[2012] The Expendables 2

[Markgway]

Cartoonish blockbuster sequel improves on the original and is hardcore action fun that invites you to ignore the plot and concentrate on all manner of explosions, stabbings, shootings and fist fights. A great film? Nah. But a must for fans of 80s muscle-bound heroics. Van Damme, Norris, and Schwarzenegger are standouts.

Additional points:

1. I have a feeling that this will be Norris' swansong. He was already retired and I view this as his 'thanks to the fans' which made the experience bittersweet.

2. My guess is that Jet would only commit to a cameo appearence. It's unlikely Stallone would have written him out otherwise. My opinion.

3. I enjoyed this more than the Raid. It had personality.

[hanshotfirst]

Originally Posted by KUNG FU BOB

It did look like his work. Doesn't Jet work exclusively with Yuen Kwai on all US films? It wouldn't surprise me if:

A) Yuen Kwai did that one bit with Jet uncredited. Or...

B) The EXP2 action choreographer deferred to Jet for this bit of action, and his AC just now looks very similar to Yuen's after all of these years of them working together. Maybe when the BD comes out we'll spot him in the "making of" footage.

I guess we'll see. As far as I know, he worked with him on all of English language films ("Jet Li's fight team") except for the film he did with Jackie Chan The Forbidden Kingdom and that Luc Besson picture Danny the Dog, or Unleashed, as it's known here.. Apparently they shot that scene in HK too, so it wouldn't surprise me. I've never heard of Jet contributing to his choreography, but of course he'd presumably have some input.

Originally Posted by mark187

I believe the fight choreographer for Jet Li's scene was actually Guk Hin-Chiu

Really? Yuen Wo-Ping's former cohort? That'd make sense, I just knew It looked very Hong Kong flavored. With all of these talented martial artists, it is a shame they don't get to show off more. I didn't see him in the credits.

Originally Posted by gorhama

I saw Expendables 2 last night and I loved every freaking minute of it. Of course there are questions and complaints. Why replace Jet Li after 10 minutes of some of the best Jet Li action a US movie.

Yeah, I think West is the first American director I've seen who's actually shot one of his scenes properly.

Originally Posted by Markgway

Cartoonish blockbuster sequel improves on the original and is hardcore action fun that invites you to ignore the plot and concentrate on all manner of explosions, stabbings, shootings and fist fights. A great film? Nah. But a must for fans of 80s muscle-bound heroics. Van Damme, Norris, and Schwarzenegger are standouts.

It's like an action movie version of Freddy vs. Jason, just pure fan service.

My guess is that Jet would only commit to a cameo appearence. It's unlikely Stallone would have written him out otherwise. My opinion.

I had that his wife has just had a baby and he didn't want to leave China, and since they filmed the rest of the movie in Bulgaria like the rest of the Nu Image productions, so Jet elected to film a cameo.

I enjoyed this more than the Raid. It had personality.

I've come around to The Raid on second viewing. This had personality, however stupid though, you're right.

[waywardsage]

Just saw it tonight with a friend. I grew up watching all of action films with these action stars and I really geeked out with my friend watching them. We went back to his house and started reading up on EXP 3!

That being said, did anyone else notice how TERRIBLE the picture quality looked? We saw it at a Cinemark XD theatre and the image was blurry and terrible looking. I don't remember the first film looking like that.

Did anyone else have that issue?

[Tigerstyles]

Originally Posted by waywardsage

Just saw it tonight with a friend. I grew up watching all of action films with these action stars and I really geeked out with my friend watching them. We went back to his house and started reading up on EXP 3!

That being said, did anyone else notice how TERRIBLE the picture quality looked? We saw it at a Cinemark XD theatre and the image was blurry and terrible looking. I don't remember the first film looking like that.

Did anyone else have that issue?

picture was shite blur fuzzy maybe it was intentional to make it look like a copied VHS or something (Showcase Cinema,Walsall) and stank of Urine.

the sound was tinny in places (in the aircraft) too very poor..

[OldPangYau]

Originally Posted by waywardsage

Just saw it tonight with a friend. I grew up watching all of action films with these action stars and I really geeked out with my friend watching them. We went back to his house and started reading up on EXP 3!

That being said, did anyone else notice how TERRIBLE the picture quality looked? We saw it at a Cinemark XD theatre and the image was blurry and terrible looking. I don't remember the first film looking like that.

Did anyone else have that issue?

That's odd... while I didn't see in on an XD screen (ALMOST did), I did see it at a Cinemark on Friday and it was fine. The only "soft" looking scene was when Barney and Billy were talking outside the bar, which I noticed on the second viewing as well. Otherwise, it looked good to me.

Plus, overall, this was indeed better than the first! I enjoyed the first, but it didn't meet my expectations. This one did Also, the big difference was that they had a head villain who did his own fighting and didn't just rely on henchmen like Monroe and Garza did in the first one.

I'm sad that it didn't have a bigger weekend though, but some people still blame that nut from Colorado from scaring people away from theaters. I just hope we get at least one more Expendables to round out a trilogy.

[Markgway]

When I saw this I had three troublemakers sitting in the row behind me.

Seat-kicking... packet-rustling... chatting... giggling...

Teens, right? No. A trio of old ladies! PENSIONERS!

And they laughed at EVERYTHING, even the trailers (apparently Sam Raimi's 'The Possession' is a comedy).

They have ratings to keep kids out of films... can we have one now for these elderly gangsters?

[sifu iron perm]

Originally Posted by Markgway

When I saw this I had three troublemakers sitting in the row behind me.

Seat-kicking... packet-rustling... chatting... giggling...

Teens, right? No. A trio of old ladies! PENSIONERS!

And they laughed at EVERYTHING, even the trailers (apparently Sam Raimi's 'The Possession' is a comedy).

They have ratings to keep kids out of films... can we have one now for these elderly gangsters?

The OG's...Old Grannies.

[Markgway]

And one of them had a walker. So they were armed and dangerous.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Originally Posted by Markgway

When I saw this I had three troublemakers sitting in the row behind me.

Seat-kicking... packet-rustling... chatting... giggling...

Teens, right? No. A trio of old ladies! PENSIONERS!

And they laughed at EVERYTHING, even the trailers (apparently Sam Raimi's 'The Possession' is a comedy).

They have ratings to keep kids out of films... can we have one now for these elderly gangsters?

Are you for real?

I would never have imagined that. I mean, not only their actions, but their choice of films.

[Cesare]

Gang of old ladies!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i25gZXQF2w