The Expendables 2

So tonight, I saw The Expendables 2. I figured, I watched and enjoyed the first one, why not check out the second one. That, and I was obligated to see a movie tonight (seriously, it's kind of part of my employment), and it was the only one I was interested in that was on during the designated time slot.

So, in I went. Sadly, the theatre I was at is an old style theatre, with the barely sloped seating, not so crisp sound, and old style (non-digital) projectors (Which projector is better? That's a debate for another time). Despite all of the theatre's flaws, I had a good time.

Now, let's be honest: The Expendables 2 (and the first one) isn't exactly a movie to make you think. It's an action movie, plain and simple. And it does action very well. There are enough cheesy lines, one-liners and impossible feats to please any action genre fan. In fact, the movie quite obviously realizes that it's an action movie, and makes fun of itself, and its actors, throughout. Actors use one-liners from previous movies, steal each others one-liners, and comment on the shear number of 'action stars' abound.

But, I have to say I think my favourite part was the 'inside' jokes. Things like commenting on Gunner's (Dolph Lundgren's character) past. Like Dolph, Gunner has a Masters in Chemical Engineering. This point pops up a few times through the movie.

And what better way to ramp things up for a sequel than the bring in even more stars than the first. I feel like Stallone and the other big-wigs sat down and said "Who did'nt we have in the first movie? Ok, get them for the second." I was a big fan of Chuck Norris' inclusion, and the inclusion of one of the many 'Chuck Norris' facts that were all the rage several years ago.

I have to say, this definitely wasn't the best movie I've seen this year (that honour goes to The Avengers), but it was the best stereotypical action movie I've seen in a long time. Probably since the original back in 2010. I have to say though, I was a much bigger fan of the minimalistic poster for the original, simply with the title, a picture of the cast, and a giant list of all of their names. It quite simply screamed out "Come see this, look at the crazy cast we got!"