Where I Watched It: Digital Copy
English Audio Description provided By: Deluxe
Narrated By: Laura Post
Cast: Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Megan Fox, Andy Garcia, Randy Couture, Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, and Curtis “50 Cent’ Jackson
The dreaded 4th entry that bombed at the box office, and has been appearing on several “Worst of” lists. Just wait for the Razzies.Good news for these long in the tooth action stars. I can’t see how bad the visual effects are and if the fight choreography sucks. So, I’m all about the story, the characters, and… even that stuff wasn’t that good.
However, I’ve definitely seen worse. For reasons, which would spoil a lot, Jason Statham is technically the lead of the film this time around, where the Expendables are so desperate they have recruited people who have never been known for action films. I love all those badass Andy Garcia action flicks.
However, this plot is redundant. Essentially, part of the team has to rescue the other part of the team again, which was the plot of the third film. Sure, the roster has changed, but is this going to be a thing now going forward? the team gets captured, and needs saving?
Speaking of saving, despite the presence of regulars like Lundgren and Couture, Jason Statham carries this movie. He’s more interesting here than he was in The Meg 2. I like that no matter how shitty of a film he’s been asked to perform in, he always delivers. Statham stands way out here in a film that keeps adding cast, and never explaining where they go. Why do we have this roster?
The villain is the guy from the Raid, who is deeply forgettable. both of the new cast additions who are martial arts legends (the other being Tony Jaa) are criminally underused. The ending is predictable, but I still, after all this, have seen far, far worse this year.
Laura Post is not the choice i would have made. She’s on everything, and almost omnipresent at this point. However, I think after hearing Ron Snow on the third film, this franchise had the perfect narrator. his tone matches the film, while Laura doesn’t really match the action, but oddly feels representative of the lack of it in the film.
I think even if the visual effects were unfinished, I’d still be more entertained by this film than I was by several other titles this year, including the recent Mark Wahlberg dud The Family Plan.
Final Grade: C-
(One time, I gave a movie that was getting such bad press a C- grade, and they used my review to promote the film on their socials. Like, it’s not as bad as you’ve heard. Hilarious. Maybe that will happen here.)