The Expendables
Rent & Buy
Barney Ross leads a band of highly skilled mercenaries including knife enthusiast Lee Christmas, a martial arts expert Yin Yang, heavy weapons specialist Hale Caesar, demolitionist Toll Road, and a loose-cannon sniper Gunner Jensen. When the group is commissioned by the mysterious Mr. Church to assassinate the dictator of a small South American island, Barney and Lee visit the remote locale to scout out their opposition and discover the true nature of the conflict engulfing the city.
What critics thought
A reunion of action legends that critics found more exciting on paper than on screen — the casting delivers nostalgia but the filmmaking underneath it is thin. Where reviewers diverged was on whether that's forgivable: fans of the genre were more willing to accept the mayhem on its own terms, while harsher voices found the whole enterprise lazy and incoherent. Mickey Rourke's brief dramatic monologue became an unlikely flashpoint, with several critics noting it accidentally exposed how little the rest of the film was trying.
“More The Wild Geese than The Wild Bunch, The Expendables is not a wasted opportunity, but more one not fully exploited. For action fans raised on Commando and Cobra, the ensemble cast and '80s-style violence will be pure wish-fulfilment—but even they could have wished for something better.”
Genevieve Harrison·Empire
“Stallone forgets to include non-spazzy direction, a coherent plot, dialogue that actors can speak without cringing, stunts that don't fizzle, blood that isn't digital and an animating spirit that might convince us to give a damn.”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
“breathtakingly sleazy in its lack of imagination”
Anthony Lane·The New Yorker
“Rourke delivers a monologue about his time in Bosnia, and the conviction the actor brings to the occasion throws the movie completely out of whack. What's actual acting doing in a movie like this?”
Michael Phillips·Chicago Tribune
“what you will find is both familiar in its contours and unique in its casting.”
Richard Corliss·Time
Genres
Action, Adventure, Thriller
Cast & Crew
Sylvester StalloneDirectorSylvester StalloneBarney Ross
Jason StathamLee Christmas
Jet LiYin Yang
Dolph LundgrenGunner Jensen
Eric RobertsJames Monroe
Randy CoutureToll Road
Steve AustinPaine
David ZayasGeneral Garza
Giselle ItiéSandra
Charisma CarpenterLacy
Gary DanielsThe Brit
Terry CrewsHale Caesar
Brian TylerComposer
David CallahamWriter
Jeffrey L. KimballCinematographyThe Expendables
Barney Ross leads a band of highly skilled mercenaries including knife enthusiast Lee Christmas, a martial arts expert Yin Yang, heavy weapons specialist Hale Caesar, demolitionist Toll Road, and a loose-cannon sniper Gunner Jensen. When the group is commissioned by the mysterious Mr. Church to assassinate the dictator of a small South American island, Barney and Lee visit the remote locale to scout out their opposition and discover the true nature of the conflict engulfing the city.
What critics thought
A reunion of action legends that critics found more exciting on paper than on screen — the casting delivers nostalgia but the filmmaking underneath it is thin. Where reviewers diverged was on whether that's forgivable: fans of the genre were more willing to accept the mayhem on its own terms, while harsher voices found the whole enterprise lazy and incoherent. Mickey Rourke's brief dramatic monologue became an unlikely flashpoint, with several critics noting it accidentally exposed how little the rest of the film was trying.
“More The Wild Geese than The Wild Bunch, The Expendables is not a wasted opportunity, but more one not fully exploited. For action fans raised on Commando and Cobra, the ensemble cast and '80s-style violence will be pure wish-fulfilment—but even they could have wished for something better.”
Genevieve Harrison·Empire
“Stallone forgets to include non-spazzy direction, a coherent plot, dialogue that actors can speak without cringing, stunts that don't fizzle, blood that isn't digital and an animating spirit that might convince us to give a damn.”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
“breathtakingly sleazy in its lack of imagination”
Anthony Lane·The New Yorker
“Rourke delivers a monologue about his time in Bosnia, and the conviction the actor brings to the occasion throws the movie completely out of whack. What's actual acting doing in a movie like this?”
Michael Phillips·Chicago Tribune
“what you will find is both familiar in its contours and unique in its casting.”
Richard Corliss·Time
Genres
Action, Adventure, Thriller
Cast & Crew
Sylvester StalloneDirectorSylvester StalloneBarney RossJason StathamLee ChristmasJet LiYin YangDolph LundgrenGunner JensenEric RobertsJames MonroeRandy CoutureToll RoadSteve AustinPaineDavid ZayasGeneral GarzaGiselle ItiéSandraCharisma CarpenterLacyGary DanielsThe BritTerry CrewsHale CaesarBrian TylerComposerDavid CallahamWriterJeffrey L. KimballCinematographyRent & Buy