Sylvester Stallone and his merry macho men are back to shoot shit…and this time, it’s personal. When one of their own is killed, Barney Ross (Stallone) and his bad-ass crew of mercenaries are propelled from their usual multi-national hooliganism into a more focused form of obliteration. Thankfully, *Expendables 2* trims away much of the love story and soul-searching that dragged down its predecessor in favour of the simple, and admirable goal of finding and murdering Jean-Claude Van Damme. Yes, all your favourite dry-aged action stars are here and you better believe everyone cracks wise on each other’s fame. If this movie was winking any harder at the audience it would probably pop a blood vessel. Cameos and testosterone aside, this is a pleasantly straight-forward action flick like those from the era when its cast members were alive.
This article appears in Aug 16-22, 2012.