Having included The Expendables 2 in last year’s Christmas countdown, I felt it only right to revisit the original movie for this year’s efforts. As someone who has always enjoyed a 90s action movie, even those of dubious quality, I was pretty excited about seeing this first instalment of Stallone’s homage to the genre. And, with my brain suitably switched to the setting I reserve for ‘mindless action and paper-thin plots’ I was not disappointed.
The Expendables is not something I could comfortably define as a ‘good film. But it absolutely satisfies the occasional craving that I have for big stupid fun.
Score for Christmasishness
As with last year’s inclusion of the sequel, The Expendables’ Christmas(ish) credentials hinge on the fact that Statham’s character is called Lee Christmas. But whereas the sequel has a picture of Santa Claus painted on an aeroplane, there is no such festive imagery in this one. So it really isn’t very Christmassy at all. But one of the main characters is still called Lee Christmas, which I could hardly ignore.
James Proclaims! 