Let’s face it, sometimes when you want to escape the stressors of daily life and work, you reach out for something comforting and familiar.
For me, that’s often music or movies and often it’s not a blockbuster or something spectacularly stellar.
A lot of movie franchises and TV series end up with this designation in my life and “The Expendables” franchise is just one of them.
You take a bunch of old-as-dirt 1980s-90s action heroes, give them free rein to shoot bad guys, blow things up, and wisecrack – it’s a mix that lets you turn off your brain and just strap in for the ride.
Expend4ables might have a weak and predictable plot with some wonky CGI carnage graphics, but, overall at least the teamwork pans out and I live for hilarious banter between friends.
Expend4bles (also known as The Expendables 4) is an American action film that is the fourth installment in The Expendables film series, following The Expendables 3 (2014).
The film stars an ensemble cast including Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture reprising their roles from previous films, with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy García joining the cast.
It is directed by Scott Waugh from a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer, Tad Daggerhart, and Max Adams, based on a story by Spenser Cohen, Wimmer, and Daggerhart.
The film clocks in at 104 minutes and has earned its R-rating with strong/bloody violence throughout, language, and sexual material.
The Expendables are sent to Libya to keep mercenary Rahmat (Uwais) from stealing nuclear warheads for the mysterious Ocelot – a very bad guy that Barney Ross (Stallone) failed to apprehend 25 years prior.
However, the team is incapacitated when all of their vehicles are destroyed in the ensuing fight.
Barney, who had stayed behind on the plane to provide air support and act as their extraction - is killed when it is shot down.
At his memorial service, CIA operative Marsh (Garcia) reveals that the team will go after Ocelot and Rahmat.
Barney’s death opened a sealed file that states that there is an eyewitness in custody who could identify Ocelot so that they can be brought to justice for their crimes.
It is revealed that Ocelot plans to ignite World War III by letting the nuclear warheads explode in the Russian Far East by transporting them on a ship disguised as an American aircraft carrier.
However, this job would have to be done without Lee Christmas (Statham), who jeopardized the mission of trying to save Barney.
He is replaced by his former girlfriend Gina (Fox), who also brings female operative Lash (Tran) into the team.
The team travels to Asia but is secretly trailed by Christmas, who had slipped Gina a tracking device earlier.
As the Expendables and Marsh board the ship, they are ambushed and taken hostage.
Marsh is taken away to negotiate a prisoner exchange for the eyewitness.
Meanwhile, Christmas travels to Thailand to recruit former Expendable Decha (Jaa), who has turned towards pacifism but agrees to bring him to the ship to avenge Barney.
As Christmas fights his way through the ship, Decha has a change of heart and helps him rescue the rest of the team.
Overall, I found Expend4bles to be an entertaining romp despite the thin plotline and patented over-the-top 1980s macho cheesiness injected into nearly every interaction.
But, that’s what you pay for – a bunch of former military folks with dark humor, snarky comments, and a bond that’s like family – which makes it worth it to me!
