Expend4bles (2023)★ 4.9/10

From the very beginning, The Expendables has always been a better marketing hook than an actual franchise, and to be sure, the idea of a bunch of old-school action icons teaming up to kick ass one last time (or, uh, four last times) is a great marketing hook. In practice, the films themselves have varied from “meh” to “mostly crummy,” and this one is the worst yet. It barely lives up to its own premise; the only old-school action dudes left in Expend4bles are Stallone and Lundgren, and their roles are pretty marginal. One all-too-brief fight between Statham and Iko Uwais aside, this isn’t even a thrilling action movie. The effects are bargain-basement CGI trash, and they not only look bad, they create the totally wrong vibe for a movie that is supposed to be a tribute to the practical blood and guts spectacles of the 1980s. Never has the title of these movies felt more accurate.

Without a doubt, it is the worst of the franchise, with some of the worst CGI. If at all anything positive, I liked the initial old school portions between Stallone-Statham and the solid action sequence between Statham-Tony Jaa. But that’s about it. Everything else is very much expendable indeed.

It’s still a star-studded cast, the only difference now is that the leader is Jason Statham instead of Stallone. The entire film focuses on him, and he has plenty of fight scenes that are enjoyable to watch. Although the plot is thin and clichéd, that doesn’t stop it from being the most testosterone-charged film within the genre; the overabundance of gunfights and car chases, head-on combats and attacks, exploding planes and underwater nuclear explosions – every scene is literally a blast.

So enjoyable! With a popcorn movie like this, you don't have to care too much about the depth and plausibility of the plot, it’s fine as long it just makes logical sense. Despite being the final chapter, the plot doesn't actually end and could go on. At 55 years old, Jason's still got the moves for fighting, but it's a pity that we didn't get to see Iko and Tony go head-to-head, which would probably fulfill the dreams of action fans if there was actually a movie like that!

Even when watching it with an open mind as a Stallone fan, this is still a crudely-made and boring film!

Jason Statham is so good in this one that it kind of overshadows the teamwork, but this kind of straightforward revenge is pretty satisfying to watch.

Perhaps it is their last madness. As a conclusion, this movie is really perfunctory and poor.

A tribute to sentimentality and youth, I guess. The plot is really quite unwatchable, but the tough guys did their best!

The plot sucks, the acting sucks, the special effects suck, even the action sequences suck. Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham are ridiculously stiff acting alongside each other, as if they were only pretending to act.

Not only is there a lack of creativity and aesthetic fatigue, even the most basic "nostalgia points" suffered from the special effects, resulting in a strong sense of fakeness and I can’t empathize with it. This sequel, made nine years later, is a bit of a letdown in my opinion.

The series that I've been following since the beginning has finally come to its finale. It's still the same formula and all about the fight scenes pulling no punches. Only this time Jason Statham takes the lead, not Sylvester Stallone, which is kinda a pity.