A group of mercenaries is hired to infiltrate a South American country and overthrow its ruthless dictator. Once the mission begins, the men realize things aren't quite as they appear, finding themselves caught in a dangerous web of deceit and betrayal. With their mission thwarted and an innocent life in danger, the men struggle with an even tougher challenge -- one that threatens to destroy this band of brothers. Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) is a man with nothing to lose. Fearless and void of emotion, he is the leader, the sage and the strategist of this tight-knit band of men who live on the fringe. His only attachment is to his pickup truck, his seaplane and his team of loyal modern-day warriors. His is a true cynic who describes what he does as removing those hard to get at stains. The team behind him is made up of Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), former SAS and a savant with anything that has a blade; Yin Yang (Jet Li), a master at close-quarter combat; Hale Caesar(Terry Crews), who has known Barney for ten years and is a long-barrel weapons specialist; Toll Road (Randy Couture), a skilled demolitions expert and considered the intellect of the group; and Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), a combat veteran and an expert in precision sniping who struggles with his own demons. When the mysterious Church (Bruce Willis) offers Barney a job no one else would take, Barney and his team embark on what appears to be a routine mission: overthrow General Gaza (David Zayas), the murderous dictator of the small island country of Vilena and end the years of death and destruction inflicted on its people. On a reconnaissance mission to Vilena, Barney and Christmas meet their contact Sandra (Giselle Itié), a local freedom-fighter with a dark secret. They also come to learn who their true enemy is: rogue ex-CIA operative James Monroe (Eric Roberts) and his henchman Paine. When things go terribly wrong, Barney and Christmas are forced to leave Sandra behind, essentially giving her a death sentence. Haunted by this failure, Barney convinces the team to return to Vilena to rescue the hostage and finish the job he started. And to perhaps save a soul: his own.

REVIEW

“The Expendables” is getting a huge response from audiences everywhere, but let me be frank when I tell you that it’s a mindless action based film. There’s no major plot or mind-blowing scenes. It’s simple but filled with lots of action. This movie has a lot of big named actors but it never reached that big WOW. Not to mention that Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger basically make a four-minute non-action cameo. It’s as if Stallone cast these two so that he could grease their pockets and use their names to promote the film. You also don’t get to truly experience the fighting skills of Jason Statham, Jet Li, and Stone Cold Steve Austin the way you may be anticipating. Sure they have some fighting scenes but it’s limited. Stallone is both the director and star of this film so we get plenty of him as a Rocky and Rambo. Overall “The Expendables” was the second coolest action film of the Summer but it didn’t blow me away. While it’s still worth the full price of admission you can win bigger if you catch it as a matinee or as rental on Blu-ray/DVD. ~Dana Da Designated Hata® aka Nobody’s Fan®