Pointless action sequel should have gone straight to video
As audiences argue endlessly about the future of film distribution, it’s important to remember that not every film benefits from a theatrical release. Some films were meant to be seen on streaming or home video – with the modest expectations and niche audiences those platforms entail.
For years, Barney Ross and Lee Christmas have led the Expandables, a covert military force that operates in combat zones where the United States cannot be seen. But with the years taking their toll and Lee’s relationship with partner Gina on the rocks, the two men find themselves thinking about life after the Expendables.
, tapping into Statham’s star power and staging fight sequences that celebrate the martial arts stylings of its supporting cast. There’s only one problem: From aging actors to a preponderance of middling digital effects, the franchise has slipped from the bottom rungs of Hollywood blockbusters to the upper tiers of direct-to-video actioners.
Gone are former A-list talent like Harrison Ford or Antonio Banderas, or even former main eventers such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mel Gibson. In their place are home video headliners like Curtis Jackson and Tony Jaa, performers that mean more to the action community than the general public. We may live in a golden era of action steamers and stunt choreographers-turned-filmmakers, butnever learns to embrace its own limitations.
No better example of this is the film’s middling usage of Iko Kuwais. Bigger directors have also tried and failed to give the Indonesian martial artist his big stateside break. Peter Berg chose to edit Kuwais’s fight scenes down to abstracted nothingness in
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