User reviews

If you're thinking of watching 'The Expendables 3,' then 'part 3' is a kind of odd place to start any franchise. Therefore, I would generally recommend starting with part 1 and going from there. However, in case you're in any wonder as to what it's all about, it's basically an ensemble cast (led by Sly Stallone) of all the biggest (and best?) action stars of the eighties (plus Jason Statham thrown in for good measure).

What you have is a bunch of old men who really should be playing golf and yet we suspend our disbelief long enough to believe that they can really run, jump, punch and generally take on wave after wave of insignificant bad guys without so much as getting shot. So, if you generally like (or can at least remember) some of these faces from yesteryear and the epic on-screen battles they fought then you'll probably enjoy the nostalgia trip which this film basically is. It never takes itself seriously, so don't expect anything dark and moody, just fun.

The first Expendables outing was definitely fun. And, for the record, I enjoyed part 2 even more. Therefore, I was really expecting to LOVE the third instalment. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but there was one thing I didn't approve of. Namely the fact to interject some 'fresh blood' into Sly's team. Basically, it wasn't necessary. Sly chooses youngsters over the established faces who we actually care about. Therefore, we don't really know them as well as the older action stars and these youngsters take up a reasonable proportion of the first third of the film. Then they end up getting captured and the old team has to be assembled to get them back. Basically, they could have left out the whole 'youngsters subplot' and got on with our aging heroes hunting down rogue expendable baddie, played by Mel Gibson.

I think if I was going to watch this again (and I probably will!), I'll skip the first third with the 'kids' and go straight on to the rescue mission. Plus I thought there was too much CGI explosions for my liking – but I'm no fan of computer added trickery, unless it's really seamlessly intertwined with the film. Half the time you could tell the explosions were added post production.

Anyway, if you like the first two films, or any of the stars, you should get something out of this. Just don't be too misled by the advertising posters – not all the stars featured play a major part. Some are only in the film for literally a few minutes.

The first one was interesting seeing old big names on screen. The second one had the Chuck Norris jokes and van Damme doing his signature kicks. This one?... This one has a lot of "kaboom and badawoom"... Which is why, I guess, it is an all right movie.

Unfortunately none of the big names do anything interesting on-screen. If you're expecting to see Wesley Snipes do Blade stuff, or Jet Li some amazing kung fu, nope! you will be disappointed...

Mel Gibson is great, but he's got a tiny part. The only fun is provided by Antonio Banderas.

As for the new actors... who cares!

The problem with the Expendables movies is that the more big names are on the credits their on screen time has to be shared with others and it breaks down to just a few moments each.

I do not understand how they missed the point again!

'The Expendables 3' is an entertaining 3rd part in the series, which had an amazingly impressive sequel. This action extravaganza which completes the trilogy, is indeed Good Fun! And its such a pleasure to watch Hollywood Legend Mel Gibson stealing the show, by enacting the baddie to perfection!

'The Expendables 3' Synopsis: Barney augments his team with new blood for a personal battle: to take down Conrad Stonebanks, the Expendables co-founder and notorious arms trader who is hell bent on wiping out Barney and every single one of his associates.

'The Expendables 3' serves its propose, which is, to Entertain the audience. And it does that well. Sylvester Stallone's Story & Screenplay is meant for the masses, as it delivers enough scope of human tension & explosive action. Although I'd like to point out, that, the first-hour of the film, is slightly slow-paced & dull. Its the second-hour which is arresting & the climax is simply brilliant.

Patrick Hughes's Direction is satisfactory. Cinematography is dusky. Editing could've been more sharper. Costume Design is perfect. Action-Sequences are the mainstay of the film.

Performance-Wise: After Mel Gibson, its Stallone who delivers a performance of substance. He leads the pack with toughness. Its also nice to see Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes & Antonio Banderas joining in. They all play to the gallery well, as do the rest.

On the whole, 'The Expendables 3' is a winner!

Okay fine The Expendables franchise isn't a complete failure in my eyes, this is by far the best one and three movies in shows potential.

First of all I want to address a point. I've long since complained about the state of a world where it's highest paid people are actors, singers and sports people. Though I'm a movie obsessive I'll never deny that they are offensively overpaid and Expendables 3 demonstrates that with the absence of Bruce Willis. They tried to get him back in a small capacity, just 4 days work and offered him 3 million. 3 million dollars for 4 days work! In response, he demanded 4 million and they decided to cut him loose. So think about this, a man being paid more for a days work than a minimum wage worker is likely to make in their entire life! That ladies and gentlemen is the world we live in.

Anyway I digress.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that The Expendables 3 entertained me but it certainly had its moments. The action was marginally better than the previous two films but it's saving grace was the cast. No I'm not talking about the same guys who have been phoning it in for the past two movies, I mean the newbies. Antonio Banderas stole the movie, he was brilliant. Snipes delivered like I haven't seen him do so in years and despite all the criticism I think Rousey did a great job as well.

So fine, it's not the big action blockbuster to end all action blockbusters but it blows the previous two movies out of the water. With a great villian, the new cast and a good lengthy finale it's passable stuff.

The Good:

As much as it pains me to say, Mel Gibson

Antonio Banderas & Ronda Rousey

The Bad:

Robert Davi was wasted

Still mindless cliched stuff

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Every person on the planet without any formal training can wield any type of firearm like a professional

The moment Gibson was outed as a bigot, he started doing bad guy roles and nailed it every time

I genuinely want to know if it's possible to attain/maintain a physique like Stallones without steroids

Countless explosive shells fired from tanks at a building rigged with explosives won't set them off

Disguising yourself as a bad guy complete with helmet without your allies knowing you're doing it in a full assault situation makes perfect sense

The second was mildly enjoyable, the third time it's tired, the attraction has lost any charm and they still haven't figured out a way to create a sense of world. Terminator, Lethal Weapon, all these films created their own world. Even Cobra had a home to come back to, that marvelous Venice beach apartment next to the Pepsi logo where he forked pizza with a knife.

There's absolutely none here. There's an action plot with actors mouthing their lines when they have to, then on to the next scene. Willis is swapped for Ford but it's again the same thankless plot function of a few minutes. Arnie hovers around in spots - he says 'choppa'. A few amusing scenes with Snipes and prison. And the action mechanics are completely slapdash, overall it feels like the second album after reunion of old heavy metal stalwarts, still polished but all the passion has gone out a long time ago.

Banderas is the only one who manages to charm and that's because he's the only one written with a tiny smudge of life - a screw loose because of what he witnessed.

-Jet Li appeared for 5 minutes total and doesn't even fight (seriously? Feels like he was kept in the movie (top-billed too!) just to lure asians to watch it. Yes I'm an Asian.)

-Action scenes are a yawn; all the been there done that. No suspense whatsoever; it's even worse than a Micheal Bay film.

-The climax fight was just 3 minutes tops and was like Stallone wasn't even trying.

-PG-13 violence; Christmas's knife stabs are now blood-less and bullets are now made of rubber since nobody bleeds or spurts blood after being fired upon by a minigun. Seriously?

-The storyline is just a drag and dull; the worst in the series IMO. The "young-bloods" in this movie are just plain unlikeable, arrogant and disrespectful i.e. One of the young ones (I didn't even bother knowing his character name) screamed at Stallone to shut up. Are these kind of characters the ones we're supposed to like?

-Banderas was just wasted and everyone hates his character. He was supposed to be comic-relief, but instead he's just annoying. -Talking about comic-relief, the jokes were just bad. I remembered laughing with tears watching EX2; I barely grinned at this. Stallone said he wanted to go back to the dramatic storyline like EX1 and look what happened. Not dramatic and not funny.

5/10 P/S: Just don't waste your time.

Arnie, Ford, Stallone, Statham, Snipes, Mel Gibson, Banderas and Kelsey Grammar (totally unexpected) - What more do you want on a big screen?

Movie starts off with a rescue of Snipes from a moving train - this one gives you back 50% of the money you paid for the movie.

This movie is all about watching some of your best actors on a big screen, kicking ass and having fun. This is a true 'man movie' in terms of wise cracks and the conversations between men.

Movie has couple of twists when Stallone sacks his old team to go with a new team, result of failed assignment etc. but the team reunites and helps Stallone in the end - this is for you to watch and I don't want to blow the covers here...

Movie not only presents some good action scenes, it packs good humor and I could hear the whole theater laughing out loud. I really like the exchange between Ford and Statham - Ford asking 'God Damn it, what type of a language is it?" (I guess the old American and English slang war i guess)

Buy yourself popcorn, nice drink, relax and enjoy.

Continuing my plan to watch every Sly movie in order, I come to Expendables 3.

Plot In A Paragraph: Barney Ross (Sly) disbands The Expendables and signs up some new blood to take down arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson)

Expendables 3 is certainly action packed and while there is plenty hand to hand knockabout and a lot of people die, but they either quickly fall bloodlessly, or it's all off screen (a lot of quick cut aways) with a PG13 rating there is no viewing of the actual carnage.

For me Snipes owned the beginning of the movie, (but then seemed to have been forgotten about the rest of the movie) Grammar kept things moving a long nicely during the recruiting section. Then Banderas walks away with the movie in the final third. If the character of Doc (Snipes) had been more carefully scripted, and given more screen time in the second half of the pic, he would have easily stolen the picture.

Sly has shown before he can be a fine dramatic actor when allowed to escape his action hero confines, however here Gibson steals the scenes he shared with him. His hairline is distracting again (especially when he meets Ford for the first time) at times, as is his wardrobe. He seems to change clothes every scene. In fact he actually looks younger in this movie, than he did in the first.

A big problem for me with this one is, Sly's Barney Ross is suddenly invincible!! the old man who "just got my ass kicked" in the first movie is long gone. No longer are The Expendables a team, who are there for each other (the first movie is the most ensemble of the three) it's a Barney Ross led gang. And he is fine with doing things on his own.

For his brief time on screen Ford brings style to the proceedings and simply radiates presence. Gibson is under used (in the first half) But he owns the scene with Sly in a Van midway through. It is the stand out scene of the movie (the only one with any intensity, and an example of how good an expendables movie can be) and a reminder of how good Gibson is. He is easily the best villain to grace the franchise. That scene in the van is possibly the best acted scene in the franchise.

Jason Statham has less to do in this movie than the other movies, but he gives his usual fine performance as Christmas. Jet Li once again is sadly nothing more than a cameo. Lundgren's Gunner seemed to be slipping back to the unbalanced guy from the first movie, and Couture just seems happy to be there!!

Of the young guns, Ortiz and Powell are bland and uninteresting, Kellan Lutz is at least annoying with his lack of respect for Barney, whilst Rhonda Rousey (My god is she hot) is OK

There is an Expendables movie so of course there is a fiery climax, which unfortunately involves some Awful CGI explosions. If Superman IV should have thought film makers anything, it is 'if you have bad special effects, don't reuse them over and over again!!'

There are less jokey references to the stars previous roles than in Expendables 2, and it is much effective than the infinite amount in Ex2. It is longer than other two movies, so it gives a bit more time to know the characters, Sadly it wasted on the likes of Ortiz and Lutz, who are both a waste of screen time.

The fight between Sly & Gibson is too short (About same as Sly and JCVD in Ex2) and is predictable. The climax is also more than slightly ridiculous. As I said earlier, Gibson is the best villain to grace an Expendables movie, one you felt could hurt the Expendables, and it is was saddening to see him dispatched so effortlessly and singlehandedly by Sly. I'd have rather Gibson got the better of Sly in a brutal fight, with both of them giving every ounce they had (as Rambo and Riggs would have done) before Sly won, or even better if Jet Li (ala Lethal Weapon 4) helped Sly fight him.

The core audience of this franchise don't care about the new younger people that were added to the cast, and they also don't want to see a PG-13 movie with them in, whilst younger cinema goers don't care about an Expendables movie.

I think if we got an R rated DVD, it may be a bit better thought of, but the lame new recruits would still be a waste of screen time, the fight would still be the same and again all of the Expendables would live.

Another Expendables movie that continues the trend of the previous two movies, some good parts, some not so good parts, an overall feeling of a missed opportunity, but still OK.

Hampered by the rating, which angered some/most fans, and the HD screener leak, Expendables 3 limped to $39 million at the domestic box office, and ended the year, the 80th Highest Grossing Movie of 2014.

When the first Expendables was announced, it was supposed to be a throwback to the early years of action cinema - gratuitous violence, one liners and major carnage. The first two films lived up to this. The third is just awful.

Instead of spending more time with the aging heroes we've come to love, we get stuck with a bunch of whiny youngsters who don't do anything and aren't very interesting. I seriously doubt the so called "broader" audience this film is aimed at are gonna care about it. And the people who were interested in the series are going to be bitterly disappointed. Nice one, Sly!!!

Some of the new additions to the cast aren't that bad: Banderas, Snipes, Ford, Grammar, but Gibson completely owns the film - which dies whenever he is not around.

How's the action? Instead of being focused and over-the-top like the other two films, we get bland MTV style kills, thanks mainly to the new PG-13 rating. Who thought giving the film this lame rating was a good idea? Hey, lets take a series that is aimed at adults, starring aging action heroes who only the older audience will remember, and turn it into a dumb teen movie where the target audience WILL NOT CARE who they are or what they have done. Surely one of the worst business decisions in recent memory.

Newcomer director Patrick Hughes has not done anything with this film, but its really hard to tell if that was intentional or if the PG-13 hack job done to the film has made it bland.

Overall, this film is just a waste. Too soft for its hardcore fans, and not "hip" enough for its intended young audience. No one will be happy. Sure, it might puts bums on seats for the first week, but it will quickly disappear after that...and with good cause.

"What mean Expendable?" "It's like when you're invited to a party and don't show up and nobody really cares".

I suspect theater owners are gonna know the meaning of this come August 15.

I enjoyed the first two movies for what they were. They were fun rides with old actors kicking ass and making jokes about how old they are.

The third installation of the series has both of those things, but, sadly, not enough. The whole reason these movies exist is for us to enjoy the nostalgia exploding through the screen while we listen to crappy one-liners and bad jokes. This movie takes itself way too seriously and, even though it tries, it just isn't self aware enough for it to work. It spends a big portion of the plot introducing a bunch of young characters pretty much no one cares about, and then it tries to make us care about those people we've never seen in our lives before. Needless to say, it does not succeed. All of a sudden we're suppose to give a damn about these one dimensional characters, and I'm not saying that the main cast has more dimensions than one, but we don't need dimension. We don't need backstory. We don't need emotion.

We need to see old people doing over the top action, make old man jokes and reference their old movies. The movie just takes itself too seriously. There are jokes, but there are also dramatic moments which just fall flat. The acting isn't that good either, and neither are the new characters. It was cool to see Snipes back in action but his character was pretty much useless and didn't make any sense plot wise. Banderas was suppose to be annoying for the characters in the movie and funny for the audience, but he was just annoying. Gibson's role was pretty fun, even though he kind of just played the Joker. There's a scene taken straight from The Dark Knight, but I didn't really mind it, it was fun. Ford was just really plain and did nothing for the movie.

Overall it's one of the most boring action movies I've seen. It has literally every single action movie cliché ever made, and the performances were average at best. There are also moments where the CGI is terrible and takes you away from the movie even more. I don't recommend it unless you are a big fan ( a really really big fan).

I read a lot of bad reviews about this film, attacks on the script, plot and direction, so I was pleasantly surprised to find they were all wrong and they totally missed the point. I think these people were expecting Oscar winning performances but this film is about watching bad guys getting their a*s kicked. I also read that the actors seems withdrawn and bored of their roles and that is utter rubbish, and even if that were true it doesn't matter, im not interested in deep characters and meaningful performances in films like this, I just want to see lots of destruction and the bad guys getting owned.

There's some funny dialogue here and there and Banderas' character had me smiling a lot.

If you like action films you will enjoy this action romp, so ignore those bad reviews and grab yourself a bucket of popcorn and enjoy.

Greetings again from the darkness. Whether you saw the first two in this series will directly correlate to whether you head to the theatre for this third entry. The filmmakers' attempt to attract a younger audience by adding a "new" crew and dropping to a PG-13 rating backfires, and will not provide the legs this franchise needed for more installments.

The regular old geezers are back: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Jet Li (briefly), and Arnold Schwarzenneger. In addition, we get new "old" blood in the form of Antonio Banderas, Kelsey Grammar, Wesley Snipes, Harrison Ford, and the dominating presence of Mel Gibson as the bad guy. The young blood comes in the form of Kellan Lutz, Glen Powell, boxer Victor Ortiz, and MMA superstar Ronda Rousey. The blandness of the newbies simply steals valuable screen time for the old folks, and the movie suffers because of it.

The film's biggest flaw, however, comes with the biggest screen hog of all-time: Mr. Stallone. We understand that this is franchise is his baby, but why field an all-star team if you won't let them play? Snipes gets some time early in the film, replete with a reference to his real life prison sentence for tax evasion, and Ford and Arnold get in a few shots, but the only savior here is Mel Gibson. It's a reminder of just how good he can be on screen ... if we could just forget what a horrible person he can be off screen.

There is no need to go into detail on the plot or describe any of the characters. You know what you are getting if you buy a ticket. It's just a shame the film's direction and script aren't at the level deserving of a cast that includes: Rambo, Mad Max, Blade, Conan, Han Solo, Hercules, Zorro, The Transporter, He-Man, and even ... Sideshow Bob!

Aging mercenaries portrayed by aging action stars team with younger mercenaries to battle an international arms dealer (Mel Gibson) in a poorly written, badly shot and cut, muddled mess of an action film - the third entry in the series/franchise/action hero seniors tour begun by Sylvester Stallone (already having milked his Rocky & Rambo franchises for remaining crumbs) in 2010 with a decent first entry.

A pirated copy of this third entry was leaked online (by someone who WILL be caught and dealt with) in late July predating the August 15th, 2014 official theatrical release which is why the derision has come so fast and furious in advance. Millions have already downloaded it and spread the word about how bad it is and in particular how bad the younger actors in it are. It is also why box-office receipts won't be very impressive. Plenty have already seen it and told others not to bother.

MMA fighter Ronda Rousey, who portrays Luna - one of the young mercenaries, is sure to be nominated for a Razzie as 'Worst New Star' for her acting. I've seen better acting from Tough Actin' Tinactin. But that will inevitably be part of the draw of the movie. Audiences will want to judge for themselves if her acting is as terrible as they have heard.

Since words can't fully describe (but I'll try) how bad Rousey's performance is they won't be ready for what they see. Her characterization is composed of rolling her eyes, shaking her head and squinting in an insipid characterization given by an irritating, crass and unattractive individual with no previous acting experience.

They should've got Gina Carano if they wanted an MMA star. Gina is way cuter, her MMA comes across better on screen and she is a passable actress.

The gimmick upon which the first two Expendables movies built an audience was this 'family reunion' style casting of old action movie stars. But producers were driven to lock-up a newer audience demographic. Going younger and cheaper whilst bringing in new blood may have seemed like a good plan at first but the adverse results are plain to see.

Mel Gibson is the best aspect of the film. He could always act. But his scandalous, offensive outbursts and history of violence add all the necessary subtext for him to become Hollywood's premier villain and tack 20 more years on to his career if he does it right. This is the perfect role for him and he milks it for all it is worth. The screen comes alive when he is on it which unfortunately isn't for very long.

The remainder of the older action stars in the cast give performances as tired and sad as you might expect. Schwarzenegger inspires more pity than Harrison Ford. Antonio Banderas with his over the top acting is nearly as bad as Rousey. Bruce Willis should count himself lucky he was left out of the mix. Wesley Snipes? Let's not even go there.

Whether it is botox or just aging Stallone looks like a toy action figure left too close to a radiator. Yikes!

Jet Li is among the action stars billed but is barely on screen for 5 minutes.

So as the title says, its exactly what you expect to see .You are going to see a million bullets fired at the main characters and don't hit them, but every single bullet the leading characters fire leaves a dead body ,not so bad if you are a fun of this type of films !

There are some serious explosions through the film that are really believable and some stunts that are performed good.

If you are a snob viewer that wants "true story" go and see some documentary or a biography, this film has is not for snobby viewers cause OK some things are just unbelievable..But this type of films always has those parts.

Some scene with the helicopters seemed fake(computerised) but its OK, if you re a fan of bullets flying around you can oversee it.. So overall a good film with a lot of action that i would suggest !!

Another year, another expendables movie. People who'll complain that the movie falls short of their expectations, expect the unexpected. This movie follows in the footsteps of the prequels with the violence toned down a bit cause of the PG13 rating. Mind blowing action, check... lots of one-liners, check, middle-age-actors-trying-to-prove-they-still-got- it, check, believable effects, check, great plot, hmmmmmmm what do u expect? Enjoy the ride for what it is and don't take it too seriously and you will be entertained.

Kudos to Stallone for keeping it going and I hope the movie is a success cause like it or not, we need these guys to remind us of all the awesome movies they did it their heydays. Antonio Banderas is fun to watch, Ford is his usual self, Snipes gives a good performance, Gibson plays the villain part as best as he could given the script and the newbies played their part well.

Expect the Expected.

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and The Expendables rescue Doc (Wesley Snipes), who has been imprisoned for eight years, from a train that is transporting him to a maximum security prison. Doc joins Barney, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham ), Gunner (Dolph Lundgren), Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) in the assignment of stopping the dealer Victor Mins during a transaction of bombs. However they discover that the dealer is actually the former Expendable Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson) that shots Hale Caesar badly. The Expendables take their friend to the hospital and Barney meets Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in the waiting room that tells that they are old.

Then he has a meeting with the operating officer Max Drummer (Harrison Ford) that had hired The Expendable to kill Victor and he gives one last chance to Barney to fix the problem. Barney concludes that his crew is old and decides to recruit a new and faster team with the support of his friend Bonaparte (Kelsey Grammar). Barney hires Thorn (Glen Powell), Luna (Ronda Rousey), Mars (Victor Ortiz) and the rebel John Smilee (Kellan Lutz) and .refuses the cooperation of his old team. They head to Bucharest but their mission fails and only Barnes escapes from Stonebanks. Now Barney intends to return to rescue his team with the outcast Galgo (Antonio Banderas). However his old team is like a family and they will never leave Barney fighting alone because family fights together to protect a member.

"The Expendables 3" is another entertaining adventure of this group of action actors that does not stop to grow. The team lost Bruce Wilis, but now Wealey Snipes, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Antonio Banderas and Ronda Rousey has joined the cast. The plot is the usual, lots of action, shootings, deaths and fun, but entertains a lot. Shut down your brain, do not think and you will certainly have a good-time. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Mercenários 3" ("The Mercenaries 3")

By now you should really know what your getting into with "The Expendables 3" if you've seen the previous installments in the series. If you have not seen the previous films then with an "Expendables" movie you should expect witty jokes, lots of action, a star studded cast filled with old and current action stars and a paper thin story which is used just to set up the next gun fight. "The Expendables 3" is no exception to this formula and that is not a bad thing. Although there is some problems with the formula.

One thing to note about this new installment in the series is that the story is the best it has ever been. Its not Oscar worthy but its more interesting and fleshed out than the previous films. "The Expendables 3" see's Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and his team of mercenaries go after an arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson) who turns out to have history with Barney and "The Expendables". Now Stonebanks is set out on wiping out "The Expendables" which forces Barney to retire his old team and recruit a new team.

The cast in "The Expendables 3" is even bigger this time around with old favorites returning such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jet Li to reprise their roles as Trench and Yin Yang. Along with some great new editions like Antonio Banderas and Wesley Snipes. However the cast is just too big this time around. Lots of fan favorite characters are given very little to do and the same goes to some of the new characters. For example Harrison Ford does very little apart from tell Barney where to go and what to do throughout the film. He just feels shoehorned into the story because they couldn't get Bruce Willis back to reprise his role as Church. Also most of the new younger editions to the cast are not given anything interesting or note worthy to do apart from make fun of the older members of the cast about how old they all are and shoot a gun at random soldiers. Mel Gibson is the best villain by far in the series as he is truly menacing and really is a force to be reckoned with, but he feels underused and the film would have benefited from a good villain. What makes most great action movies great is the presence of a truly menacing villain. A few great action movies to name with fantastic villains is "Die Hard" and "The Terminator".

Of course the action is the most important part of any action movie and the action in "The Expendables 3" is as good as any of the previous films. This film doesn't try to do anything really that new with the action but there are a couple key moments particularly in the latter half of the movie which stand out and there is plenty of witty banter between characters to entertain you between the action sequences. Although some of the special effects in the movie are horrifically bad and really take you out of the action.

Over all "The Expendables 3" is a perfectly enjoyable film with entertaining action scenes, some incredibly bad effects which take you out of the film, a much improved story and a fine cast although there is some questionable new editions to the cast which make you wonder why they are even in the movie apart from the fact that Sylvester Stallone believes that bigger is better

Learning from the mistakes in The Expendables 2, the cast has reunited in this sequel with a climax that really brings back or nearly close to the old school action thriller just as in the original first film. However, having the Galgo style of plot has dragged the entire film into an unnecessary overlong of 2 hours. While the old cast still brings a lot of fun and maintains the brother love across the trilogy, the introduction of the young Expendables might seems a fresh strategy to develop possible sequels but the poor performance, poor developed screenplay and moderate quality of visual effects have ruined part of the film. At least, it compensates audiences once again with amazing scores from Brian Tyler which enhances the actions scenes but overall, Barney's emotional feelings in this sequel seems to be similar to the boring emotional Iron Man in Iron Man 2.

The Expendables series was supposed to be bring back the thrills of the great 80s action films. Nostalgia is the safe go-to for audiences of today, and Stallone knows this. Most of the man's career has revolved around him playing the same roles for over 30 years. The trailer came out and it was extremely promising. Bringing in actors like Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis and what do you know? Stallone was even directing, a man who had proved himself a competent action director. Even of recent years, Rambo IV was pretty awesome. Ironically however, these 80s stars created something as dull and humourless as today's modern action films. Where was the fun? Where was the one liners? What should have been a spectacle piece with soul was a shaky-cam filled ride of nauseating proportions. Sure there were some small moments of fun, but they were few and far between. So, has the third iteration in the series any good? Not really.

The movie follows The Expendables on a mission to stop a weapon's trade, they discover an old foe once thought dead (Gibson), takes out one of their own. Their leader, Barney (Stallone), to keep the rest of his Expendables brethren safe, goes on a suicide mission with a new younger team to exact revenge.

Here lies the fundamental problem with the film - the actual Expendables aren't the focus of the movie. There's been an attempt by the filmmakers to attract a younger audience by bringing in fresh, younger 'action stars' and of course the PG-13 rating, the series' first. This could have worked, if they hired ANYBODY who had a star credit in the past three years. Instead, the audience is subjected to a bunch of no-name stars running around, spouting annoying banter at one another. The reason why people come to see these movies are for the nostalgia of the past films these actors have been in, and that they are in a film altogether. So when you disband what the audiences came for and replace them with a bunch of nobodies, you're completely alienating your existing fan base. What people want to see if Rocky and The Terminator killing bad guys together, and when you just replace them with regular mercenaries, it isn't special to the viewers anymore.

That's not to say that's the only problem with the film. For this type of movie, motives of character's aren't entirely clear. Why would Barney abandon his loyal team ready to fight by his side for a bunch of random mercenaries? The action is still largely incoherent, with either way too many cuts during the scene or really poorly executed fight choreography. The visual effects department looks like it had to take a pay cut for the actor's, there is better CGI on Agent's of Shield (every car ride is flat green-screen, one scene with a base jumper just looks completely unfinished). The editing - dear lord - the editing in this movie is some of the worse I have seen in a film in a long time. There are multiple cutaways to things for a minuscule amount of time that the audience has no idea what it is (a scene ends with a guy who the audience hasn't picking up a magazine and leaving), or is completely unintentionally hilarious with how the cut has been executed. The main example that sticks out is a scene that slowly zooms in dramatically on Stallone's face for about thirty seconds, as if the character was about to have a flashback, just to cut straight to the next scene at a hospital. However, the biggest crime this film commits is it's waste of talent. Jet Li is one of the top billed actors, and yet has about 90 seconds of screen time. Wesley Snipes has a fun and humorous introduction to his character, but then is just relegated to the background after the first act. Terry Crews is one of the most charismatic actors in films today and he is COMPLETELY wasted in the movie.

This movie is getting a 4/10 from me, because there are several elements that save this lazily made film. Antonio Banderas is an absolute joy to watch, giving a crazy, over the top performance that would make Nicolas Cage jealous. Mel Gibson, whilst more restrained, gives his all as the crazy bad guy, and although the majority of the visual effects are an eyesore, the stunt work in the third act of the film is quite impressive and even engaging.

Skip this one, go watch Guardians at the cinemas again.

You know what. With a busy lifestyle and so much to do everyday, every now and then you just need to watch an action movie that you do not need to think too much about, that simply washes over you and puts a nostalgic smile on your face.

The plot might be thin, you know it will likely come good in the end and you know that the good guy is going to win. But that does not matter a jot. It is filled with quips, familiar faces, memories of the 80's and just good fun.

There will be people that hate this film as just another example of mindless violence, but who cares. It is what it is.

If that is what you need, then go and see this film. I loved it.

Even more legends grace the screen one more time for The Expendables 3. Just like the two prior films, the action is fantastic, the one liners are fun, and its overall an amazing joyride. With new younger actors(and some non actors) taking bigger roles some may get upset. Need not worry, the attention is still on the characters we have come to love over the decades. This is my review of The Expendables 3.

Not only does Sylvester Stallone take part once again in writing the script but, he adds newer stars of the action genre, Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt. Rothenberger and Benedikt(actually married to each other by the way) both wrote the smash 2013 action film, Olympus Has Fallen. To be honest going into the film I knew there was going to be a lot of downtime because the runtime comes in at just over two hours. However, the entire franchise has lent itself to this problem, and of the three films so far, Expendables 3 takes the cake for biggest downtime. This can be a problem for some but, I thought the characters and the progression was nice. Having actors like Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, and Antonio Banderas fill that time makes it worth sticking through. While the story takes a good bit to introduce the newer characters it leads to some fantastic action scenes and an overall fantastic time at the movie theater. The one liners are good in number and will leave big action fans laughing each time one comes out. Stallone, Rothenberger, and Benedikt deserve some good credit for writing a fantastic action movie for us 80s/90s action fans, and I give them a good grade.

This time around the film is directed by Patrick Hughes, who recently directed Red Hill in 2010. While I have never seen this movie, it apparently is a nice action movie. While I cannot speak of his previous work, I can say he does a fantastic job. While not the best outing in terms of directing in this franchise, the action scenes are fluid and he really takes control when there is a lot going on in some of the more massive scenes. I personally love over the top action in films like this, and towards the beginning of the film something so over the top happens that you will be talking about it for some time after you left the theater. It was that amazing. To trim down on the budget, you could tell more CG was use. I am not a fan of a big CG fest in my action movies. Thankfully the CG only comes in spots here and there, nothing harmful. Now onto these amazing actors. New additions to the franchise are Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Kesley Grammar, Antonio Banderas, and of course the man himself, Wesley Snipes. After a few years off, he is finally back and better than ever. While I cannot say he dominates the film, there are some very nice action scenes with him. As a huge fan of his action films, I am just glad to see him back on the big screen. Mel Gibson plays the bad guy in this film, and frankly does an amazing job. While I would have rather seen him play a good guy, he easily is the most well rounded villain of the franchise. Younger actors who were added to the casting this time around are Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Kellan Lutz, and Ronda Rousey. While I cannot say I like the additions of all these younger actors, I cannot say they really hurt the film. Also keep an eye out for one of my favorite actors of all time, Robert Davi, who has an appearance in this film. Overall, in this department, Hughes does a fine job of directing some intense action scenes, and gives us fans something to watch over and over again down the road. He gets a big thumps up in my opinion.

Brian Tyler is back for his third outing scoring these films. Just like the previous films, they are good but, nothing special or memorable that us hardcore action fans remember from those great 80s/90s action films. I'm not trying to bring him down at all, he is one of the better composers today, and he gets the job done in this film. He really shines in those high impact action scenes. Tyler gets a good grade from me in scoring of this film.

In closing, these films are made for the action fans of the 80s/90s when stars like Stallone and Schwarzenegger were huge. For fans like me, we just get a joy of seeing some amazing action scenes with stars that were on top of the world in the genre just a couple decades ago. For those on the fence, starting out watching the first two films is what I recommend just so you get use to the feel of the franchise. Watching some classic action films as well wouldn't hurt. So, go out there and see this movie, it is well worth it in my opinion.

8/10