‘Expendables’ remains a successful action movie brand

Aug. 28, 2014 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

The cast of "The Expendables 3"
Reminder Publications submitted photo

A heaping helping of macho action is featured in this edition of the movie review column.

In theaters: The Expendables 3

The idea behind Sylvester Stallone’s series that has effectively rebooted his career is the same one Universal Studios used in the mid-1940s with their horror films.

At that time, the folks at Universal thought if one monster was good then two or three would be great. In the “The Expendables” series we have the opportunity of seeing a platoon of action stars interacting with one another.

It’s stunt casting at its finest and Stallone has managed to pull off the novelty three times by altering the cast a bit and by not taking the series too seriously.

Stallone’s Barney Ross heads up a team of good guy mercenaries who take on projects from which the CIA needs some distance. In this outing, a crazed gun dealer named Stonebanks – who is, naturally, the former co-founder of the Expendables – needs to be taken down before he can sell nuclear weapons to another bad guy.

Barney decides there should be some new blood in the group and that his seasoned comrades ought to be able to retire. He recruits a group of newbies and while they are impressive, they fall into a trap set by Stonebanks and Barney must rescue them with his old crew.

Bruce Willis played Barney’s CIA contact in the last two films and he is replaced by Harrison Ford, who appears to have a very good time slumming a bit in such a project. Mel Gibson, who plays Stonebanks, also appears to be enjoying himself as he chews up the scenery as the arch villain.

The problem with this film is giving the entire cast their little moments in the spotlight while acknowledging that Stallone is the big star and has the most screen time. For instance Jet Li returns for this film and basically has another cameo. It’s disappointing because Li is seen firing a gun instead of practicing the martial arts that brought him international fame.

Yes, the film’s conclusion borders on the ridiculous as the Expendables beat back an army unit with tanks, but let’s face it: this is not a film that can bear close scrutiny.

It is, though, a near perfect summer movie. Pass the popcorn and let me turn off my mind.

On DVD: The Musketeers

I wish I could remember the person who wrote something to the effect that each generation gets the version of “The Three Musketeers” they deserve. The venerable Alexandre Dumas novel has seen dozens of adaptations from Douglas Fairbanks’ swashbuckler in 1921 to the Ritz Brothers comedy in 1935 to the glossy MGM version in 1948.

For me, though the Richard Lester films of 1973 and 1974 were the best Musketeer films I’ve ever sat through. They are among my favorite films.

I did enter into watching this new BBC television series with some prejudice. Could it match the period richness, the characterization, the realistic action and the humor of the Lester films?

Ah, no, but they do try hard.

The series is an admirable effort in re-imagining the Dumas material and benefits from having one of the oiliest Cardinal Richelieus I’ve seen, Peter Calpaldi.

Filmed in Prague, the series has a great design to it and follows the basic premise of the novel. The Musketeers are the king’s guard and secretly protect him from the cardinal’s machinations. The king is a dope, the queen is bright and the musketeers are all delightfully flawed.

By the way, why does everyone wear so much leather?

There is a fair amount of swordplay and action as well as intrigue and I would probably have liked it more if the earlier films weren’t playing in my head as I watched this series.

Don’t let my own prejudices steer you away, though. “The Musketeers” is a perfectly acceptable action TV series.

Share this: