The 3rd instalment of this testosterone-heavy franchise improves on its predecessor in at least one way: it capitalizes on its stunt casting, giving Gibson, Ford, Snipes and Grammer actual roles to play. Their screen time is brief, sure, but after all the guests in part 2 were seemingly pushed into shot, handed a gun and told to wing it, it’s nice to see them get some stuff to do in this one.
Ok, Schwarzenegger and Jet Li are pretty wasted, but they get to shoot a lot of people and goof off a bit. Oh, and Antonio Banderas turns up, seemingly finding it all hilarious and proceeding to chew massive amounts of scenery. On top of all that there’s a new batch of Expendables as well as the old ones, and, yeah, things get a bit overstuffed.
There is something dazzling about seeing all these action icons on screen, and it’s pleasant enough to kill a few hours watching them bro out. This despite the weird tone that has the Expendables talking to each other in a way that suggests they’re joking, without actually saying anything funny.
This instalment is mostly free of onscreen blood, a measure taken to secure a PG13 rating in the U.S. There is ample carnage though, with one scene seeing our heroes casually slaughter an entire army.
So, it’s another helping of uber-violence and genial horseplay, an uneasy mix that has become The Expendables‘ stock in trade, and remains interesting mainly for the presence of all those famous, grizzled faces.
‘The Expendables 3’ Movie Times
