The Expendables (Franchise)

Exp4ndables 4 just came out.

It might be the worst entry in the franchise.

For the much better 3 earlier films you've got a bunch of veteran actors and tough guys (and Mel Gibson) spending an hour shooting the shit out of squads of bad guys. Popcorn flicks celebrating the cliche action of the 80's.

The only crossover between Stallone, Schwarzanegger, and Willis in existence.

Edited by FOFD on Sep 24th 2023 at 9:04:54 AM

I thought the third movie was the worst because of the change from R-rated to PG-13. So I checked some reviews for the fourth film and they said it's bad too. What went wrong? I know the movie R rating is back but is the plot that bad?

Edited by Bubblepig on Sep 25th 2023 at 10:32:35 AM

I can't believe that this franchise is still going after all of these years.

Surprised there isn't already a thread for these movies…

Been catching up on the first three this past weekend and as it stands right now, got about half an hour left on the third and planning to see the fourth tonight. They're dumb fun. The third because it has a PG-13 instead of an R is definitely playing it safer and fitting into the traditional action movie mold more in a way that yeah, I can understand why so many fans were mad even though I'm not.

Franchises dont just die,they make too much money simply to stop

I am kinda stumped to think what an Expendables movie could do to be considered "the bad one." Saw 1 in the theater and... honestly came out quite disappointed. It was dumb but not dumb enough, and honestly not that fun. It had its moments but the All-Star Cast just made the action scenes feel like a waste of talent to me. Didn't care for it.

Except for the character names. That shit is Grade-A cheese.

Started the third one and got bored halfway through.

But, even if I didn't care for these, clearly people did. So I am kinda curious as to what it could've dropped the ball on here.

Also. I really like calling the new one "Expend-4-Balls."

Edited by Larkmarn on Sep 25th 2023 at 10:24:56 AM

The second one is generally considered the best for being the most outrageous and throwing in as many cameos as they could. The third one was a misstep because of PG 13 and focusing more on MMA fighters getting their first acting job.

This one seemed to focus on Megan Fox as the main draw and little about the story and villain. The main appeal of the films were not being Stallone/Statham vehicles but the density of recognizable names, and seems to fall into the same mistakes as 3.

Having finished the third one a little earlier: not terrible, but less coherent and harder to follow though. It didn't get me invested like the others did either. I had to rewind it a bunch and yeah, the PG-13 is a damper on it being more free-wielding with what its doing too.

Be it tonight or another night, I'll report back on my thoughts on the fourth one soon once I've seen it.

Edited by futuremoviewriter on Sep 25th 2023 at 12:57:36 PM

Expend4bles is pretty terrible, with some of the worst editing and effects I've seen in some time. And how do you put Iko Uwais and Tony Jaa in a movie together and not have them fight each other?

Edited by GrandmasterKiramidHead on Sep 25th 2023 at 10:05:52 AM

Is Megan Fox really popular enough to be a main draw for a movie like this? Overall I think the second one was the peak of the franchise, disappointed but not surprised to hear this one doesn't match up.

So I saw it a few hours ago and…oh man. I'm not angry, but that was pretty stupid.

For one thing, an insanely predictable Captain Obvious Reveal about the villain and for another, a reveal that's such an Ass Pull it runs on Insane Troll Logic—even though it's also a Like You Would Really Do It. Those are two of the biggest problems it has.

At least it was easier to understand than the third one at times was, I'll give it that. To what avail though? Times where it was dumb fun, but mostly just dumb.

Hollywood seems to have a weird fascination with completely wasting Tony Jaa. I genuinely can't figure out how they consistently poorly use him.

I mean, damn. In Furious 7 he exists to worf Paul Walker. Monster Hunter... happened and I don't want to talk about it (but hey, no one in the universe does, either). Even Jiu Jitsu he plays second fiddle to plank of wood-man, and the fight choreography in that movie isn't great despite clearly being the draw.

They clearly wanted to expand the range of the team and…yeah, they needed a different way to get more of an appeal certainly.

Also, the Disproportionate Retribution that last twist has laced in too? WTF???

I was the only one at the 7 PM showing last night by the way. WOW.

Edited by futuremoviewriter on Sep 26th 2023 at 4:30:34 AM

When I saw the trailer of the fourth movie, I immediately guessed who the villain was going to be.

Edited by Bubblepig on Sep 26th 2023 at 6:53:56 AM

I knew while watching the movie. Would've been nice if it was a surprise, like a glorified cameo who we hadn't met yet was the villain all along. As it was, I was thinking while watching "it's [that one]" and I hoped I was wrong.

Edited by futuremoviewriter on Sep 26th 2023 at 9:15:29 AM

I didn't know the person playing the main villain. My only hint was that Tony Jaa's character and the other guy didn't seem to have much in the way of being a mastermind. They were The Dragon to someone and the second dude barely even spoke.

I skimmed a statement from the directors about why they cast Megan Fox and it was something to the effect of "we can't reinvent the wheel, but you got to change things up now and then."

The impression I got was they felt the series formula was getting stale and that to freshen things up, they needed newer, younger faces.

I think there was an objectively, glaringly superior way of doing this. Like, the franchise was founded on the idea of celebrating the old and cheesy. They didn't ring John Cena because he's not a veteran action star. They didn't grab Miley Cyrus because she's not an action star. Yeah they grabbed Ronda Rousey and some younger people. Coincidentally, that was one of the less well-received entries of the franchise (albeit, I still liked the 3rd).

It screams to me someone who didn't really get what the franchise was about and just wanted to stubbornly enforce their ideas on it. I can understand why Stallone didn't show up much or really want to be part of the fourth one.

It doesn't have to be a boy's club - Sigourney Weaver, Uma Thurman, Ming Na Wen were all valid choices. Heck you can even have Megan Fox if you need sex appeal that badly. But don't make her the new character who was "there all along" and "is more recognized than anybody else."

Levy Tran and 50 Cent were both weird choices too. They clearly needed a black actor to replace Terry Crews (who also didn't come back, interestingly enough). Idris Elba, Denzel Washington, heck Will Smith would be more thematically appropriate choices. I genuinely have no idea who Levy Tran is.

Edited by FOFD on Sep 28th 2023 at 5:07:27 AM

This seemed an odd statement to me because always seemed like Stallone's passion project, so surely they'd hire people that get it. Then I checked wiki's franchise page and there's like one producer on 4 in common with 3, there's a lot of turn over of behind the scenes movie to movie.

I'm surprised they don't bring back Simon West of 2, or bring in another classic 80s action director if they are still going. John McTiernan would be ideal or Renny Harlin.

Edited by dcutter2 on Sep 28th 2023 at 4:06:57 PM

The first one was definitely Stallone's passion project, though I think with each entry he's taken steps back bit by bit

I can't imagine any of them (especially Denzel) getting caught within fifty miles of this franchise.

Why not?

Denzel's got a third Equalizer coming out. Smith has jumped from comedy to action to superhero action to sci fi.

Elba I'm less familiar but he was in the Fast and Furious films, and I'm pretty sure people want him to be the next James Bond so I suspect he's got an action star pedigree.

If there's a paycheck I don't see why they'd say no.

Edited by FOFD on Sep 28th 2023 at 2:21:06 PM

Because none of the movies they do are just "dumb action movies."

The Equalizer is much darker and more serious, Idris was just the star of an action/suspense show, and Smith has proven that if he wants, he can just show up, play his usual action character (as seen in Suicide Squad) and have most of the plot revolve around.

They're not gonna take a paycheck to be "also starring" in a series with little prestige and not even that much money.

Plus you keep saying "these actors are better choices."

Maybe they are, but that's not at all how casting works. You can't just say "get me the best actor possible." You have to consider the budget you're working with, that actor's schedule, any work history they might have with the cast and crew, and a million other things.

I don't see any of them except Washington saying no.

I said "get me the best actor possible" because I'm saying who I think would be thematically appropriate and I'm not someone working on the movies.

Being in a darker and more serious film doesn't preclude an actor from taking on non-dark/serious roles. Will Smith is the prime example; from Seven Pounds to Hitch. Idris was just in a Fast film which wasn't at all serious.

Smith has been in multiple films that were duds.

The Expendables is full of veteran action movie actors and some talented action stars. I don't think it requires them to lower their standards.

Edited by FOFD on Sep 28th 2023 at 2:54:34 PM

It does when they're this far in a franchise that has diminishing returns.

Also, you mentioned that Terry Crews didn't return, it's important to point why. Namely, because he was sexually assaulted by Stallone's agent and then one of the producers wanted him to keep quiet about the assault to stay in the film.

So, yeah. We've got a franchise already on its last legs, behind the scenes drama, and unable to retain some of its previous stars. The reason they didn't get "better actors"? Because they couldn't if they tried.

Expendables 3 already tried the fresh young faces thing, and it didn't really work. I also wouldn't describe 50 Cent as fresh or young. It kind of felt like Terry Crews said no, or the producers forgot that Hale Caesar survived the last movie. They even changed the script so he would live, and he still didn't come back.

Yeah, cause he was sexually assaulted and one of the producers told him to shut up about it.