Only a single Expendables film lived up to the original promise of the Sylvester Stallone franchise

The consumables 2 was the only one of the four Consumables Films that actually achieved what Sylvester Stallone set out to do with the all-star action franchise. For years, Stallone was best known as the headliner of two major franchises: the Rocky Franchise that’s about an underdog boxer who becomes world champion and the Rambo Franchise about a Vietnam War veteran who figures that the only thing he can do is kill. But in 2010, Stallone added a third franchise to the roster: The consumablesabout a group of aging mercenaries who secretly make the world a better place.

Although it was conceived by screenwriter David Callaham, it was canceled after Stallone took over the project The consumables became an excuse to get all the big action movie stars on the same stage. Stallone is supported by Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and Mickey Rourke, and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis make a memorable cameo alongside their Planet Hollywood co-founder. The consumables wanted to poke fun at the bombast of ’80s action films while recapturing their cheesy magic, but only one entry in the franchise managed to do that.

“Expendables 2” made fun of itself and is still a good movie

“Expendables 2” is both a self-parody and a really good action movie

Published in 2012, The consumables 2 is by far the best entry in the franchise. It works brilliantly as a silly self-parody – the villain is literally called Vilain – but It’s also a really good action film. Simon West took over the director’s chair from Stallone and brought with him all the explosive spectacle and self-aware humor of his classic debut film Con Air to the procedure. The plot and dialogues are nothing special, however The film has more than enough exciting action sequences and tongue-in-cheek comedic moments to make amends.

Simon West took over the director’s chair from Stallone and brought all the explosive spectacle and self-aware humor of his classic debut film “Con Air” to the event.

The consumables 2 utilizes its amazing cast more than the first. Schwarzenegger and Willis both get much larger roles in the sequel, and Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme both bring a bit more star power to the ensemble. It’s a genuinely entertaining film, full of silly one-liners and delightfully absurd action, but it still needs time to flesh out its James Bond premise about an eccentric rival mercenary who threatens the world with a deadly weapon. It’s the best Consumables movie, and it’s not even close.

Expendables 2 is an improvement over everything Expendables tried

“The First Expendables” took itself a little too seriously

The consumables 2 was a huge improvement over the first Consumables The film intended to do so. The first film took itself a little too seriously and played the story of aging mercenaries overthrowing a ruthless dictator completely straight, and It just wasn’t that good of a movie. The self-confident humor of The consumables 2 It works so well because the story would be unintentionally hilarious without it. By taking his ridiculous act seriously, the original Consumables The film invited unintentional laughter. The consumables 2 accepted this absurdity instead of trying to pretend it’s not there.

Part of this can be attributed to the fact The consumables technically did not originate as Consumables film. Callaham’s script was initially developed independently of Stallone. When he had the idea Consumables Franchise, Stallone used Callaham’s existing script as a starting pointTherefore, there was a certain obligation to Callaham’s tone and narrative. With The consumables 2Stallone developed the script from scratch Consumables Film in keeping with his original vision of a star-studded, confident throwback to the ’80s action classics that propelled him to the A-list.

Expendables 3 & 4 completely lost track of what made the franchise interesting

They were just B-movies, not a love letter to B-movies

The one that follows Consumables The films failed to recreate the perfect tonal balance The consumables 2. The action wasn’t as compelling and the humor wasn’t as well received. Whereas The consumables 2 is a loving parody of old-school action cinema, the later sequels are just tired examples of it. 2014s The consumables 3 and the 2023 box office flop Expend4bles were just B-movies, not a knowing love letter to B-movies. The consumables 3 expands the ensemble with some great new action stars — Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford — but it completely lacks the fun factor of its predecessor.

Expend4bles
has the franchise’s lowest Rotten Tomatoes score at just 13%.

Expend4bles gets completely wrong-footed when it becomes clear that Stallone’s role is a glorified cameo. From there, It’s not even fun to see ’80s action stars back in actionthat’s all this franchise really needed to start with. Lundgren is still in the picture, but the rest Rounding out the cast are non-action stars like Megan Fox and 50 Cent. The story of the Expendables preventing World War III is a great premise for this series, but Expend4bles is sorely missing The consumables 2Star power and tongue-in-cheek humor.