In a franchise that tells guys that there is life over the hill, director Patrick Hughes has once again assembled the geriatric army of action stars with a sprinkling of new faces.
The logic is basic. Barney (Stallone) and Christmas (Statham) run into an arms dealer Conrad (Gibson). However, Conrad turns out to be a rogue Expendable who wants to finish off the force that he once created with Barney. The turn of events propels Barney to recruit new talent to take on the challenge.
All hit and run; the battle of chest-nuts is reloaded for the third time to milk the goodwill generated by the previous instalments, each of which cashed on the emotion that this could be the last time we would see Stallone and Schwarzenegger in the same frame. Over the years it has become a case of diminishing returns with the action franchise reduced to a stunt in itself.
Most of the investment goes in refreshing the armour and protein shakes of the old brigade leaving the script crying for fresh ammunition. The pace is uneven and the dialogues predictable. You don’t care for the characters as the image of ’80s action stars weighs heavily on the screenplay. The enemy has not been able to vanquish even one of the Expendables in the last two outings and the lack of surprise value continues to haunt the action choreography. Amidst the routine mayhem only Gibson and Banderas shine with some throwaway punchlines.
Having said that, with minimal dialogues and primal posturing, The Expendables can still expand in less mature territories in their dubbed avatars for here Stallone is no less than Singham .