Wasted Talent

The Expendables
Directed by Sylvester Stallone
Reviewed by Ernest M. Whiteman III

I was so looking forward to this movie. I am a huge proponent of NOT adding nostalgia to current movies. But seeing the cast alone was enough to get me excited. Stallone himself is in a sort of filmmaking renaissance of late, with his directorial turns and returns with “Rocky Balboa” and the latest “Rambo”.

The movie is about a team of mercenaries made up of various action stars, including Sly himself, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Jet Li. They take a puppet dictator who is not really evil and… well, that’s about it.

It is supposed to be a throwback to the 80’s action genre with its stunt casting and histrionic gun battles. The editing was hasty and made the scenes nonsensical. Their camaraderie seems a bit forced and the dialogue felt ill-timed. Like the best shots were used but not trimmed, that I could feel the gaps of time between line readings.

Sly’s character eventually tries to rescue the depot’s daughter simply because she turns him on and the hastily composed showdown really amounted to nothing. Hell, even Eric Roberts “Power Behind the Throne” monologues about he and Sly BEING THE SAME! Come on. When Sly steps out of his comfort zones, like Rocky and Rambo, he tends to fumble. He fumbled this, big time. He looked tired and sad.

What angers me is the amount of effort put into this. Sly broke his neck filming the fight with Steve Austin. To see the fight a choppy, sloppy mess made me sad.

Now this movie has its defenders but that is because they want it to matter, to be justified in their liking “manly, macho” movies of the past. The idea of that faux-manhood presented in violence and explosions is supposed to be revered and something to strive for. But that is not the world today.

“It is what it is” not longer has a place in the new cinema landscape. We are building a tendency to promote and support mediocrity. We do not strive for excellence. We want nostalgic nonsense. As a result, trash like “The Room” and “The Expendables” gain cult status.

You know what? I was just so damned disappointed. I really was. Walking out of the theater I was mute and just sad. Yeah, the movie made me sad. “Wasted Talent” is what comes to mind now. I just don’t want to talk about it any more. I have more to say but you can just come up and ask me about it. (Well, maybe not.)

Do not recommend. At all.

© 2010 Ernest M. Whiteman III