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Imagine a summit meeting of retired (some more, some less) action heroes, some of whom are old friends and business partners off screen but rivals in their careers (the reciprocal jokes and banters in the Movies of Stallone and Schwarzenegger, for example, have become a matter of routine, and are present in this Movie too), all accepting an invitation to participate almost as volunteeres in this project initiated by Sylvester Stallone .
And the plot? Who cares anyway? Explosions, stunts, and more stunts and more explosions, and so on. And in between, a bunch of mercenaries (led by Stallone, still displaying well developed muscles), including Jason Statam and Jet Li, Terry Cruz (Ex American Gladiator) and Dolph Lundgren, and Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis (uncredited, but appearing in one short and amusing scene with the Stallone – don't blink or you'll miss it!) are hired by the CIA to overthrow a corrupt South American dictator. The first instinct of the veteran mercenaries is to reject the proposal outright, which they do, until they gradually discover the truth about what is going on in that South American country and the extent of the plot they got tangled in.
The weak link in all this setting is actually the character of the allegedly corrupt South American general, who sold his soul to the devil (portrayed by Eric Roberts, the brother of...) but came to his senses and tried to change his evil ways. His behavior was unclear (most of the time). By the way, on the side of the bad guys we can see, amongst others, the famous (former?) wrestler Bill Goldberg, and the English action star Gary Daniels.
And who was conspicuously absent? Every action fan has a favorite star he would have loved to see in this summit meeting, but it turns out that amongst others, Jean-Claude Van-Damme (who lately has been trying to move his career to a more serious level and starring in independent films), Steven Seagal (who continues in his 60's to make Movies in the usual format at a rate of at least two a year), and even veteran Chuck Norris (in his 70's, his last appearance in a Movie was in 2005) actually received a phone call from the Stallone, but they all chose to decline, for their own reasons. Since the sequel is already in motion, who knows, they may still have a change of heart…
And on a trivial note: Who said to whom and when, "I'm too old for this shit?"
The answer is in the Movie. A hint! No, it's not who you thought.
By the way, to my knowledge, Clint Eastwood, for example, was not invited. Who will avenge his insult?
Still, a good action Movie, light, filled with special effects and humor (who knew Jet Li had such a comic talent?) and ideally suited for a hot summer evening . |