In critical terms, The Expendables 2 is not a 'good' movie - but it is designed purely as a crowd-pleaser, and on those terms it delivers very well indeed. The formula of the original film's Antiques Roadshow of 80s action stars is repeated here, but the second time round it is bigger, dafter and more enjoyably outrageous, largely thanks to Simon West giving one of his most directorially-consistent shows. The deftly linear plot barely pauses for thought (any explanation of Chuck Norris's team-saving appearance would be interesting, for example) yet the daftness inherent in the whole enterprise is simply part of its fun. The terrific opening rescue sequence is breathlessly deployed and, apart from occasional madly unexpected moments, the other big set pieces in the film cannot quite match up to it. Dialogue is not expected to be a strong point, and the self-referencing is annoying rather than funny (variations on 'I'll be back' and 'terminated' in particular), but some dialogue scenes seem almost unfinished and simply grind to a halt. Statham is the stand-out here (he does this kind of material so well), Van Damme proves to be a surprisingly strong addition as does Hemsworth Jnr, Lundgren as comic relief (!) is a bonus, and in his disappointingly brief screen time, seeing Jet Li armed only with a frying pan take out half-a-dozen villains is beyond joy. The Expendables 2 is great silly low-rent action fun, and a third spin around the block would not be unwelcome.
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