The Expendables 2 (2012)

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren),Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) — with newest members Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Nan Yu) aboard — are reunited when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) enlists the Expendables to take on a seemingly simple job. The task looks like an easy paycheck for Barney and his band of old-school mercenaries. But when things go wrong and one of their own is viciously killed, the Expendables are compelled to seek revenge in hostile territory where the odds are stacked against them. Hell-bent on payback, the crew cuts a swath of destruction through opposing forces, wreaking havoc and shutting down an unexpected threat in the nick of time — six pounds of weapons-grade plutonium; enough to change the balance of power in the world. But that’s nothing compared to the justice they serve against the villainous adversary who savagely murdered their brother. That is done the Expendables way….

Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crews, Randy Couture …. phew! That reads like a who’s who of action legends, mainly from the 80’s and 90’s, and that concoction predictably makes an exciting, heart-pounding slice of explosions, gunfights, stunts and a killer scene of a bike getting kickstarted and hitting a guy, and Chuck Norris. Expect some killer lines (Jason Statham dressed as a priest “By the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you man and knife,” Schwarzenegger: “I’ll be back.” Bruce Willis: “You’ve been back enough. I’ll be back.” Schwarzenegger replies: “Yippee-ki-yay.” and the cobra died joke regarding Chuck Norris.) Jean-Claude Van Damme is excellent as the villain, and oozes menace and a reptilian charisma.

Overall, this is a solid action adventure, harking back to the action glory days of the 80’s. It’s fun, predictable, cheesy, fun, and grand entertainment.