Big boys are back in town

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren

Barney Ross (Stallone) is the fearless leader of a band of mercenaries known as the Expendables – soldiers of fortune who travel the world doing the jobs that nobody else is willing to do.

Ross and his men have a motto – they’ll do anything if the money’s right – so when the group is commissioned by the mysterious Mr. Church (Willis) to assassinate the merciless dictator of a small South American island, Barney and his right-hand man Lee Christmas (Statham) are more than happy to accept the challenge.

The Expendables isn't a parody of an 80s action movie – it actually is an 80s action movie, with its stellar cast of all-action heroes past and present.

If you're looking for character arcs, Oscar calibre performances, subtle writing and the like then this is probably not for you. What we do get however, is a big budget B-film bonanza, where excess is revered and the bangs don't get much bigger.

In short, Stallone continues to deliver what his fans want - both as actor and as director. Based on a graphic novel, he could hardly make it more graphic; blood splattered scenes abound as bullets, knives and swords make mince meat of the bad guys. There is an abundance of firepower and plenty of car wrecking as Sly and Co set out to prove they are anything but expendable.

Genre: Action | Adventure | Thriller
Age Restriction: Rated R for strong action and bloody violence throughout, and for some language.
Runtime: 103 min