Four years ago, Sylvester Stallone released an explosive action thriller about a group of hard-nosed aging fighters known as “The Expendables” starring Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crews and Jason Statham. Two years later, he followed it with a sequel and returns for a third installment in the franchise. This time he joins forces with Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and Wesley Snipes. One of the original five Expendables, it’s a role that was tailor-made for Snipes who has a martial arts background. In the film, he plays former medic called Dr. Death who has been off the grid for eight years.
Wesley Snipes stars as ‘Doc’ in THE EXPENDABLES 3. Photo Credit – Phil Bray
Directed by Patrick Hughes (“Red Hill”), the films opens as the crew bombard a train on a mission to rescue their brother in arms Dr. Death (Snipes). After racking up the body count, amping up the explosions and jacking up testosterone levels once again, they rescue a charismatic Snipes who appears complete with pearly white teeth and a ‘70s afro. After a bit of stifled barbed wit, which has them comparing weapons of choice (blades, guns and bullets), the motley crew of mercenaries head off to Mogadishu to take out an illegal arms dealer where there are more obligatory explosions and shootouts.
From left to right – Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Sylvester Stallone, Patrick Hughes, Wesley Snipes, Randy Couture, and Jason Statham on the set of THE EXPENDABLES 3 Photo Credit – Phil Bray
This time there’s a shocking turn of events as Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) is shot and Barney (Stallone) discovers that the ruthless arms dealer they are pursuing is his former pal and partner Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson). An Expendables’ co-founder and a man he thought he had killed more than a decade ago. Determined to take out the evil Conrad by any means necessary, he retires the old crew swapping them out for a bunch of younger and digitally tuned team (Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Glen Powell, and Victor Ortiz) to bring fresh energy and updated skills to the team.
From left to right – Sylvester Stallone, Randy Couture, Antonio Banderas, Jason Statham, Wesley Snipes and Dolph Lundgren in THE EXPENDABLES 3 Photo Credit- Phil Bray
No surprise there, but the team end up being captured by Conrad’s crew and eventually, all the Expendables, young and old are forced to fight together in a dilapidated building in Central Asia. Classic old-school tactics meet high-tech expertise as the combined team battle to survive an onslaught by Conrad’s heavily armed militia. Also joining the team is Antonio Banderas, who plays a former Spanish Armed Forces soldier, Bosnian war veteran and expert sharpshooter.
Jason and Wesley’s characters compare blades Photo Credit – Phil Bray
Overall, “The Expendables 3” is just another popcorn flick, which sees the heroes waltzing in and out of the bad guys’ lair with relative ease. The stunts are extremely over the top and the special effects unimpressive with collapsing buildings that look obviously animated. Also gone is the wisecracking, tongue-in-cheek approach we saw in the last film.
This film’s script seems thin and flimsy making this third installment appear quickly cobbled together in a franchise that feels as if it’s just built out of hype and marketing.
Samantha Ofole-Prince is a California based Entertainment Editor/Writer for Trendy Africa.
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