The old adage warns that you should never judge a book by its cover.

But in modern day nerdy analogy, it’s probably fair to say you should never judge a game by its title.

For Western audiences more accustomed to A-List game names containing the words ‘War/Football/Gun/Kaboom’, something like El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is likely going to attract only the hardcore of Jap-RPG loving enthusiasts.

Which is something that can only work in its favour should enough gamers get around to actually playing it. Undoubtedly one of the most stylish and bonkers games to come out of a mainstream developer this year, it’s (brace yourselves) fundamentally a hack’n'slash platformer wrapped up in the tale of an ancient Jewish legend (inspired by the story of Noah’s ancestor), and funnelled through pretty much every oddball form of artistic expressionism going (Dadaism, cubism and more).

The quasi-religious-cum-explosively-actiontastic story finds Enoch (said Noah descendent) on the hunt to bring down seven fallen angels via the wonderful medium of his smash-heavy fists and some pretty incredible weaponry.

As you do.

From the moment you’re flung into El Shaddai’s fantastical, trippy surroundings, it’s guaranteed to grab hold with its singularity of vision, artistic flare and sheer eyeball-frazzling craziness. Yet while the core gameplay is a hoot and such originality should be commended, it’s ‘look at me I’m all different and stuff’ tone is likely to annoy as many as easily as it appeals (warning you now – there’s waffly dialogue aplenty and a post-modernist, fourth-wall breaking playfulness that can grate).

Still, with visuals that are some of the most beautiful and surreal I’ve seen on any platform, a corking soundtrack and a quirkiness that just about snags its onemoreplay-ability factor, you’d do far worse than passing up on this summer’s slew of movie cash-ins and brainless sequels and opting for something that’s every bit as bonkers as its title and pseudo-21st-century-book cover suggests.

***½~ (3.5/5)

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is on General Release now, and available on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Here’s another slick trailer for the new Brett Ratner film Tower Heist, which pulls off a mighty feat in taking a fairly hokey premise (big shot moneyman rips off the hotel staff in the building in which he is under house arrest leading them to steal their money back, you know – that old story) from a director not unused to criticism and makes it look like a slightly less glamorous version of Ocean’s Eleven, but a fun one nonetheless.

Certainly the sight of a greying Ferris Bueller shivering on a hotel rooftop and Eddie Murphy stepping out of prison and straight into Trading Places is quite fun, and Ben Stiller looks firmly set in Night at the Museum mode here with Gabourey Sidibe and Alan Alda making the most of the aforementioned hoke. Decent cast having fun with a silly premise then. Why not?

It’s released in the UK 4th November. Will you be there?

Thanks The Sun.

It was the beginning of the year when we first put up and image but now Universal Pictures have release the first trailer for new movie directed by Brett Ratner and starring Ben Stiller, Alan Alda, Eddie Murphy, Michael Peña, Casey Affleck and Ferris Bueller himself, the awesome Matthew Broderick.

Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy lead an all-star cast in Tower Heist, a comedy caper about working stiffs who seek revenge on the Wall Street swindler who stiffed them. After the workers at a luxury Central Park condominium discover the penthouse billionaire has stolen their retirement, they plot the ultimate revenge: a heist to reclaim what he took from them.

It’s released in the UK 4th Novemer. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

As the 1st of April slowly approaches, it only makes sense to keep releasing fresh marketing materials for Zack Snyder’s forthcoming action fantasy, Sucker Punch.

It’s the only spring film I’m truly excited for and the one that has the most potential to be visually stunning and so far looks awesome.

Thanks to the IMP Awards, a new banner for the film has been released and it definitely looks like something I’d love to have on my wall-either painted on or printed.  Check it out below and let us know what you think.

It has been quite some time since Tower Heist was filming in NYC which is why I am surprised it has taken this long to get an image from the film.  Recently, Entertainment Weekly has published the first official photo from the film which features a majority of the all star cast staking out their targets residency.

Here is the brief synopsis according to IMDB:  “When a group of hard working guys find out they’ve fallen victim to a wealthy business man’s Ponzi scheme, they conspire to rob his high-rise residence.”

Tower Heist, which is directed by Brett Ratner (Red Dragon), stars  Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Téa Leoni, Gabourey Sidibe, Michael Pena, Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck and Judd Hirsch.

Check out the image below and let us know what you think.

As we inch closer and closer to the release of Michel Gondry’s new film, The Green Hornet, the LA Times has decided to released their behind the scenes images to the loving public, and there’s a lot of them.

Having already seen the film, which I thought was extremely entertaining and a lot of  fun, it’s really cool to look at these images to see how it was actually made, to learn what was real and what was actually just a green screen.

Below you will find a few images of Jay Chou, Seth Rogan, Michel Gondry and the stunt team all doing work on the set of the film.

You can click HERE to view the rest of them.

I’ve been following the Chinese superhero comedy, Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, for quite some time now, waiting for new footage, photos and more to be released for the simple fact that I know, as an American, I’ll be deprived of it for at least another year.  For the first time though, we finally get to see some actual footage from the film in between interview footage featuring the stars themselves, Mr. and Mrs. Incredible.

The trailer, located below, is very humorous and features references to some very famous movies.  When you watch it see if you can identify some of the references.  If you like the work of Stephen Chow then I think there is a chance you may enjoy this trailer.  Check it out and let us know what you think.

Synopsis:

Love is never meant to be an easy matter – especially for superheroes. Gazer Captain (Louis Koo) falls in love with Red aka Aroma Woman (Sandra Ng). Getting tired of their lifestyle, they decide to retreat to a small village and start a family. Five years pass, Gazer and Red live a quiet and happy life. One day an official announces that an upcoming martial arts tournament will be held in their tranquil village. Hundreds of kung fu masters and fanatics arrive for the ultimate championship, then trouble really kicks off.

Mr. & Mrs. Incredible is directed by Vincent Kok and stars Louis Koo, Sandra Ng Kwan Yue and Chapman To.

Thanks to the heads up from BleedingCool.

80s action legend Chuck Norris is on a “wish list” for the sequel to The Expendables according to one of the film’s stars.

The 2010 summer blockbuster starred Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke and Dolph Lundgren and took over $103 million at the box office worldwide. Inevitably, a sequel is already in the works.

Dolph told Upbeat Productions:

Chuck Norris is on my wish list. He’d be great as a General or something like that.

I’m not privy to who didn’t sign for the first one and for what reason and all of that because Stallone was the one who hired people but Jean Claude (Van Damme), who I have worked with before and is a nice guy, was asked and (Steven) Seagal didn’t want to do it but maybe he’ll be in the sequel.

The action star’s also told Upbeat that The Expendables is one of the few films he’s made that he feels naturally deserves a sequel. Dolph explained,

The Expendables lends itself to a sequel or sequels very nicely. Back in the 80s when I did action movies like The Punisher and all that they didn’t lend themselves to sequels very well.

He added jokingly,

The Expendables is now a trademark, a franchise and so the best thing about doing a sequel is that now I can ask for more money!

The Expendables is out on rent and buy on Blu Ray and DVD. We’ve got a video interview with Dolph Lundgren coming soon on the site so check back to hear more about the epic action movie.

Reported by Simon Thompson.

It looks like new found best friends, Adam Sandler and Kevin James, are reuniting yet again for a new comedy called Valet Guys after pitching the idea to Sony Pictures Entertainment resulting in a “preemptive deal.”

Deadline reported that the story will be about two “veteran valet parking guys at a South Beach hotel who witness a murder and find themselves running for their lives.”  Long time partners Kevin James and Nick Bakay will be penning the script for the film.

You may not exactly know Bakay’s name but he is the guy who has been collaborating with James since his rise to stardom with The King of Queens along with the films like Paul Blart: Mall Cop and his soon to be released film, Zookeeper.

You can probably make a bet that somewhere in the film you may see Rob Schneider, Chris Rock and maybe even David Spade since they all are very good friends and even appeared together in Sandler’s latest comedy, Grown Ups.  Don’t forget, James and Sandler were also stars in their “buddy” comedy, I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry making Valet Guys the pair’s third film together.

All we can do now is wait, but what do you think of the idea behind Valet Guys?  Does it have any potential or is it just another run-of-the-mill action comedy?  Let us know in the comments section below.

Set to hit theaters at some point in 2011, Taylor Lautner’s new thriller, Abduction, is finally making some fresh moves with the release of its officially synopsis.  Yesterday, Collider revealed the synopsis along with the first image for the film but unfortunately they were asked to take it down.

The film, which is directed by John Singleton (Four Brothers, 2 Fast 2 Furious), stars Alfred Molina, Maria Bello, Lily Collins and Sigourney Weaver in supporting roles.

While I am personally not a fan of Lauter, the idea behind the film seems pretty cool and very promising given the supporting cast.  Check out the synopsis below:

What would you do if you found your own picture on a missing persons website?  Teen Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) finds himself facing this very dilemma. Setting out to uncover his real identity, Nathan quickly learns his parents are far from who they say they are. When the police, government agents and shadowy figures start to pursue him, Nathan’s quest for the truth erupts into a full-blown “Bourne”-like man-on-the-run thriller.

I think the man-on-the-run premise seems like it’s going to work really well given the unique twist in the plot.  What do you all think?

Xavier Gens’ apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, The Divide, has just released its first poster via IMPA.  Gens, responsible for films like Hitman and Frontier(s), is hoping to continue the improvement of his films with his latest high concept endeavor where to survive the end of the world, [everyone] must first survive each other.  It’s a simple yet effective tag line that I believe works extremely well.

The poster below, which I think is pretty cool, looks a bit too much like the poster for the Solaris remake with George Clooney, with the exception of the color and what we see reflected in the glass of the mask.  But luckily for the type of film it is, it actually does work even if it isn’t the most original thing we’ve ever seen.

The Divide stars Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren German, Rosanna Arquette, and Michael Eklund and is expected to be released sometime in 2011.

In case you missed the teaser I’ve posted it below for your viewing pleasure.

When you hear the name Zack Snyder now it seems as if everyone instantly thinks of his new gig as the Superman director.  While this may be true, we cannot immediately forget his latest film endeavor, his action fantasy flick, Sucker Punch, a movie that I am extremely excited about.

Since the debut of the trailer we have seen tons of images and a bit of concept art.  Well after about three months of silence regarding the topic at hand, Warner Bros. have finally released the official synopsis for Snyder’s latest film.  You can check it out below along with the trailer if you haven’t already seen it.

“Sucker Punch” is an epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality.  Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, but her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary…with potentially tragic consequences.

Born from the creative vision of filmmaker Zack Snyder (“Watchmen,” “300”), “Sucker Punch” features an ensemble cast of young stars, including Emily Browning (“The Uninvited”), Abbie Cornish (“Bright Star”), Jena Malone (“Into the Wild”), Vanessa Hudgens (the “High School Musical” films) and Jamie Chung (“Sorority Row”).  The film’s main cast also includes Oscar Isaac (“Robin Hood”) and Carla Gugino (“Watchmen”), with Jon Hamm (upcoming “The Town,” TV’s “Mad Men”) and Scott Glenn (“The Bourne Ultimatum”).

Zack Snyder is directing “Sucker Punch” from a screenplay he wrote with Steve Shibuya, based on Snyder’s story.  Snyder and Deborah Snyder are producing, with Thomas Tull, Wesley Coller, Jon Jashni, Chris deFaria, Jim Rowe and William Fay serving as executive producers.

The behind-the-scenes creative team includes Academy Award^®-winning production designer Rick Carter (“Avatar”) and “Watchmen” and “300” veterans director of photography Larry Fong, editor William Hoy and costume designer Michael Wilkinson.  The music is by Tyler Bates and Marius DeVries.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Legendary Pictures, a Cruel and Unusual Production of a Zack Snyder film, “Sucker Punch.” Opening nationwide on March 25, 2011, the film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Sucker Punch hits theaters on March 25, 2011

Well, it’s not a huge surprise, but it’s good to know that as well as overseeing the next Superman film Christopher Nolan has just confirmed that he will be directing Batman 3.

Empire had the rather good fortune to catch Nolan in a chatty mood and here’s the all important confirmation,

I don’t know if it’s announced or if it’s not announced,” said Nolan. “It’s becoming inevitable, I’ll put it that way. I feel myself falling into it, I guess. And getting it all figured out and I’m pretty excited about what we’re doing so… If I haven’t announced it, I think that people probably all know at this point that I’m doing it.”

Hang on, that’s not 100% clear: so we can safely assume you’re directing?

“I think you can at this point, yes.”

So, while we don’t all agree that Nolan is the best man for the job he is pretty much guaranteed a blank cheque given the success of the first two and the recent box office juggernaut Inception.

Who knows which villains and sidekicks Nolan will populate the third film with, personally I’m hoping Michael Caine suits up as a nice and unexpected twist on Robin.

Do you think this is a good thing for the Batman series? Would you have liked to have seen another director take on this project?

The Town is the second stint in the director’s chair for Ben Affleck and on the strength of the excellent trailer (see it here) it was one of my most anticipated movies of 2010.

The Town is set in a Boston suburb called Charlestown which in real life has produced more bank robbers and armored truck thieves than anywhere else in the world. It’s a place where robbery has become a trade passed down from father to son and the film centres on one of its citizens named Doug MacRay (Affleck) who, along with best friend Jim (Jeremy Renner) and two other accomplices, perform the most perfectly executed theft operations in town.

On their latest heist things take an unexpected turn as Jim takes a hostage who turns out to be a resident of Charlestown, and one who could identify them if they were to release her. Doug offers to check what Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) knows but he begins to fall for her.

This draws attention from the gang as to Doug’s intentions, of both his heist career and the prospects of their money making future, specifically from the Fergie ‘Florist’ Colm (Postlethwaite), the guy who runs things and identifies the heists for the gang. At the same time FBI agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) is closing in on the crew, watching their every move.

Doug realises it’s time to get out of Charlestown after one more imposed last job to save Claire’s life and to save him from being forever held in the grasp of The Town.

The Town is an utter triumph, it’s a film of excitement, tense action, gripping crime drama and very LOUD gunfire. I enjoyed it far more than I was expecting too and it’s by far the best thing Affleck has done in a recently improving career. The three well crafted heists are played out very intelligently with a keen attention to detail and with great pace, making them stand out on their own without taking too much away from the character development and the different relationships of Doug and his heist crew and his conflicted relationship with Claire.

Ben Affleck has created an a familiar feeling film with Heat and Point Break instantly coming to mind when watching it, but don’t let that put you off – it has enough of its own personality to set it apart It’s easily one of the better films I’ve seen this year and  will no doubt be greeted by a decent box office taking.

The Town delivers some very well written characters from an excellent script by Affleck and Peter Craig encompassing superbly crafted action scenes with a pacing that works exceptionally to let you rest after each exciting set piece and allow characters to exchange great dialogue before we head face first into another explosive bank heist. It’s an absolute joy and as satisfying as any crime thriller this year or many years before it.

The acting from the entire cast is also  worth mentioning as each actor is in really impressive form with Affleck putting in a solid performance that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. Partnered alongside the excellent Jeremy Renner who was a mean and unpredictable guy bordering on psychotic, they proved to be a brilliant pairing wit a wonderful chemistry.

Blake Lively was a particular standout as Krista, who is a long time on/off girlfriend to Doug and plays a key part in the film’s climax. She delivers a brilliant and broken performance that should have directors taking note and after her role in Green Lantern look out for her taking on some big roles.

Jon Hamm is also pleasing to watch as the bitter Agent trying desperately to get a successful arrest and he clearly has what it takes to lead on the big screen as brilliantly as he does in the TV series Mad Men. Rebecca Hall delivers everything but the kitchen sink as her character goes through the toughest emotional ride of any character in the film and she delivers it beautifully.

There are so many other positives from the film including a nice role for the legend Pete Postlethwaite as a tough guy and especially a small role from Chris Cooper as Doug’s father who gives a short but memorable scene from inside the joint that explains the harshness of Charlestown perfectly. It’s a lot of actors and characters to mention in a review but they all fully deserve praise for an ensemble cast that deliver a great, great film.

Overall ‘The Town’ is a glorious film that delivers everything you could want from a crime thriller movie. It’s by far the best film released this week so go check it out.

The Town is out on 24th September.

Last week, Inception broke the $500m worldwide gross milestone. A big success story, to be sure, but after The Dark Knight’s $1bn+ number, it perhaps isn’t really a major surprise. It was even less of a surprise when it was revealed that Nolan would be at the helm for Batman 3 once Inception was done and dusted, but as the Inception train begins slowing to a halt, i can’t help but ask myself, was Batman 3 the right decision for Nolan’s career?

Nolan made his name with clever, twisting drama, and it is only his last couple of movies that have led to his being considered an action movie director. Films like Memento and The Prestige used human interest and intricate plotting to make an impact, and there is a risk that with his new action movie sensibilities, he could begin to lose what made him great as a filmmaker in the first place. This is one major reason why i feel it would have been wise to step away from the Batman franchise, but there are several more…

It’s a no-win situation.

As i said at the outset, The Dark Knight made over $1b worldwide. This makes it one of the highest grossing films of all time, leaving any attempt to top it financially virtually impossible. There will be much expectation, however, from both fans and studio. If it makes considerably less than the Nolan’s second Batman movie, it could be considered a failure.

The Dark Knight is also considered by many to be one of the best movies ever made, currently holding 11th place in the IMDb250 list. Again, this leaves expectation impossibly high, and it is highly unlikely Nolan can match it with the third film. This, again, could result in the movie being considered a failure. The Dark Knight’s plot was very well constructed, and complemented by some fine acting performances. A lot of elements came together perfectly, and the chances of Nolan experiencing the same fortune again are slim.

On the other hand, if he does top The Dark Knight financially and critically, he could be pressurized into considering staying on once again for a Batman 4. Whilst he has made it fairly clear that he doesn’t want to make more than a trilogy of films, if Warner Bros lean on him, and the fans scream out for another one, it will put the director into a very difficult situation. He could well find himself accused of turning his back on the franchise that brought him to the masses if he has to publicly turn down another Batman movie.

The actor playing the villain will be compared to Heath Ledger.

It’s unfair, and it’s inevitable. Heath Ledger carved out one of the greatest villain performances in cinematic history, and his presence, and the circumstances around it, were a big part of The Dark Knight’s success. The pressure will be on for whoever plays the principal villain in Batman 3, whoever it turns out to be, and whichever character they play. The fact that Ledger would have most likely reprised the Joker role in Batman 3 if he hadn’t tragically died will only make the scrutiny that bit more intense. With that shadow looming, it will be an almost impossible part to write and cast.

We have already seen the speculation around the next Batman villain undermine the build-up to Inception’s release. Whilst on the promotional trail for his latest film, Nolan was subjected to just as many questions regarding casting rumours for Batman 3 as he was to Inception based ones. With Joseph Gordon-Levitt and other Inception cast members inevitably linked to the follow-up to The Dark Knight in recent months, it is clear that there is somewhat of an obsession with which foes Batman will face next time around, and who will be responsible for bringing them to life.

He’d reached a good stopping point.

At the end of Batman Begins, it was made clear that there would be more. When Gordon revealed the Joker card that was being left at crime scenes, it was a message to the audience that there was to be a continuation to the story. At the end of The Dark Knight, there was no such nod to a sequel. Whilst you could argue that there were plot strands left hanging, like Mr Reese’s knowledge of Batman’s real identity, and The Joker’s incarceration but not death, the final scenes, with Batman riding off into the night, did not beg a follow up.

Batman knew that the people of Gotham would never truly accept him as their hero, no matter how much good he did, and that he was destined to live life as an outcast. This could easily be left as the conclusion of his journey, doomed to protect Gotham from behind the anonymity of his mask, a figure of mistrust and fear. A third film just isn’t necessary.

The biggest problem with following on from a film with so few loose ends is that any attempts to extend the plot strands seem tenuous, and if you start with a whole new story there is a danger of shifting the film’s tone from the previous one, leaving it feeling disjointed from the series. This actually happened to an extent between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, with Gotham looking almost completely different the second time around, which means that in this case it may not prove so much of a problem.

The franchise is too restrictive.

With Inception, Nolan has been able to craft a story completely from scratch, making up his own world, characters and technology. Whilst he has been able to make his Batman series unique to his own sensibilities, he is very much constrained by the logic and history of the comic series.

I have no doubts Nolan and his writing team can put together another compelling Batman story, but it will always be within a range of restrictions, which must be quite draining, and even frustrating at times. By casting off the shackles of Batman’s world, the talented filmmaker would be free to create original stories, exploring the themes and ideas he really wants to without having to keep grounded to a particular set of rules.

Inception was almost pure sci-fi, and Nolan set out his Batman stall by grounding it as much as possible in reality. This makes it difficult to be too inventive with the plot, and makes any science fiction based cheat such as the one seen in The Prestige much harder to get away with. Incidentally, this also makes a lot of the comic book characters difficult to realise on screen in the Batman world that Nolan has created.

He won’t improve on his weakest areas as a filmmaker.

The biggest criticism levelled at all of Nolan’s work is an inability to put genuine emotion up on screen. All of the characters that lead Nolan’s work are motivated by the same thing. Obsession. It is clearly a reflection of his own obsession with filmmaking, but the problem is that this type of character is not conducive to telling emotional, human interest stories.

This is made worse by the restrictions of the Batman character. Even Inception, despite a story revolving around a father trying to be reunited with his children, and the casting of one of the finest actors plying their trade today, did not have the emotional depth that truly great filmmaking requires.

The problem with the action movies that Nolan is now making is that they leave little time for personal drama, three-dimensional characterisation and exploration of character motivations. In order to improve his ability to work with this side of film, i think Nolan needs to concentrate on lower budget, character-led storytelling. Until he can give us perfectly crafted human drama, i think he needs to stay away from big budget blockbusters that demand great thrills and high action to draw in an audience and recoup their budget.

I understand that the reason Nolan was able to get a green light for Inception, his passion project, was his commitment to the Batman series, and its continuing success. I’m sure that by making Batman 3 he is once again ensuring that he’ll get to make the movie he wants to make once it is finished with. However, Nolan is one of very few directors that i can genuinely say i like every one of his films. My fear is that if he leans more and more towards the thrill-heavy action genre, he may well lose his filmmaking identity.

It would be a great shame if the director of great movies like Memento and The Prestige started making big movies that fell more towards the Transformers 2 end of the scale. This probably won’t happen, but there is a risk of getting carried away with a genre, and by making sequels to successful blockbusters, there is always great pressure to top the last installment by going bigger. We don’t want this from Nolan. He has given us one of the best, and most original movies of the Summer, and that is what we want more of, not franchise based popcorn fodder. I’m looking forward to Batman 3, and i will probably love it, but for the next couple of years i’ll find myself wondering what might have been, if Christopher Nolan had chosen to detach himself from Batman and make another original masterpiece.

Bazmann – You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

OK, i’ll wait a minute for you to stop laughing. It’s understandable. Stallone has been considered somewhat of a joke by many over the past couple of decades. He doesn’t have the best reputation for range, choice of roles or quality of output but, when it comes down to it, he has been consistently one of the most popular personalities in the industry.

Whether you love Sly or hate him, the evidence of the impact he has had on Hollywood is compelling to say the least. You see, the success of The Expendables at the weekend wasn’t just a return to the star power-led successes of the eighties, it was a huge landmark in the history of the Silver Screen.

The Expendables won the box office at the weekend. This is special because it is the fifth consecutive decade in which Sylvester Stallone has starred in a movie that topped the box office in its opening week. That’s right, dating back from the seventies, every decade a Sylvester Stallone vehicle has opened in the number one position in theatres. This is a massive achievement, and Sly is the only actor to have done it.

It began nearly 35 years ago with Rocky. Now, there don’t seem to be accurate records for Rocky’s opening gross, so we have to skip to Rocky II which won its opening weekend with $6.3m in 1979. In the eighties, it was a handful of box office wins with Rocky III and IV, and First Blood and Rambo II amongst others.

Sly followed this up in the nineties with success in Cliffhanger, the Specialist, etc… with Cliffhanger the biggest opening at $16.1M. It gets a bit thin in the noughties, when Driven, despite being an awful movie, won its opening weekend before fading into obscurity. The Expendables makes up the fifth decade, but at Sly’s age, it is difficult to see him making it six decades in a row – he’ll be 74 in 2020.

I realise, of course, that you’re screaming at me by now, that success can’t be measured purely in monetary terms. How can he be Hollywood’s biggest star when he has been nominated for more Razzies than you can shake a stick at? You’re not wrong, and his biggest award success, worst actor of the decade at said Razzies in 1990, is not indicative of a great actor.

It is somewhat difficult to defend Stallone’s quality of work, but i’ll certainly have a go. He was nominated for Best Actor in a Lead Role at the Academy Awards in 1977 for Rocky, as well as for Best Screenplay. It has gone downhill since then, but there have been some really good performances over the years as far as i am concerned, with Demolition Man, Assassins and Cop Land particularly standing out for me.

I don’t think the man gets a fair shot a lot of the time, he has been tarred with the brush of talentless action hero, and whilst he has made some stinkers, i don’t think he gets the benefit of the doubt because of who he is. I think there are times when he does a great job, but people don’t see it, because they just don’t like him.

There is no doubting that Stallone has not made a genuinely good film for a long time now, and if he continues to pursue sequels like Rambo and Rocky Balboa, not to mention ‘original’ action movies like The Expendables, he is not going to change that. I’m hoping that as a result of The Expendables’ success this Summer, he might get offered some more diverse parts again, and get one last crack at showing the world that he does have some chops, and is not solely suited to shooting scores of extras with dozens of squibs for a living.

I am not a massive fan of Sylvester Stallone, and i don’t find myself particularly anxious to go out and see his latest action blockbuster. I did like him in Rocky and the underrated Cop Land, however, and if he gets to play some more interesting parts i would be much more likely to give him a shot one more time.

Whatever your feelings on Stallone, there is no denying that financially he has been one of the industry’s most successful performers, and regardless of the quality of his output to date, and whatever his future holds, he will always be remembered as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Bazmann – You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

Last week Gary posted this exhaustive look at the cinematic death dealt out by the main actors in Slyvester Stallone’s bombastic 80s action heroes class reunion, The Expendables.

Taking the gory initiative artist Stephen Wildish compiled this excellent infographic to illustrate the macabre tally and we wanted to share it with you.

You can read Gary’s review of the Expendables here, and check out Stephen’s work below.

There’s a link on Stephen’s site for a large version of it and I’d recommend checking it out here.

With the biggest, greatest, most over the top action film of all time coming out on 19th August in the form of The Expendables (our review here), HeyUGuys is bringing you the ultimate run down of the kill count that these historic action actors have each tallied up.

From throat rips to decapitations, martial art assassins to robotic killers and Yippee Ki-Yay’s to Asta La Vista’s, they have dealt death in every way possible with every weapon imaginable.

Each death reaches the same conclusion but each actor carries it off in their own unique style, often adding a personal touch. Be it an Arnie verbal send off like “Stick Around” after being stuck with a huge knife against a post or adding some humour by playing games with the baddies like John McClane in Die Hard ” Now I have a machine gun, Ho Ho Ho”. A memorable death greatly adds to the enjoyment of watching baddies/goodies perish at the hands, feet, guns, knives, robotic limbs of these iconic action movie stars.

Although this rundown is never going to be 100% accurate I have tried to find as much information to build the most definitive totals of bloody deaths in action film lore. I’ve also added a guess of how many kills each actor racked up in The Expendables, it was an impossible task, but I think Jason Statham came out on top after recording 41 kills in one scene pushing him ahead of his nearest competitor.

This is the Expendables body count run down that totals over 2000 dead bodies in over 300 films combined.

You can read our extensive coverage including our review for The Expendables here.

MICKEY ROUKE

First up is the rejuvenated Mickey Rourke who never really started off as an action movie star but has slowly become a very dominant actor in the action movie genre.

With starring roles in the excellent Sin City as Marv and as Ivan Vanko in Iron Man 2 being recent highlights, Rourke has shown an incredible natural ability to add a villainous menace or a convincing powerful force to his roles which makes him such a watchable actor in action films. Rourke again gives a great performance as ‘Tool’ in the Expendables, easily the best actor in the whole film.

Probably one of the toughest actors on the list, as an amateur boxer he reportedly had 12 consecutive first round knockouts and also went undefeated in 8 professional boxing matches from 1991 -1995 winning 6 and drawing 2 bouts before retiring to go back to acting. Rourke needed facial surgery to correct his disfigurement due to injuries suffered from boxing and a balls up from his plastic surgeon left him with his drastically different looking features.

Rourke’s first film was alongside Jon Belushi and Dan Akroyd in Spielberg’s war spoof ’1941′ and he went on to star in 9 1/2 weeks, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sin City, The Wrestler and Iron Man 2 and he also turned down the roles of Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop, Stuntman Mike in Tarantino’s Grindhouse episode Death Proof, Johnny Ringo in Tombstone and Butch Coolidge in Pulp Fiction.

Along with Stallone, they are the only Oscar nominated actors from the Expendables and Rourke got his Oscar nod for the role of Randy Robinson in the Wrestler

Mickey Rourke – 28 Kills on screen in 61 Films – 0.45 kills per film

Most Kills:- 15 as Marv in Sin City

Kills in The Expendables: 0

JASON STATHAM

Jason Statham is our next hard man in the list and a surprise action star considering he came from nowhere to appear in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and two years after that starred in Snatch. All of a sudden he became a martial artist action movie star who took off in ‘The Transporter’ a film which spawned two further sequels, which Stathem then topped with the insane, ridiculous and guilty pleasures ‘Crank’ and ‘Crank 2: High Voltage’ where he played the delightfully named Chev Chelios, a man trying to keep his ticker ticking by doing adrenaline pumping antics or otherwise he dies. Love it.

He has already faced off against Expendables Jet Li in War and The One as well as Mickey Rourke in 13 and has had leading roles in Bank Job, Revolver, Deathrace with further supporting roles in Italian Job, Mean Machine, Ghost of Mars and as the lead villain in Cellular.

When you watch a Statham film you can expect a few things from them. 1, there will be action and some very OTT action at that. 2, there will be some very well choreographed martial arts that include props and the scenery around him which is very reminiscent of the classic Jackie Chan films which it makes his films more than your average martial art film and very accessible. And 3, there will some quirky humour.

Statham has blossomed into a well loved Hollywood actor who must be in heaven starring in The Expendables with such iconic action movie heroes and fully deserves his major role as the co-star alongside Stallone. For me he was one of the many highlights of The Expendables with his knife killing skills.

Jason Statham – 147 Kills on screen in 23 Films – 6.4 kills per film

Most Kills:- 60 as ‘Farmer’ in ‘In the name of the King’

Approximate kills in The Expendables: 80

BRUCE WILLIS

Bruce Willis is only third in the list of the action stars in terms of on screen kills but is easily one of the most loved due to his success as John McClane in the Die Hard movies; despite how poorly received the fourth movie was, the lure of seeing McClane back on the screen was the main draw, and that’s thanks to Willis.

He had his first staring role in the non action movie ‘The Return of Bruno’, a “Hilarious Rock Comedy” which was followed by Rom-Com ‘Blind Date’ starring alongside Kim Basinger. It looked like Bruce Willis was heading towards being a comedy actor with his next role being in ‘Sunset’ with James Garner, but after that the legend was born with Bruce Willis being cast as Detective John McClane in 1988′s Die Hard apparently beating actors Richard Gere, Don Johnson and Richard Dean Anderson in the process and the rest is history.

Willis has performed in over 60 films and numerous TV shows with highlights being Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys, The Fifth Element, Sin City, Armageddon, Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. Moonlighting was the highlight of his TV Career winning a Global Globe with his performance as David Addison and also had appearances in Friends and Ally McBeal, but in the end he will always be known as John ‘Die Hard’ McClane.

Bruce Willis 168 Kills on screen in 62 Films – 2.7 per film

Most Kills – 26 as Korban Dallas in Fifth Element

Approximate kills in The Expendables: 0

JET LI

Next on the list is Jet Li and it’s also a step up in kill rates per film for the action stars, in fact Triple the amount of Bruce Willis.

Jet Li (real name Li Lian Jie) is arguably the most natural action fighting star in the film with an incredible knowledge of martial arts under his belt with the mastery of Wushu, Tai Chi, Drunken Fist, Praying Mantis Fist as well as weapon skills that make him the real fighting machine who could probably take on any of the guys on this list and win.

Jet Li’s first entry into movies was the successful Shaolin Temple films that were followed by the Once upon a time in China trilogy, Fist of Legend and High Risk that developed him into one of the greatest martial artists on the big screen of all time. Inevitably it wasn’t long before Hollywood came calling when he appeared in Lethal Weapon 4 in his first ever role as a villain which was then followed by his first Hollywood leading role in Romeo Must Die.

Li continued to make films back in China as well as in Hollywood with the pick being the stunning Hero but also he starred in The One, Cradle 2 the Grave, Unleashed, The Mummy 3, Fearless and The Forbidden Kingdom which would all be pretty abysmal or average films if it wasn’t for the killer moves and presence of the great Jet Li appearing in them.

Not many martial art actors have earned world wide recognition but Jet Li has fully earned his place alongside the greats of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan as the best.

Jet Li – 327 Kills on screen – 39 Films – 8.3 per film

Most Kills – 50 as Kit Li in High Risk

Approximate kills in The Expendables: 30

SYLVESTER STALLONE

The man who brought them all together in Expendables and the man who holds the second highest amount of kills in one movie for his throat ripping, machine gun firing and knife chopping killing spree in 2008′s Rambo. From his most innocent kill from dropping dead weight in Cliff Hanger to shooting a soldier pointblank repeatedly with the biggest machine gun in Rambo 4, Sylvester Stallone is quite possibly the first name that would spring to mind if you were asked to name an action movie star on Family Fortunes, he is and always will be an action movie star.

Complications during his birth left Stallone with a severed a nerve in his head which left him with partial paralysis in his face, slurred speech and his sagging lower lip, but something that could have seriously limited most actors chances to succeed, it  has become as much a part of his character as his bulging muscles and killing machine personality.

His career has had its up and downs with Stop! or my Mom will Shoot being a horrible low and Rocky being a triple Oscar winning high. Stallone has a fine collection of franchise movies with Rocky producing six highly enjoyable films and Rambo forging four well loved movies with Rambo 4 giving Stallone the second highest kill rate in one film from our list with a staggering 87, he just knows how to create iconic characters in his movies.

Stallone is one of the biggest box office earners, one of the greatest movie stars of all time and one of the most recognisable actors in the world. Action movies wouldn’t be anywhere near as enjoyable without his contribution.

Sylvester Stallone – 334 Kills on Screen – 50 Films – 6.7 per film

Most Kills – 87 as John Rambo (2008)

Approximate kills in The Expendables: 60

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

Although having little screen time in the Expendables, the Guvnor of California will be rightfully represented in the movie and he will forever been known as one of the best and most consistently enjoyable action movie stars that there ever will be. If not for his amazing array of movies, he is memorable for his quotable and trademark one liners or the characters he has portrayed; the man is an action hero.

Arnie started off as a body builder winning Mr. Universe at the age of 22 and entering movies in his debut as Arnold Strong in Hercules in New York. Arnie then went on to get a ‘Best acting debut’ Golden Globe for his role in Stay Hungry (1976) alongside Jeff Bridges and Sally Field but it was Conan the Barbarian that launched him into the Action Movie Hall of Fame which subsequently lead to his role as The Terminator. After dominating the movie business for 20 years he then did the unthinkable and became Governor of California where he has served to this day.

Arnie holds the record for most kills in one film with the awesome Commando where he slaughtered a phenomenal 102 bad guys. It’s the ultimate display of killing but it was no way his greatest moment, most people will instantly say Terminator is his defining moment and it’s hard to argue with that. His turn as the killing machine sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor, then protect her son John Connor in James Cameron’s sequel, is one of the finest in Sci-Fi history and one he will be forever remembered for.

In his prime Arnie made arguably the finest collection of Action movies that have ever been made by one actor, easily beating everyone on this list in terms of variety, enjoyment, cult status and personality in his films, Arnie has proven to be possibly the most popular action movie star of all time. Listing the films just proves this:

Conan, The Terminator, Commando, Raw Deal, Predator, Running Man, Red Heat, Total Recall, Terminator 2 and True Lies that (for me) was his last true classic Action Movie. Arnie is my favourite action movie star of all time and in my opinion, No one comes close.

Arnold Schwarzenegger – 513 Kills on screen – 31 Films – 16.5 per film

Most Kills – 102 as Matrix in Commando

Approximate kills in The Expendables: 0

DOLPH LUNDGREN

And finally the winner of the most kills combined and with a staggering 632 kills in an average of 17.5 people per film, it’s Dolph ‘He-Man’ Lundgren.

To be honest I know little of Lundgren’s films, I know he was in Masters of the Universe, Rocky 4, The Punisher, Universal Soldier films and Blackjack but apart from those, the others I’ve never seen or ever really heard of but that doesn’t make his career insignificant. Dolph is a killing machine and has killed almost more people than Rourke, Statham, Willis and Jet Li put together and has a higher average per film to boot.

Dolph Lundgren was born in Sweden and it the largest of the Expendables at 6’5″ who has a third Degree Black Belt. His career in action films started in a small role in James Bond A View to a Kill due to being the real life body guard to Grace Jones, but it was his best and most well remembered role as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV that set him onto the path of becoming a major action movie star.

He followed Rocky with his most high profile role with the live adaptation of He-Man, he played the lead role of Adam Prince of Eternia in a fantasy/action movie that I still have fond memories of seeing, but one that I haven’t seen since the late 80′s, It can’t be that bad…

After Masters of the Universe, Lundgren went on to star in Red Scorpion, The Punisher and Universal Soldier alongside Jean Claude Van Damme that turned out to be his last major movie for many years as he slipped into low profile straight to DVD movies where he has made a living from since including turning to directing in 2004 with the movie Defender.

Lundgren was considered for the role of Ben Richards in The Running Man and was also offered the role of Captain America in the 1980 version but due to doing the Punisher, he turned it down. It’s a shame as he could have easily of had a career like Schwarzenegger, but he made a better villain than a hero and the bad guy rarely becomes the big star.

Dolph Lundgren – 632 Kills on screen – 36 Films – 17.5 per film

Most Kills – 60 as Frank in the Punisher

Approximate kills in The Expendables: 10

THE BLOODY FACTS:

TOTALS: 2149 Combined Kills in 302 Films.

1. HOW HIGH – If you laid all the bodies these guys have racked up in their movies and stack em up like a single tower morbid game of Jenga it would be the height of 2149 feet, 655 metres or 0.4 of a mile which is roughly the same size as five London Eye big wheels, Two Eiffel Towers or as tall as 13 Godzilla’s (Japanese 1954 original version)..

2. HOW FAR- Alternatively if you don’t fancy stacking you could lay each body-bag head to toe (presuming each guy exterminated was 6 foot tall, which is about right height for your average villain) it will total up to about 12,894 feet, 2.5 Miles or 3,930 metres in Length. That’s 9.8 times around an Olympic track that would take Usain Bolt about six minutes to reach the end of running at full pelt..

3. BLOODBATH! – If the average human body contains 5.6 litres of blood and presuming after each life our action stars takes the bodies loses around half that, then there would be enough blood to fill 10,588 pints of beer, 22.3 baths of water and is three times the amount of blood used to blast out of the bed in A Nightmare on Elm Street!

Thanks to excellent site www.allouttabubblegum.com for an invaluable source of information on movie deaths. Check them out, I had almost as much fun reading their site as I did watching the Expendables!

This Summer, some of the finest actors of a generation have been brought together for a big action movie, with a unique and original plot, and mind bending storyline. But enough about Inception. Also this Summer, Sylvester Stallone brings together either a collection of has-beens and never-weres, or the most impressively assembled collection of action movie icons in the history of cinema, depending on your point of view.

The Expendables tells the story of a team of mercenaries, action men whose lives have been devoted to carnage and mayhem. These Expendables are so called because they are unwanted, unloved, and completely, well, Expendable. Is this just an excuse for one of the most over the top, action heavy movies of all time, or is it a thinly veiled metaphor for the careers of those involved?

Whilst there are several younger ‘actors’ involved, some yet to make a name for themselves, the story of Sly’s summer blockbuster is his attempt to bring together as many action heroes of his era as he could get to sign on the dotted line. All can be considered former box office draws, but most have seen their best days long past. This weekend, it’s going to be interesting to see if these once A-list heavyweights are still able to draw an audience, or if they are now just as disposable as their alter egos in the film.

Some, like Dolph Lundgren, had a very short purple period many years ago with Rocky IV and Masters of the Universe in the eighties, and have now faded into obscurity. Others, like Sly, and Willis and Schwarzenegger (who admittedly only have small parts) are still trucking (though not for a few years now in the case of Arnie), but have been forced to watch their drawing power decline steadily over the last decade. Jet Li could almost be considered a surprise inclusion in the cast, as he has had much more recent success, and has not been around for nearly as long as some of the others. To be categorized alongside the rest of the ageing cast must have been somewhat of an eye opener for him, and it will be interesting to see what kind of effect it has on his movie career in China and Hong Kong.

Mickey Rourke has already mounted a comeback, with an impressive performance in Sin City followed up with his Academy Award nominated work in The Wrestler. One of Rourke’s biggest career weaknesses the first time around was bad role choices. Despite the aforementioned critically acclaimed roles, it is starting to look like he is struggling once again to maintain his profile with the right career decisions, following his underwritten role in Iron Man 2 with a date with career killer Megan Fox in Passion Play. In many ways, Rourke has a lot to lose by associating himself with actors whose careers have gone to seed.

Perhaps the healthiest movie career at stake is that of Jason Statham. He has thrown off the shackles of his mockney crime caper beginnings by carving out a career as one of the new generation of action heroes. Statham has built up a big fanbase with appearances in both the Transporter and Crank series, and should be looking to lift himself up to the next tier. If The Expendables doesn’t work, it could mire him in the same career dire straits as some of his older castmates, which would be a bit of a shame.

One thing is for sure, whatever reputation the eighties stars present currently hold, it could be worse. With the massive fall from grace that has befallen Mel Gibson, and the loss of popularity Tom Cruise’s bizarre behaviour has cost him, Sly and co. are in a far better position to springboard themselves back onto the Hollywood A-list than several of their peers.

So what are The Expendables prospects? And what would success actually look like? No-one is expecting high art, and that’s as it should be. The Expendables was always going to be a mindless action flick, and to over-complicate it would be asking for trouble. The plot does however need to be cohesive, and entertaining, with some spirit and genuine human interest. The Losers was a very similar style of movie, and a lack of compelling emotional drama and interesting plot meant it did not fare well at all. So far, reviews for The Expendables have been mixed, and there is nothing to suggest that it will be a classic of the genre.

I think financial success is far more important to The Expendables than critical plaudits. With a production budget of reportedly around $80m, it isn’t really THAT expensive. An opening weekend of around $30m would be massive, and instant justification for the movie. I think it could actually top that, with the competition from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World possibly a little overestimated. With plans already afoot for a sequel, projections are clearly looking quite good at the moment. However, the era of big names translating into big box office seem to be behind us, and you could argue it is only really Stallone of the principal cast that has the potential to draw in an audience.

This is an important movie for everyone involved. For the big personalities, it is a measure of just how much their star has faded, and an indication of where they stand with action movie fans. For the less well known, younger actors, success could lead to a lucrative action movie career. For Rourke and Statham, it is more of a gamble, and success is really a must to keep them up at the level they are currently at. For the likes of forgotten man Dolph Lundgren, it could lead to a career resurgence, which he must be hoping for, or it may just end up as the last hurrah of a washed-up action hero.

Whatever happens this weekend, The Expendables was an ambitious attempt to put together one of the most star-studded casts in recent history, and has managed to draw the interest of movie fans around the globe. We may be about to find out whether the stars of the past can still be relevant to a modern audience, or if they are obsolete, unwanted and, well, expendable. I hope the movie does do well, and i hope it does turn out to be a fun watch. It’s nice to see stars of yesteryear attempting to force themselves back to the top of the tree, and i’ll be fascinated to read the reviews and box office results at the end of the coming weekend.

Bazmann – You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

The Expendables has been on my radar for months and like many other excited fans it’s a film I’ve been itching to see since Stallone announced that he would be bringing us ‘the ultimate action movie’ .

This is a film which unites some of the greatest action stars from the last two decades including Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone.

Was it worth the wait? Hell Yeah!!

Review contains spoilers

The Expendables are a group of highly trained mercenaries who take on impossible jobs for money. They are given roles by their handler ‘Tool’ (Mickey Rourke) and are introduced to the fast shooting leader, Barney ‘Schizo’ Ross (Stallone), knife specialist ‘Lee’ Christmas (Statham) short martial artist ‘Ying Yang’ (Li), big gun liability ‘Gunnar Jensen’ (Lundgren), Demolition expert ‘Toll Road’ (Randy Couture) and big gun ‘Hale Caesar’ (Terry Crews).

The team begin by boarding a boat where rebels are holding hostages that are to be executed. Outnumbered, we get to see their great skills against the odds. It’s a superb opening scene of coolness, sharp shooting and humour, and it sets the scene nicely as well as throwing in an upper body decapitation leaving the legs standing for good measure. Welcome to the action!

From here, we head into its main “story” where the Expendables are offered a job by the CIA. Their mission a covert ‘Op’ into Vilena to overthrow South American murderous Dictator General Garza (David Zayas). A reconnaissance mission leads Barney and Christmas (not the most tough sounding named action heroes) to meet local freedom-fighter and contact Sandra (Giselle Itie) who shows them who their real enemy is, former CIA operative James Monroe (Eric Roberts), who pulls the political strings, and his muscle Dan Paine (Steve Austin) and ‘The Brit’ (Gary Daniels). Forced to flee in a hail of bullets and explosions, leaving Sandra behind to face torture and death. Barney plans to return with The Expendables to rescue the girl and destroy the murdering regime against all the odds……

What’s Good

Stallone is truly awesome and he still looks pretty good considering he’s 64. He carries the movie with his presence and energy for the role and you just can’t not enjoy him in the movie. Stallone however is outshone by Jason Statham who, for me, steals the show with some excellent fights, moves, one-liners and a highly enjoyable performance that may well propel him into the next big action movie star.

The rest of the cast all offer decent performances with no one being particularly out of place or abysmal despite their lack of screen time or acting credits. Jet Li and Lundgren put on a good rivalry although both are underused. Eric Roberts is just a wonderfully textbook evil-in-a-suit bad guy with Steve Austin providing a formidable opponent in his fights towards the end of the film. Mickey Rourke puts in the one solid performance with and was easily the standout in terms of acting, particularly in the key turning point in the film where he spills out his heart to Barney, he has such a cool presence in the movie and it’s a shame he doesn’t feature more.

The action scenes as expected are exhilarating viewing and took me back to some classic action movies of the 80′s and 90′s with some really OTT moments which all got a well deserved applause after they lit up the screen. It was so enjoyable watching such bombastic action play out like it does in The Expendables, from such iconic actors. There were some awesome one on one fights towards the end with head snaps, arm breaks, decapitations and plenty of huge guns literally ripping enemy soldiers to pieces if everything else failed; it’s outrageously riotous and so damn, bloody fun.

Then comes the action movie money shot that everyone had been waiting for, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone together for the first time in a movie. Yeah it’s a completely pointless scene and it’s sole use is to give us an action movie orgasm but it was very funny as they played off each other and I doubt there was a single person in the cinema who didn’t love every second of it, I know I did.

What’s Not So Good

The script is really cheesy at times, the story is crazy/laughable, some of the dialogue from Jet Li, Stallone and Lundgren was slightly inaudible due to their mumbled broken English. There is also some disappointing shoddy fake CGI blood and effects thrown into the action to add some gore which looked terrible and it makes you wonder why they bother when real prosthetic limbs and squirting plasma looks so much better, but I can easily forgive all of these issues as they pass quickly so not to dwell on the weaknesses of the film and let us sit back and enjoy the ride.

Some of the characters are really underused with Jet Li only given a few scenes to show off his martial arts.  The pairing of Randy Couture and Terry Crews get their moments at the beginning and the end of the film. However, they are just there for the muscle but due to their acting ability it’s probably a wise move not to extend their screen time but it does just make their characters there to make up the numbers. Dolph Lundgren has a smaller part than I expected but his contribution was none the less brutal.

Actors that I wish had appeared: Steven Seagal, Jean Claude Van Damme, Carl Weathers, Roddy Piper, Kurt Russel and Chuck Norris – but maybe Stallone is saving them for a sequel…

Overall

The ensemble cast is why people will flock to see The Expendables and the cheers as each actor’s name appeared in the opening credits was evidence to how excited people are for the film and I really believe you won’t be disappointed with it.

The hype for The Expendables is just about met, no one really expected a solid story with intelligent character dialogue. What people want is proper action and that’s what you get, by the tonne, from the greatest action stars of our generation. Easily the best action movie you’re going to see all year.

The Expendables is out 19th August. Check out our extensive Expendables coverage here.