Film

The Expendables 2

Name: The Expendables 2
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Released: 2012
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris

Military action
Relentless

The Expendables 2 is a aggressively fun action film that exists mainly as an excuse to watch aging action stars destroy things together. It's loud, cheerful, and completely uninterested in plot subtlety. Made for anyone who grew up on '80s action films and still gets a kick from watching professionals be very good at choreographed mayhem.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a loose, nostalgic reunion of 80s action heroes who trade wisecracks between gunfights, and you're happy to let the swagger matter more than the plot.

Skip it if you need tight plotting or a fresh take on the genre, since the story is thin and the action is loud, familiar and often more cartoonish than thrilling.

What it asks of you: Roughly a hundred minutes of nonstop shooting, brawling and banter, with little pause for character, so settle in for a loose ride rather than a careful one.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Expendables2010

The template that started it all. Stallone gathers an ensemble of genuine action legends for a straightforward mercenary mission. It's leaner, meaner, and slightly more invested in character than the sequels.

But The plot is genuinely threadbare, and it can't quite decide if it's satire or straight homage. Some of the CGI blood work hasn't aged brilliantly.

Commando1985

The spiritual ancestor of everything The Expendables does. Schwarzenegger on a one-man rescue mission through jungle carnage, with one-liners that actually land. Pure, unironic action filmmaking at its most exuberant.

But It moves like molasses in places and the romance subplot is genuinely painful. Also, you'll notice how many times the same extras get shot.

RED2010

Retired CIA agents reunite for one last job, mixing explosive action with genuine character warmth. Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, and Helen Mirren firing weapons with real wit. It actually cares about its people.

But The plot mechanics are fairly standard espionage boilerplate. The action, while fun, occasionally lets the story drown it out.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Expendables 2

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Mad Max 21981

Both are films where the ensemble *is* the story rather than a backdrop for it. The plot exists to put people in a space together and see what happens. Characters defined by what they do, not what they say.

A two-hour chase film through a desert wasteland with minimal dialogue and maximum ingenuity. George Miller invents a visual language that influenced everything after. Action as pure storytelling.

But There's almost no plot underneath the chase structure. The pacing is uncompromising and some of the stuntwork looks low-budget even for 1981.

Fast Five2011

The Fast & Furious franchise suddenly figured out what it was doing. Heist movie logic applied to car action, genuine ensemble chemistry, and the Rock entering the picture. Addictively entertaining.

But It's two hours and ten minutes of people planning and executing heists with minimal character development. The physics are treated as optional.

Total Recall1990

Schwarzenegger in a paranoia-soaked sci-fi actioner with wild practical effects and genuine ideas about reality. Paul Verhoeven at his most gleefully provocative. Action as philosophy, almost by accident.

But The plot twists can feel convoluted on repeat viewings. Some of the sexual politics are now pretty uncomfortable.

John Wick2014

A retired assassin pulled back into the game for brutally personal reasons. Keanu Reeves moves like a dancer, the gunplay is balletic, and it takes its own mythology seriously. Action cinema as craft.

But If you don't buy the inciting incident's emotional weight, the whole enterprise collapses. It's also intentionally paced slower than you'd expect.

Lethal Weapon 21989

Riggs and Murtaugh chase South African diplomats through increasingly absurd set pieces while maintaining genuine buddy chemistry. Action paired with real wit and character. The formula perfected.

But It's deeply of its political moment in ways that read oddly now. Some of the jokes age worse than the stunts.

The Raid2012

Indonesian masterpiece about a SWAT team fighting their way up a residential tower. No plot fat at all—just brutal, beautiful martial arts choreography in confined spaces. Every frame earned.

But It's relentlessly violent and genuinely bleak. Very little characterisation and subtlety—this is pure action engineering.

Dredd2012

Karl Urban as Judge Dredd in a vertical tower with minimal dialogue and maximal carnage. 3D action that actually uses the format to enhance rather than distract. Lean, efficient, fun.

But The script is bare-bones to the point of disappearing. If ultraviolent sci-fi procedurals don't appeal, there's nothing else here for you.

Triple Frontier2019

Both are ensemble films about men brought together for one last job, but Triple Frontier is what happens when that formula gets made by someone more interested in character desperation than spectacle. Same DNA, opposite tone.

Five former special forces operators plan a heist in the Amazon. Slower-burn than you'd expect, with genuine tension and a moral weight about greed and violence. Oscar Isaac, Ben Affleck, and genuine stakes.

But It's not an action film wearing a heist costume—it's a heist film that occasionally explodes. Long stretches have almost no shooting. Some find it too measured.

First Blood1982

Stallone defined himself through Expendables-style action heroics, but this is the inverse: the film asking what actually happens to that body and that mind. Same actor, opposite question entirely—not the victory lap, but the reckoning.

Rambo as a traumatised Vietnam vet hunted by a small-town police force. It's a thriller about PTSD and American homecoming, not a shoot-em-up. Stallone gives his most genuine performance, and the pain beneath it feels real.

But It's deliberately unglamorous about violence and its aftermath. If you want cathartic shooting, this will feel like a betrayal. It ends quietly and sadly.