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Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris ... see more see more... , Terry Crews , Randy Couture , Liam Hemsworth , Scott Adkins , Nan Yu , Jean-Claude Van Damme , Bruce Willis , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Amanda Ooms , Charisma Carpenter , Nikolette Noel , Mickey Rourke , John Travolta

The Expendables are back and this time it's personal... Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren),Toll Road (Randy Couture) and... read more read more... Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) -- with newest members Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) 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. -- (C) Lionsgate

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70% liked it

230,315 ratings

Critics

65% liked it

122 critics

R, 1 hr. 42 min.

Directed by: Simon West

Release Date: August 17, 2012

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DVD Release Date: November 20, 2012

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Flixster Reviews (9,079)

  • garyX
    April 24, 2013
    garyX
    Sly and his team of fellow gun-totin' geriatrics is called in to retrieve a computer hard drive that contains a map showing the whereabouts of a mine full of plutonium. The Expendables is probably the film the term 'geriaction' was coined for and it was a load of obnoxious, brain... read moredead, gratuitous shit. For the sequel, we once again dive into the world of the American male mid-life crisis which contains the same cocktail of fat-necked has-beens exterminating the most villainous villains imaginable with a variety of weapons grade phalli whilst reliving the good old days of the Cold War. The original film's gleeful representation of some unnecessarily graphic violence was its downfall but thanks to the addition of some innocent villagers to protect, this is far more in the spirit of classic kitsch TV show The A-Team and is much more palatable as a result. The cartoon violence on show here is much less repulsive in its representation, we actually get to see Chuck, Arnie and Bruce join in on the carnage rather than just regurgitating a couple of lines and disappearing as happened in the first film and Jean Claude Van Damme actually makes a far more entertaining bad guy than he ever did a hero. Of course the plot is inconsequential, the characterisation as sophisticated as a hollow point to the face and the dialogue immature and bone-headed, but The Expendables 2 has something the original sorely lacked; the necessary sense of irony and fun which makes it all amusingly idiotic rather than just plain idiotic.
  • EightThirty
    February 17, 2013
    EightThirty
    16/02/2013 (Online)
  • Deano78
    February 10, 2013
    Deano78
    More of the same over the top action, with even more cameos this time. Including Chuck Norris, More Willis and Schwarzenegger time on screen and even more cheesy lines. If they do any more they will start to be listed under comedies not action films.
  • fb1463751009
    January 13, 2013
    fb1463751009
    The first "Expendables": A bore.
    "The Expendables 2": Even worse.

    Oh "Expendables 2", you can shove in even more bodies like Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Jean-Claude Van Damme -- you can drag out an infinite supply of stampeding soldiers just to inevita... read morebly be shot at like those Call of Duty AI degenerates -- you can explode the entire scenery into smithereens -- but nothing will change the fact that your action set-pieces are boring. Nothing will change the fact that though you got the "Terminator", John McClane, and Rambo all in one frame, the action all comes narrowing down to a simple 2-step mechanic:
    1) The camera faces a shooter that is shooting a gun away
    2) Camera cuts to some nameless guy getting sprayed away by that shooter.
    The movie's a bore, guys. That same camera cut is plastered throughout the entire hour and 42 minutes. No action? No problem -- cue the laughably awful dialogue and the ludicrously uninteresting sub-narrative. After the movie, I can't recall one memorable scene. Not one. Coupled with the flavorless acting is the ugliest looking CGI-blood ever.

    Sometimes, being overbloated with tons of action scenes doesn't make your movie the baddest of them all. After all that dizzying affair of explosions and bullets, I can recall that the few action scenes "Django Unchained" had was much, MUCH more gratifying and entertaining than "Expendables 2" in its entirety. I came into this film with the least of expectations, and I was still left sorely disappointed. It may have a buffet load of action, but the quality is all crap.
  • cosmo313
    January 13, 2013
    cosmo313
    The Expendables are back, and thankfully their cinematic exploits have improved.

    Owing a favor to Mr. Church, Barney Ross and company accept a routine mission that should be a simple, easy paycheck. However, things go south, and one of their own is killed by Jean Vilain- the rut... read morehless and psychotic leader of a terrorist cartel for hire. On top of that, Vilain has acquired 5 tons of weapons grade plutonium left over from the Cold War. It's not long before our heroes are cutting a swath of destruction across Eastern Europe to get revenge and save the day.

    With the first film, it was fun to see so many washed up action heroes team up. However, that film was messy, troubled, and really rough around the edges. This film thankfully is more polished, bigger, more focused, and better balanced in terms of the tone. It also has more/better character development.

    It also probably goes without saying that the film is also chocked full of tons of action and violence, with only some, but not all of the blood being done with CGI.The core cast returns, and they seem more comfortable in their roles this time around, having a blast. Due to scheduling conflicts, Jet Li isn't unfortunately in the film for long, but he does make the most of his limited time with a great hand-to-hand fight. In his absence we get two new members, both of whom are okay, and diversify the film some, but aren't quite as good as the others. Crews injects more humor into things, and Couture is giving a bit more room to grow, but he still could use some improvement.

    Then of course come the expansions for the roles filled by Willis and Schwarzenegger, and they are a lot of fun. Chuck Norris provides a fun, but honestly kinda dull cameo. It's not awful, but could have been better. Seeing him make a Chuck Norris joke is oddly surreal, too. Then, as the villain, we get a delightfully intense Jean Claude Van Damme. I think he probably could have been better, but what we get from him is quite good nonetheless, with his final fight with Stallone being pretty tremendous.

    Having Simon West take over as the director is probably the best thing about the film. He's hit and miss with his works, but even then he's got a good eye for spectacle, and yeah, he doesn't disappoint here. The action is grand, plentiful, and, best of all, clear, not choppy, and discernible.

    All in all, this is a lot of fun. If you dig gloriously cheesy 80s action movies, then you'll probably dig this. This is the film that the first one should have been: a wild, silly, but undeniable blast.
  • LWOODS04
    December 26, 2012
    LWOODS04
    Barney Ross: Why is it that one of us who wants to live the most, who deserves to live the most dies, and the ones that deserve to die keep on living? What's the message in that?

    "Expendables 2 has just as much action, blood, gore, and fun as the first film. You r... read moreeally can't go wrong with these movies. You have every action hero you saw growing up in one film. Plus some new blood as well. I enjoyed the movie. I think I liked the first one a bit more. But this one was great too. Any action lover is going to eat this film up. One I would see again."
  • SirPant
    December 19, 2012
    SirPant
    They learnt nothing from the mistakes that were made in the first film but thought a little extra Willis/Schwarzenegger screen time would make up for it but it doesn't, JCVD was ok as the bad guy but Chuck Norris's scene was embarrassing, it was a crap cameo just to get his name ... read moreon the poster. Where the hell was Jet Li? This is a prime example of quantity over quality. This should have stayed as a 12 year old boy's dream rather than a reality. I hear Nic Cage is going to be in the 3rd film, yeah, that makes sense!
  • MovieGeek13
    December 7, 2012
    MovieGeek13
    The Expendables 2 is big, loud, and stupid, which is just the way it should be. Delivering on some of the most insanely ridiculous action sequences of the year, the film is packed full of hilarious one-liners, in-jokes and self-deprecating winks at the stars' respective careers. ... read moreThis film is strictly for fans of Stallone, Statham, Lundgren, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme, Willis, and Norris. It's as dumb as any film these actors have ever starred in, and every bit as entertaining. It's a shame that Jet Li's role is so short (even though his cameo appearance is almost worth the admission price), but Nan Yu makes up for it with her action heroine role as a professional hacker. A wildly entertaining sequel that improves upon its predecessor in every way! Bring on Expendables 3!!
  • phubbs1
    November 21, 2012
    phubbs1
    'That thing belongs in a museum'....'we all do'

    Although I hate to admit it...no truer words have been said. I have always been a huge huge life long fan of Arnie and JCVD, not so much Stallone, Willis or Lundgren, but overall I've liked them all for various different films. But... read more there does come a point where you gotta step back and wonder, are these guys getting a bit old for this shit?.

    Again gotta admit its a HUGE thrill to see Arnie, Willis, Stallone, Lundgren AND now JCVD all together in one film. The added bonus of Adkins, Norris, Li and Statham are like I say...a nice bonus. The only missing person now is Seagal, then the jigsaw will be complete.

    Once more I must admit...even though its pure fanboy heaven to see these guys together the thrill doesn't last long. The real crux of the action, what we all wanna see which is all the above guys fighting at the same time, doesn't happen until the finale showdown. When we get there its fun but ultimately rather poorly done in an ultra cheesy semi parody, edging on spoof.

    This is the problem the first film had and it gets worse here I'm afraid. When I first heard of this franchise I was hyped for it, I wanted to see a proper homage to 80's action thrillers. What we got was a silly, cheesy, over the top 'G.I.Joe' type explosion fest that wasn't taken seriously. In this sequel its more of the same yet with even more corn, lashings of ham and the most weak basic plot I've come across for some time.

    The visuals are impressive no doubt, stunts are manic and in your face with gun porn through the roof...yet again. Of course you don't expect a thought provoking story with high quality acting, we all know what we'll get and the film does what it says on the tin for sure. The problem for me was the whole thing just felt like a long trailer, a collection of flashy set pieces one after another, almost like watching a theme park show in Universal Studio's.

    The film basically consists of tonnes of faceless baddies lining up to be gunned to pieces by each member of the Expendable team, one at a time, in a heroic pose. A shameless fusion of constant gun battles one after another with little else in between. Dialog is terrible and really makes the film more of a comedy/parody than decent action film, amusing but frustrating. Norris wasn't really in the film, he merely had a cameo which was pointless and a blatant cold cash-in, seriously his whole sequence was so stupid. I was disappointed we didn't see much of Adkins in action and some one forgot to film Randy Couture but the sight of Arnie back in action warmed my heart...even though he is clearly too old now.

    I also noticed that the blood on show was very clearly CGI added after, does this mean that the original version had no blood?. Was this an 'AvP' job and made into a higher rating for the DVD release with the original theatrical version being a watered down affair for a wider audience?. If so that does show how off track they were with this whole concept, like so many other films these days. Why couldn't this whole franchise have been a proper action thriller damn it!!.

    Yes I was disappointed yet again, I saw it coming of course and I knew they probably wouldn't go from childish cheese to proper semi serious adult action flick...hope springs eternal, alas!. Despite my negative opinion this film is actually better than the first for what it is. Neither are exactly what I expected but this sequel is definitely slightly more fun than the first, highlight has to be Stallone vs JCVD. To be frank JCVD saves the film with his presence, problem is its all still completely ridiculous when it needn't have been.

    I must confess to not seeing bad guys getting obliterated quite as much or as impressively for some time. The heroes empty entire clips (and never run dry) into legions of henchmen that come their way and not one of them gets injured haha. Well Stallone gets hit twice but it seems to have little effect on him. On top of that once again none of the Expendables team gets killed (apart from Hemsworth who's the newbie, so who cares), the team is invincible it seems which for me spoils the film. As I said for the first film, had a couple of them gotten killed off it would make things so much more interesting.

    Again the idea is grand but the outcome is so very weak. A loud, bombastic, gun shattering riot of an action flick but in an almost pantomime style of presentation. Yes its fun to a degree but I wanna see hardcore action just like the old days please, not fluff with babyish dialog. 
  • jarobb3
    November 20, 2012
    jarobb3
    One of the worst movies I've seen in theaters. No idea why any critic gave this a favorable rating. Maybe it's over my head...

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Critic Reviews

Tom Russo
August 23, 2012
Tom Russo, Boston Globe

"The Expendables 2" is lazily satisfied with repeating the first movie's formula, shortcomings and grisly strengths alike, just as the first movie was content to slavishly, ploddingly cover the hits o... Full Review

David Hiltbrand
August 22, 2012
David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer

Nice to know America's action stars, no matter how old they get, will never lack for gainful employment. Full Review

James Berardinelli
August 19, 2012
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Does exactly what it's supposed to do - no more, no less. Full Review

Rafer Guzman
August 17, 2012
Rafer Guzman, Newsday

Yeah, yeah, I get it: "The Expendables 2" is a fun-loving throwback to the gloriously bad action films of the 1980s. Here's what I don't get: Why couldn't it be a throwback to the good ones? Full Review

Rick Groen
August 17, 2012
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

At least it's efficiently and breezily forgettable. What's more, there are laughs too and here's the best part - one or two of them are actually intentional. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
August 17, 2012
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

It's hard not to like a movie in which Bruce Willis' toupee-less CIA agent accuses Stallone's ragtag band of mercenaries of engaging in "male pattern badness.'' Full Review

Betsy Sharkey
August 16, 2012
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

What gives "Expendables 2" its charm is the film's unabashed nostalgia for the genre's best B-movie moments. Full Review

Claudia Puig
August 16, 2012
Claudia Puig, USA Today

The Expendables 2 is corny, barbaric and sometimes visually murky. But humor and self-deprecating macho charm make this male pattern badness crowd-pleasing fun. Full Review

Lisa Schwarzbaum
August 16, 2012
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

The movie is excellent crap, fine junk, an exercise in campy movie nostalgia, and a demonstration of American supremacy in the field of nutty cosmetic enhancements for aging movie stars. Full Review

Neil Genzlinger
August 16, 2012
Neil Genzlinger, New York Times

Pleasantly dumb fun if you watch it with the right mind-set. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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    • Lee Christmas: And by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you - Man and Knife.
    • Trench: I'm back!
    • Gunnar Jensen: So when are you coming back?
    • Yin Yang: Maybe soon, maybe never, maybe try a new life.
    • Gunnar Jensen: Then who am I supposed to pick on?
    • Yin Yang: You will find another minority.
    • Barney Ross: We keep it light, until it's time to go dark. Then we go pitch black.
    • Barney Ross: [mockingly] Hello, darlin'.
    • Lee Christmas: Hello, darlin'.
    • Lee Christmas: I now pronounce you Man and Knife!
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  • Box Office of ____. Valentine's Day ($110.5M) Robin Hood ($105.3M) The Expendables ($101M) Date Night ($98.7M) Sex and the City 2 ($95.3M)  Answer »
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