine, it's not the big action blockbuster to end all action blockbusters but it blows the previous two movies out of the water. With a great villian, the new cast and a good lengthy finale it's passable stuff.

The Good:

As much as it pains me to say, Mel Gibson

Antonio Banderas & Ronda Rousey

The Bad:

Robert Davi was wasted

Still mindless cliched stuff

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Every person on the planet without any formal training can wield any type of firearm like a professional

The moment Gibson was outed as a bigot, he started doing bad guy roles and nailed it every time

I genuinely want to know if it's possible to attain/maintain a physique like Stallones without steroids

Countless explosive shells fired from tanks at a building rigged with explosives won't set them off

Disguising yourself as a bad guy complete with helmet without your allies knowing you're doing it in a full assault situation makes perfect sense

The second was mildly enjoyable, the third time it's tired, the attraction has lost any charm and they still haven't figured out a way to create a sense of world. Terminator, Lethal Weapon, all these films created their own world. Even Cobra had a home to come back to, that marvelous Venice beach apartment next to the Pepsi logo where he forked pizza with a knife.

There's absolutely none here. There's an action plot with actors mouthing their lines when they have to, then on to the next scene. Willis is swapped for Ford but it's again the same thankless plot function of a few minutes. Arnie hovers around in spots - he says 'choppa'. A few amusing scenes with Snipes and prison. And the action mechanics are completely slapdash, overall it feels like the second album after reunion of old heavy metal stalwarts, still polished but all the passion has gone out a long time ago.

Banderas is the only one who manages to charm and that's because he's the only one written with a tiny smudge of life - a screw loose because of what he witnessed.

Greetings again from the darkness. Whether you saw the first two in this series will directly correlate to whether you head to the theatre for this third entry. The filmmakers' attempt to attract a younger audience by adding a "new" crew and dropping to a PG-13 rating backfires, and will not provide the legs this franchise needed for more installments.

The regular old geezers are back: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Jet Li (briefly), and Arnold Schwarzenneger. In addition, we get new "old" blood in the form of Antonio Banderas, Kelsey Grammar, Wesley Snipes, Harrison Ford, and the dominating presence of Mel Gibson as the bad guy. The young blood comes in the form of Kellan Lutz, Glen Powell, boxer Victor Ortiz, and MMA superstar Ronda Rousey. The blandness of the newbies simply steals valuable screen time for the old folks, and the movie suffers because of it.

The film's biggest flaw, however, comes with the biggest screen hog of all-time: Mr. Stallone. We understand that this is franchise is his baby, but why field an all-star team if you won't let them play? Snipes gets some time early in the film, replete with a reference to his real life prison sentence for tax evasion, and Ford and Arnold get in a few shots, but the only savior here is Mel Gibson. It's a reminder of just how good he can be on screen ... if we could just forget what a horrible person he can be off screen.

There is no need to go into detail on the plot or describe any of the characters. You know what you are getting if you buy a ticket. It's just a shame the film's direction and script aren't at the level deserving of a cast that includes: Rambo, Mad Max, Blade, Conan, Han Solo, Hercules, Zorro, The Transporter, He-Man, and even ... Sideshow Bob!