I Know Nobody Cares About The Expendables Franchise Anymore, But Here's Why I Still Think The Expendables 2 Was The Peak When It Came To Action Movies

Maybe I’m just an old head, but I genuinely don’t think there’s been a truly great action movie since the first The Expendables.

Actually, I lied, because there has been another great action movie since then, and it was The Expendables 2. Because while yes, I love the John Wick movies, and I’m a huge fan of Keanu Reeves (Hey, I’m one of the few defenders of 47 Ronin), there’s just something missing when it comes to those flicks that I can’t quite put my finger on…Oh, yeah! That’s it! Huge explosions, massive, unrealistic muscles, and The Expendables 2 has both in spades!

So, as a Reagan-era action junkie, when The Expendables series debuted back in 2010, I was in Heaven. But, I truly think The Expendables 2 was the absolute peak of the action genre. Here’s why.

The Action In This One Is Genuinely Pulse-Pounding

Action movies have sort of evolved over the past 30 years. It really started even earlier than that with Bruce Willis in the Die Hard series, where you had everyman, John McClane, in these outrageous situations. Since then, the action hero genre has changed dramatically.

Instead of having these hulking heroes with massive guns killing hundreds of people, we’ve gotten more unlikely heroes put into tense situations. Think Denzel Washington in The Equalizer movies, Liam Neeson in the Taken films, and Bob Odenkirk in Nobody. We don’t really get dumb, propulsive action movies anymore where you just shut your brain off and grin. Instead, we get more “cerebral” action flicks, with in-depth characters and interesting plots.

But, not so with The Expendables 2, and I mean that in the best sort of way. From the very first scene, it just goes bananas. The team is sent on a rescue mission, but it’s really just an excuse to have these big, muscular dudes ride around in armored trucks and shoot anybody who moves. I mean, there have to be like 100 kills in the first three minutes alone, and it’s glorious.

Plus, the whole movie is like this. All of The Expendables films have big action setpieces, but the second movie’s are the most awesomely ridiculous. No deep character development here. Just guys shooting other guys, and explosions. Splendid!

JCVD Is Cool As A Hero, But He Plays An Even Better Villain

The biggest appeal of these Expendables movies is that they take action stars from the past and bring them to the present. Now, mileage may vary on just which stars are chosen, as the much weaker (and PG-13-rated!) Expendables 3 brought in Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson, and Antonio Banderas, which are good choices, but Kelsey Grammar? And Expend4bles gave us Megan Fox and 50 Cent!

However, Expendables 2 brings in all of the GOATS, with my absolute favorite being Jean-Claude Van Damme. Now look, I grew up on Bloodsport. Kickboxer is one of my favorite movies. Hell, I even liked him in the much-maligned 1994 Street Fighter movie. In every way, I love JCVD.

So, the fact that he’s in this movie is awesome, and I would have liked him as one of the Expendables, but no. Instead, he’s the leader of a band of mercenaries, and he’s the primary antagonist of the film, and what an antagonist he is!

For one thing, he kills The Expendables’ youngest member, Billy, played by Liam Hemsworth, by kicking (!) a knife into his heart! For another, he’s a genuine threat throughout the entire film and is just so cool as a villain. In every way, JCVD is an amazing antagonist, and he adds the martial arts element to this explosive film.

The Pacing Is As Quick As They Come

Here’s the thing. Nobody really cares about this series anymore, and I get it. The Expendables 3 actually put me to sleep when I saw it in theaters, and Expend4bles…is just not good at all. It’s weird, because as violent as these movies are, they sure can be boring.

And, I think it’s the pacing. The first movie was a bit slow, but promising. The third one just drags, and the fourth one has its own issues. However, the second one never lets up for a second, and it benefits from being so jam-packed. I think it’s because it’s mainly a revenge film, after Hemsworth’s character gets killed.

This raises the stakes, and it keeps raising them. There’s also a ticking clock with the weapons-grade plutonium that Van Damme’s character is tracking down. And what makes this work is that none of the film really slows down when new characters are added. In fact, quite the opposite occurs, as the new characters add another wrinkle to the plot.

Honestly, every good action flick should feel like it’s racing to the conclusion, and The Expendables 2 does that. It also just happens to have my favorite action heroes in it, which I’ll get into next.

Schwarzenegger, Willis, And Stallone In One Movie? You Know It

There’s a scene in the first Expendables where we get to see Schwarzenegger, Willis, and Stallone in one room together, and it’s awesome. In a lot of ways, it was like when Freddy fought Jason, or when De Niro and Pacino stared eye-to-eye with each other in Michael Mann’s Heat. In other words, it was a momentous crossover event.

That said, all they really do is talk in the first movie. I mean, it’s cool, but it wasn’t what fans like myself wanted to see. That said, what we wanted to see ended up happening in The Expendables 2, as Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Willis all stand side-by-side shooting bad guys in a pretty intense scene.

And THIS is what I came for back in 2012 when the movie debuted, and I still love it today (especially following Bruce Willis’s health issues. It’s always nice seeing him in peak action condition). The scene gives time for all three of them to have at least one awesome moment among them, and I love hearing them banter with each other.

In fact, I would say this is my favorite scene in the entire movie (Nay, the entire franchise!), but there is one other moment that solidifies The Expendables 2 as one of the last truly great action movies for me.

Chuck Norris Is In This, Too, So It’s An ‘80s Action Fan's Dream

With Schwarzenegger, Willis, and Van Damme in one movie, they really didn’t need to have a Chuck Norris cameo, but hey, like I said, since this is one of the last purely great action movies, how could they leave him out?

Plus, the way he’s introduced into the film is hilarious. The Expendables are pinned down, and there’s even a tank. But, all of a sudden, all of the bad guys are somehow shot down (Stallone’s character even looks at his own gun, wondering who’s doing all the shooting), and when the dust settles, who should walk out from the smoke but the legendary Chuck Norris.

We even get some The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly music (as if this is all of a sudden a Sergio Leone western), and a Chuck Norris joke to boot about being bitten by a King Cobra…and the cobra dying. It’s like, they knew what we wanted, and they delivered.

What do you think? Do you also love The Expendables 2? I’d love to hear your thoughts.