The Expendables 4

The rug has finally been pulled out from under the expendables, a film that cost close to a hundred million has hardly made a third of it back. A franchise that should have stopped after the first and is rumoured to continue for another trilogy should, for its own good, be put to rest. The original expendables was good fun and full of outrageous quotes and enjoyment but each passing sequel has suffered from declining plot and acting performance. I would have more tolerance for the movie if it didn't see to treat the audience as if they were brain dead at every turn. There's no creativity or thrill with the expendables anymore, if they never make another we will all be better off.

..... I was underwhelmed. I wasn't expecting much and it delivered on that. Tony Jaa was one of the best parts of the film. As a character.

The action is what you'd expect. Fists, feet, guns, knives and explosions it was however more visceral than the previous three and whereas I like action, I don't care for violence. When it feels like it's more about shock and less about adrenaline, I check out mentally.

The humor was more juvenile than I care for also. Not all of it. But a few key moments was like "Who wrote this, Judd Apatow?" (the answer is no. Actually very decent writers including ones who wrote Equilibrium.) The cast was all over the place. I get adding Iwo Kuwais and Tony Jaa. But 50 cent, some random Spanish kid, some odd Asian chick and some second random bad guy just don't fit into who this series was for and about. And it's GLARING what they should've done different.

They added Andy Garcia which is a nice old blood touch but come on. He's not Mel Gibson, JCVD, Bruce Willis, etc level .

Megan Fox ... I really like her. I've liked her in many things. But... Not this. Her intro is so shrill it's difficult to care about her later. And she's under about 15lbs of makeup. And you still wonder about more established female action heroes that could've been used. Charlize Theron? Scarlett Johanson? Kim Basinger? Uma Thurman. IDK.

I kinda don't care if they make a part 5 and as hard as this bombed, I'm sure they probably won't.

This sequel nearly a decade in the making clearly isn't made for long-suffering fans of this franchise, as most of the iconic cast barely has any screen time. The title should've been "Jason Statham and some of the Expendables."

And this also isn't made for people who like dumb cheesy action movies, as this movie plays it completely straight most of the time, rarely allowing campiness to show.

It also isn't made for people who like slick, cool action movies, as director Scott Waugh continues this series' streak of having directors who can barely string a coherent series of shots together to tell a story. Nearly every shot looks cheap and the progression of events is clunky as hell.

Woeful incompetence is how I'd describe most of what's seen in this film. It truly has some of the worst special effects I've ever seen put to screen. And it still cost $100 million.

So, I ask again, who is this for? Whose idea was it to make an action sequel that will appeal to absolutely NONE of its potential audiences?

If it weren't for the fact that this movie does have a half-decent third act and one impressive fight scene, I'd be saying that this is easily the worst of these movies.

But it's a contender for that title, and even so, I can still say this is one of the worst action movies I've ever seen in theatres.

A film that should have been better, but unfortunately had a mediocre director.

Not everything in the movie is bad, but overall this could have been a great movie.

Well, let's start with the good stuff:

Jason Statham works well in an action movie as usual. Stallone is in his element, although it would be better if he was a little more in the film. Iko Uwais is not bad at all as a villain and he is a good addition to the film. Andy Garcia is also a good choice for this movie. The rest of the team is mostly good, with a few exceptions, some should have maybe gotten a little more time in the movie.

And now, the bad part:

The biggest problem with this movie is the mediocre director. If they had a better director, this film could have been great, it turned out to be just tolerable, and that's because most of today's film production is garbage.

There is too much "shaky camera" that makes every movie look worse than it really is. Such scenes simply look cheap.

The CGI looks pretty bad, which is odd considering this isn't a cheap movie, but a bad director made it look cheap.

The film lacks that real cinematic look, I don't know if it's because of the type of camera, so everything looks too artificial, it doesn't have the look that older films had, where everything looked monumental. This looks like a documentary, with ultra-sharp resolution, and yet it looks cheap, as if we're looking through a window.

Basically, the director is the worst thing about this movie, everything else is not nearly as bad, not even some really hilarious casting choices.

In the end, the film could have been great, it turned out to be just another mediocre film, and it's sad that even as such it is better than most of what "modern film production" offers us today.

I was a little excited in this; after all I'd spent my teenage years watching The Expendables, especially since the first three movies had come out during high school for me. So, it was somewhat surprising to hear about its revival a decade later, although not entirely unexpected given the trend of remakes and sequels these days.

The humor in the movie isn't the greatest, but it becomes a central theme after the action scenes. It's not its strongest quality, but I didn't watch it for that; I was in it for the action. Sylvester Stallone seemed like a bored retiree, Iko Uwais as Rahmat acted overly tough and full of himself. And then there's 50 Cent, who displayed Herculean strength (which, I must admit, I kinda liked). The highlight was definitely when they played 50 Cent's song "Pimp"; I wish they had played it longer. It felt like a throwback to the old Expendables, where the movie paid homage to all the actors' previous iconic works.

The film came across as a B-list action movie with big-name actors, rather than a big studio blockbuster. However, in comparison to the first three films, the cast was a huge downgrade. Could've been better with more of the original cast, or even the younger actors from the previous 3rd installment. Despite it tanking at box office, I still enjoyed expendables 3. I had believed that the introduction of the young cast was setting the stage for the franchise's future, so it was a shock to see some of the old familiar faces return again, along with a few new additions. Megan fox and 50 Cent made it feel even more like a B-list movie, and the returning members from the original cast seemed past their prime. What was once a star-studded ensemble now appeared to be filled with well-known B-list actors at best. Remembering that this franchise has seen Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Antonio Banderas, Wesley Snipes, Scott Adkins and Steve Austin.

Action scenes were good but not spectacular, which felt mediocre in today's standards. This was made worse because some of the CGI wasn't great, causing the big action sequences to pale in comparison to the hand-to-hand combat scenes that required fewer effects. They clearly didn't have an unlimited budget, some CGI scenes looked okay, while most seemed rushed.

I think the first half of the film tried too hard, overemphasizing building connections between the characters. We already loved for these characters from three previous movies, so this additional attempt in the first 30 minutes somewhat undermined the preexisting chemistry, which sucked, especially considering the significant plot twist that followed.

The story wasn't great, at best tolerable, and it didn't offer any remarkable moments, progressing rather generically. It could have been paced a bit quicker. And for dumb action movies like this, it doesn't even need a complex story; just good old dumb action done right. I also wished the deceased character had stayed dead, as it would have made the emotions the movie tried and failed to invoke in the first act seem even more pointless. The accents felt forced, and I think some of the conversations, especially among the henchmen, should've been in their native languages. Could've been more believable that way.

I was excited for this, but not surprised it was a disappointment. Most recent sequels, like Shazam, Transformers, Fast X, and Indiana Jones, haven't impressed much. The early Expendables films were so good because they brought together legendary action stars, and I believe that if they had stuck with that formula, featuring the new action stars of our time, along with a solid plot and budget, this movie could have had a fighting chance.