"The Expendables" Such an incorrect name for these guys!

For a while I've gotten tired of the "new" guard of action movies.  Usually too stylized with little guys running around.  Too much bullet time and taking themselves so seriously.  Stallone knew what worked in the 80s of headbanging, gun barrel melting fun and he transplants that here perfectly.  The fact that these guys have a name like "Expendable" somehow meaning that they could be thrown away is a crime to waste such gusto and cool.

The plot is pure 80's of a tough guy squad going to get into a bananna republic (or in this case a cocaine republic) and overthrow an ex American agent whos thrown his weight and money around and taken control of the Government.  The guys on the team range from the old guard like Stallone and Lundgren and the new chopsocky heroes like Jason Statham and Jet Li who manage to pull their weight considering the company they're in and having some others along for the ride guns blasting and knives and fists flying.

Was I entertained?  Do I love pizza?  YES.  It's rare that I go into movies anymore and expect much and get it ten fold!  There is so much cool and awesome in this movie, you could squeeze the projector and sell the juice in stores called awesome juice.  Some people deride 80's action movies as being dumb and ridiculous but thats what makes this movie so awesome.  It takes pride in it's silly nature and pays no attention to elements around it that would only remind the movie how illogical a lot of it is.

The movie trailer INDEED had hype and this movie delivered.  NO dissapointments walking out of this one.

This movie has just come out and with the star power and word of mouth it's gotten it will remain mainstream.  The fact that it's as good as it is, makes that a certainty. 

The Expendables gets a 5 all the way for it's rating.  Especially the scene where we have John McClane, John Matrix and John Rambo all together in one scene.  The names of 80's action assembled for the first time on screen together.  Yes it's a short scene and it delivers exposition but damn it it's awesome with Stallone getting a nice remark about Arnie at his introduction for the world that THEY shared of the 80's and then a nice cap off to the meeting at the end which gets the movie's biggest laugh.  People who say Stallone is untalented need a look at his work for the last 5 years.

Do you love 80's action and adventure?  Do you miss those days where the bad guys spout stupid lines meant to be intimidating and cool but come off as corny, or finding plot points that make no sense only to them?  Do you like Stallone?  You know if this movie is for you.  Some people will say that this movie doesn't take itself seriously at all, that plot points are dumb or nonsense and logic is short.  I think Stallone knew that when he put this together and also that was kind of the point.  I don't know if calling this a deconstruction of the action hero movie is entirely accurate but this movie hits enough of the cliches and points that the argument could be made, especially when Mickey Rourke as a former member of Stallones bad ass squad rambles on and on about an old mission that he was on that is supposed to be poignant but has just enough details for Stallone to hear it as poetry and then go save the day and be a hero.

This movie is pure fun and action filled including a finale so explosion and fire filled that you swear the movie is going to burn the theater down.  When people said that Transformers 2 was a pure popcorn garbage film they weren't kidding.  The Expendables is the complete opposite of that, it's a pure popcorn movie that belongs anywhere OTHER then the garbage can.  They may be called the Expendables but don't you dare discard them.