The expendable expendables

The Expendables 3
English (U/A) ¬
Director: Patrick Hughes
Cast: Sylvester Stallone,Jason Statham, Mel Gibson

They say the first impression is the last impression, and the beginning of this movie is the perfect example to falsify that statement. It begins with an intensity that will quite obviously reach saturation point, and quickly.

Viewers will develop a mild interest at first, as The Expendables team tries to free Doctor Death (Wesley Snipes), who is imprisoned in a heavily-guarded moving train. After using unnecessary amounts of brute force and artillery to massacre the guards on the train, The Expendables manage to free Doctor Death to proceed with their next mission, which seems to be all about the team chief Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone).What follows in this movie is not noteworthy. It is, quite literally, Sylvester Stallone going from place to place doing a bunch of different stuff with a bunch of different people.

It is no surprise though that the main character in this movie is Barney, with his dull character sketch and all, because Sylvester Stallone was one of three writers for this movie’s plot. It seems as though Stallone is overcompensating for his failures in the Rocky sequels.

He should have just stuck to directing like he did in The Expendables (2010), as Patrick Hughes certainly did not make a good replacement. The cinematography was less-than-mediocre and warrants that a viewer really focus on the confusing camera angle shifts instead of the plot. While the movie fails to create anything worthwhile with a mash up of overdone action and weak humour, Hughes has managed to make it as drab as Stallone did with the story. 

At the very outset, the movie tries to put across copious amounts of action and humour, but fails miserably. It might as well be called The Expendables 3 – Overkill (In more ways than one). Lovers of this genre, be warned: very little in this movie has potential to reach even the lowest of your expectations. Do not expect eyes to be widened, or laughter to resound. In a theatre, expect the audience to make a beeline for the door at intermission, and half the seats to empty after. This movie is easily expendable.