Viewed in
2010
Formats
Movie theater, digital projector.
Premise
Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Mickey Rourke, a bunch of other manly men get involved with explosions and violence.
Loved
The cast.
Liked
The explosive second half.
Disliked
The boring first half.
Thoughts
I definitely got my testosterone fix taken care of.
Loved the ridiculous cast, at times I was giddy just watching certain personae onscreen at the same time. Pretty much every "star" got their chance to flex they muscles. There were some fun "removing the fourth wall" moments, such as lines that jab at each others careers, and a WWE/UFC fight. Very much enjoyed 65 year-old Stallone's line: "getting my ass kicked". Probably the only plausible moment in the flick.
Last act was full of manly goodness, with guns ablaze, explosions galore, blood and guts all over the place. It did not bring anything new to the plate, but the action and fights were very well executed, especially when the heroes take on a palace full of fodder, I mean, soldiers.
There were many expected flaws, such as lame storylines and wooden acting. But the biggest flaw was that the first half was boring. You got so many dudes, just throw in some more fighting at the beginning or something!
At times, it seemed like it wanted to be a shout-out to the 1980's American action flick. But that also came up short. Where were the overuse of f-bombs and gratuitous frontal nudity?
For fans of muscles, explosive violence, high body counts, and the action genre, its a fun time. You just have a wait a while before it gets the ball rolling.
Random
It's apropos that an Old Spice "Swagger" commercial before the movie.
