I thought that the first Expendables was great, but The Expendables 2 is the best movie in the franchise so far! It took what was great about the first movie and made it even better! I have probably watched this movie ten times since it was released back in 2012 and it is a movie that never gets old for me.
How to Stream or Download The Expendables 2 (2012)
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The Movie Review
While Stallone still had a hand in the script, he would not handle directing duties for the sequel. Instead, Simon West, probably best known for Con Air would be the person in charge and he truly did an amazing job. The first Expendables was known for its action hero ensemble cast, but The Expendables 2 takes it to a whole new level.
We get the majority of the core cast of characters back from the first movie and that is great. However, it is the new additions that are awesome, Chuck Norris and Bruce Willis are here, with Willis taking the leadership role of the squad. However, the two I was most excited about being added to the movie were two of my ultimate heroes as a kid!
If you have seen the movie, you know who I am talking about. The Expendables 2 added Jean-Claude Van Damme as villain Jean Vilain and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench a man with a rocky relationship with Bruce Willis’s Church. I was so pumped for Van Damme to be added to the movie, he by far is my favorite 80s and 90s action star and I always felt it was a shame he would not do the first movie, but he more than makes up for it here.
The cast is truly awesome! I think that one of the things that The Expendables did very well, was to add some awesome new talent to the series, but not at the expense of it being over-bloated like the third movie did. I feel that pretty much everyone here gets their moment to shine and feels meaningful in some way.
The plot this time around is way more fun! One of The Expendables is killed by the ruthless Jean Vilain and he has a weapon that can devastate the world. He is also the leader of a rival team of badasses called, The Sangs. The Sangs are like the evil mercenaries that are willing to do whatever it takes no matter who gets hurt, to get the job done and score a payday.
There is still a ton of awesome action in The Expendables 2, but one area where I think the movie greatly improves is with the humor. I am not saying that this is a comedy or anything like that, but you do have that funny charm many of the 80s and 90s action movies had. It never feels forced and it just makes this a much more fun movie to watch than the original.
As you can tell, I love The Expendables 2! It is the best out of the three movies by quite some margin for me. I would probably put this pretty high on my list of greatest action movies of all time actually! If you love action movies, you have to check this out, but make sure you watch the original first!
