The Expendables 2 *spoilers from post 263*

Phony Scott

Saw it this morning, a big improvement on the original and was everything I wanted the original to be, but never got. Still, it could have been better, and some of the one-liners fell flat. If only they could get someone like Shane Black to polish the script on the next one and Part 3 would be excellent. 7/10

Mr. K

MagicMarker wrote: »

Wait a minute, are we annoyed because entertainment.ie made up a poster including actors that aren't in the movie?

I assume we're annoyed because entertainment.ie posted a fake poster, which is very unprofessional.

Anyway, I just saw this...meh. It was better than the first one, but still left me cold. I was glad to see more Arnie and Chuck was awesome, but it's basically an 80s action movie without the charm.

senordingdong

Mr. K wrote: »

It was better than the first one, but still left me cold. I was glad to see more Arnie and Chuck was awesome, but it's basically an 80s action movie without the charm.

Really? I like that it's(they) got a modern approach to the cheesy/camp action movie. I find alot of 80s action movies are viewed with rose tinted glasses.

SmokeyEyes

We went to see it today, it really hit it's stride towards the end when Arnie, Stallone, Willis and Norris were fighting it out and some of the one liners genuinely made me giggle! Thought Van Damme was decent as a baddie and the rest of the cast were pretty good too! Arnie is a woeful actor though in this but it's all so cheesy it works!

pixelburp

I saw it last night in Cineworld with a group of friends & a few drinks inside me, and while it seemed better than #1, it still stunk in places. I guess though if you loved the first film, the second will seem like action nirvana. To be fair the action felt more ... well, action-packed this time around, compared with the positively sedate first round. My main complaint though is that one of the most important ingredients of this genre - the one-liners / wise-cracks - were utter rubbish; not very funny & poorly delivered in places, especially the obvious Terminator and Die Hard shoutouts. That in itself is criminal!

Plus I dunno about anyone else, but I found the use of CGI vehicles during the action scenes to be really distracting; one shot would feature a real tank driving down the street, the next it was clearly a CGI version, firing a shell. For something so intentionally old-school and nostalgic, the dodgy computer FX jarred. Maybe all those cameos ate up the budget, but they had real props; dunno why they didn't use them more.

krudler

pixelburp wrote: »

Plus I dunno about anyone else, but I found the use of CGI vehicles during the action scenes to be really distracting; one shot would feature a real tank driving down the street, the next it was clearly a CGI version, firing a shell. For something so intentionally old-school and nostalgic, the dodgy computer FX jarred. Maybe all those cameos ate up the budget, but they had real props; dunno why they didn't use them more.

I hate the idea of CGI being used in these kind of movies, why go to the effort of making a love letter to old school action films and not keeping the approach old school? I get that there's budget constaints and all that but I dunno, it just seems so out of place, like in the last Rambo movie, cgi blood everywhere instead of squibs, it detracts from any impact the violence should have.

indough

i dont think there were enough squibs in the world to cover the last rambo movie

Duggy747

krudler wrote: »

I hate the idea of CGI being used in these kind of movies, why go to the effort of making a love letter to old school action films and not keeping the approach old school? I get that there's budget constaints and all that but I dunno, it just seems so out of place, like in the last Rambo movie, cgi blood everywhere instead of squibs, it detracts from any impact the violence should have.

I hate CGI blood with a passion, the actor has to imagine being hit and then it's added in post-production leaving a daft effect where the actor are compensating and end up looking like they're having a spasm.

I think Sly addressed the CGI blood with Rambo 4, in regards to the budget they had.

grames_bond

Saw it yesterday - loved it...... Totally OTT, cheesy as f*ck, ridiculously stupid one liners (that were SO bad they were amazing), and crazy brilliant action!

Didn't like the first one? Steer clear!
Like some stupid mindless action? Go Go Go!!!

kaimera

grames_bond wrote: »

Saw it yesterday - loved it...... Totally OTT, cheesy as f*ck, ridiculously stupid one liners (that were SO bad they were amazing), and crazy brilliant action!

Didn't like the first one? Steer clear!
Like some stupid mindless action? Go Go Go!!!

What he said.

Loved it. Fantastic movie all round tbh. Ticked everybox I wanted.

Hard to see how it only got a 16 rating tho!

Roll on #3 I say

xxyyxx

Good fun. I loved it.

JohnMarston

Fantastic film i must say, i step up from the first definitely.

All the cast get adequate screentime, with an obvious emphasis on the Stallone, Schwarzneggar, and Willis.
The only near-pointless characters were Couture and Crews.

Van Damme is a convincing bad guy, though not fleshed out at all. He was entertaining to watch.

Chuck gets some good scenes and even manages to get a chuck norris fact in there, which was a nice touch.

Schwarzneggar years are really showing but he manages some fantastic scenes.

All in all, an 8/10

Number 3, if there is one, needs Kurt Russel, Seagal and Wesley Snipes. Danny Trejo might not be a bad choice either

Galvasean

Expendables 2 an awful film.


but a brilliant movie!

Duggy747

Galvasean wrote: »

Expendables 2 an awful film.


but a brilliant movie!

That's what I want to hear. Gonna try and see it tonight.

I expect shìte, but entertaining shìte Expendables 1 was just plain shìt.

Mickeroo

I felt let down after the first one because I thought it took itself way too seriously, from what I hear thats not a problem this time around. Looking forward to this now.

Nervous Wreck

For the first third of the movie, me and the gf were getting weird looks from people cos we kept laughing at all the cheesy bits. Was a bit weird. Then, things kicked off a bit more in the second act and the whole audience were pissing themselves laughing and clapping. One of my better cinema experiences so far this year, amazing movie!

norrie rugger

Mickeroo wrote: »

I felt let down after the first one because I thought it took itself way too seriously, from what I hear thats not a problem this time around. Looking forward to this now.

It is totally ripping the piss but maybe trying a bit too hard but there are some geniune laugh out loud moments. Everyone in the cinema was laughing.
I had forgotten how bad Chuck Norris was, when trying to act.

Given that Arnie is a tall lad it was shocking to see just how big Crews actually is

It feels much bigger this time. Don't know how to explain it but the first felt like a TV film in parts, where as this feels at home on the big screen

JohnMarston

Duggy747 wrote: »

That's what I want to hear. Gonna try and see it tonight.

I expect shìte, but entertaining shìte Expendables 1 was just plain shìt.

Thats exactly what you will get. Pure entertainment that doesnt try to be anything more than that. Good guys vs bad guys, thats it

TheIrishGrover

Whereas this was a terrible movie..... a gloriously, brilliantly TERRIBLE movie. It was awesome!!! I loved it. Everything the first one should have been. Not a single surprise in the movie: you knew which characters were gonna square off eventually, you knew what bad puns were coming, you knew who the Redshirt was going to be the instant you saw them. Went to it Saturday and EVERY time ya saw Lundgren the place pissed themselves laughing (especially at the bar).

The Recliner

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Went to it Saturday and EVERY time ya saw Lundgren the place pissed themselves laughing (especially at the bar).

I love that a lot of the stuff they say about his character being a chemical engineer and will a Fulbright award from MIT are actually true of Lundgren himself

Saw it yesterday evening, 8.40 showing in screen 17 in Cineworld, place was deserted, wasn't even half full

JohnMarston

Then there was that one scene where John McClane and The Terminator are gunfighting from a smart car.

spankmaster2000

I'll tell you what - this is an extremely bold claim to make, and I'll subject it to the caveat that everyone has their own tastes, but:

This film is utterly ridiculous, illogical, non-sensical,and unrealistic, but...
...it's the most fun I had in the cinema in recent months.

I wasn't sure where it was going at first, but was delighted to see that everyone was more than happy to play a parody of themselves, and cheese it up to maximum.
At one point, Arnie even exclaims "Who's going to turn up next, Rambo??".
I thought it was a much better effort than the taking-itself-too-seriously previous installment.

Personally, I wish there was more Jet Li and less Chuck Norris. Plus, there was some very unnessecary CGI. Otherwise though, thumbs up from me!

norrie rugger

spankmaster2000 wrote: »

Personally, I wish there was more Jet Li and less Chuck Norris. Plus, there was some very unnessecary CGI. Otherwise though, thumbs up from me!

This gets a plus one

fluke

Quick question, do I need to see the first one before I see this?

The Recliner

fluke wrote: »

Quick question, do I need to see the first one before I see this?

Nope

It would add a small bit of backstory to some characters and frienships but not really necessary

Plus as much as I want it to be the first one isn't very good

Nervous Wreck

Also worth noting btw, it is insane how dwarfed everyone in this film is by the size of Terry Crews. Lad's a monster.

Galvasean

fluke wrote: »

Quick question, do I need to see the first one before I see this?

Not at all TBH.

Saw this tonight, had a smile on my face the whole way through. The best action movie I've seen in a long time. The Chuck Norris parts were excellent and JCVD still has it, great to see Arnie back even if he is getting on a bit. Can't wait for the third one.

niallon

Any other COD players think this was Modern Warfare: The Movie? Obviously given how much COD lifts from every action movie this is to be expected, but Van Damme had a good bit of Makarov about him, the revenge aspect and personal vendetta is quite similar, the ruined New York from the Russian training, and especially the slow walk through the airport at the end from Van Damme and Co., all I could think of was "No Russian", was expecting them to randomly open fire.

On another note, there was several scenes that looked a bit blurred/watery, especially during the scene between Stallone and yer wan while the rest are sleeping and they are talking about getting close, close ups looked like a bad paint effect. Was this just IMC or on the print does anyone know?

None of the above are criticisms by the way, as ridiculous and OTT as it was the film was absolutely insane and fantastic value for money!

Saw it Sunday and really enjoyed. Its a big dumb action film which embraces the ridiculous and runs with it. The cast were all on fine form though it's a shame that Van Damme's Vilane was so underdeveloped. Crewes and Coutre were little more than wallpaper and the stuff with Norris was just really poorly done. It was just so out of place and it seemed as if the writers put no effort into. Considering that Norris is little more than a joke at this stage so it may have been the case that no one cared enough to put in the effort.

One thing I noticed is that a number of shots appeared to be slightly out of focus. It was most obvious during scenes with subtitles and I'm assuming its an issue with the film and not the projection as most of the film looked great.