The Expendables 2
The Expendables 2: Here’s a sequel that learns a lot from the mistakes of the first installment, while capitalizing on the ideas that should’ve made the first installment good fun. It gathers up a bunch of old goons, gives them big guns, and tells them to shoot things. And, this time out, they do it better and with much aplomb. It’s obvious before the opening title credit, in a sequence where many a man is shredded via gunfire from aging American action superstars, that Stallone and friends are going to get things right and deliver the crazy-gory goods. Much of the credit must go to newly anointed Simon West, who replaces Stallone in the director’s chair. West made the ridiculously enjoyable Con Air, which combined stellar action with funny, dumb dialogue to much success. Unlike Stallone’s effort with the first movie, Expendables 2 gets real laughs, rather than groans, from its boneheaded dialogue.