The Expendables 2 (2012)
Directed by Simon West
Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat.
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What critics compared The Expendables 2 to
At times it feels like he’s simply phoning in all the bullets and explosions, but there are a few moments of inspiration, such as Stallone ripping the wings off a plane while piloting it into a tunnel (shades of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but without the absurdist comedy).
Hutcherson and Lawrence share such chemistry together it is easy to forget about Liam Hemsworth's (2012's " The Expendables 2 ") Gale, the uninteresting final piece of a love triangle that has never really worked.Supporting participants receive gratifying moments in the spotlight, from free-thinking District 7 victor Johanna Mason (Jena Malone), whom Katniss confides in about wanting to kill President Snow, to Katniss' faithful, fashion-forward escort Effie Trinkett (Elizabeth Banks), who has had her own change of heart through the course of the films, to Katniss and Peeta's hard-drinking mentor and former District 12 winner Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), finally beginning to sober out as the stakes have raised.
Fuqua and screenwriter Richard Wenk (“The Expendables 2”) borrow from all over — the Zen-like approach of an action hero from Asian martial-arts films, the instant sizing-up of dangerous situations and fast-slow fight choreography from Guy Ritchie movies and the fearless calm of Sean Connery’s James Bond or Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name.
There’s nothing fundamentally new about what Fuqua and screenwriter Richard Wenk (whose work to date has been on lower-end action fare like The Mechanic and The Expendables 2) have put together here: The hotshot government agency man who’s retired for tragic personal reasons, his zen-like attitude borrowed from Asian action films, the thuggish Russian gangsters who run vulgar nightclubs and hookers and even the kind of hyper-vision and instant sizing up of situations that has recently been used to notable effect by Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes.
Written by Richard Wenk (“The Expendables 2,” “The Mechanic”), “The Equalizer” is as familiar and rote as can be on every narrative level.
In the adaptation by Richard Wenk (16 Blocks, The Expendables 2), Robert works as a companionable employee at a Home Depot-style box store where he’s a good buddy with the other staff and rides the bus (Woodward’s Robert McCall drove a Jag).
Although much lighter fare and without a chance in hell of winning an Oscar, together the two of them, with a script by Richard Wenk--who also wrote The Expendables 2--produce a pretty entertaining vigilante fantasy piece.
Written by Richard Wenk, whose previous credits include The Expendables 2 and The Mechanic, it’s easy to see Fuqua’s attraction to the project.
The bland third side of the romantic triangle falls to Liam Hemsworth (2012's " The Expendables 2 "), whose Gale is an afterthought in the scheme of things.
Fearing Katniss would become an even more powerful martyr, Snow threatens her family and close friend/crush, Gale (Liam Hemsworth, The Expendables 2 ), unless she plays along as a happy Capital propaganda puppet.