If there was a dream team cast of Hollywood movies like the US Olympic basketball teams of old, this movie would be the one that brought everyone together for the gold. This time with a few new characters in the mix, The Expendables 3 is back with an over the top cast and more explosions than you could imagine. While the movie still keeps the original Expendables cast, Stallone also recruited some of boxing and MMA’s best to be part of this epic action packed flick, that is at times funny and at times simply just unrealistic.
For the first time on film Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jason Statham joined forces with Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes and Harrison Ford, along with 11 other legends and rising stars for a film that starts shooting from the jump. Filled with explosive stunts and enough Sylvester Stallone yells, grunts, and slow motion shots for the ages, this film is so over the top, that the violence and explosions and stunts are hilarious entertainment.
Directed by Patrick Hughes, this film required more than 1,000 people to work on the film, but still had the feel of a close-knit group as the cast had a noticeable chemistry. Stallone seemed to know how to make all the characters fit, as fellow co-star Jason Statham complemented Sly Stallone’s action film writing.
“He creates real characters with soul and heart,” Statham notes. “Superheroes in capes are great, but Sly writes about real heroes. He’s played a hero for his whole career. No one does it better.”
“I was so happy to be in it and work with Wesley,” Terry Crews said during the press conference, “All is right with the world now that Wes is back.”
After a mission gone bad in which Terry Crews’ character is almost killed by co-founder and now villain Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), Barney (Sly Stallone) forces the original Expendables crew into retirement . To replace the old squad, Sly Stallone recruits none other than some of boxing and MMA’s top fighters (Randy Couture, Victor Ortiz, Ronda Rousey) who help the Expendables team battle the onslaught by Stonebanks’ militia.
Of the more memorable moments in the film, Hip-Hop fans will surely enjoy all of the Wesley Snipes scenes, as the 52-year-old actor shows he still has the ability to move around. Sly Stallone wrote this one and he clearly worked with the cast on their lines, as there are some great one liners and references to several of the actor’s personal lives outside of film.
“They are all fresh, all new. Some of the them are already quite accomplished in the sports world, so they bring that fire in the gut, which is exactly what I was looking for. This isn’t Shakespeare in the Park. I was looking for salt-of-the-earth individuals that the audience can identify with,” Stallone explained.
Ultimately this film was Sylvester Stallone’s baby, as he was somehow able to coordinate the schedules of all the actors to make this an incredible action adventure. When you think about what it probably took to bring all of these characters together for another blockbuster flick, you can imagine the scheduling was insane.
At the end of the day it will likely prove to be worth it, as the previous films The Expendables and The Expendables 2 grossed more than half a billion dollars with the fantasy league casts.
Aside from the money this movie will make, this is definitely worth the watch if you like over the top movies with big time explosions and action in the summer. This isn’t going to be a movie that you take all that seriously, but its the perfect movie to get away from world for a few hours in the A/C and sometimes that’s all we need.
