Movies in Review: "Expendables 2"

Wow! What a way to start a movie. The action begins from the opening credits, and stays consistent throughout the entire movie. I guess this was their way of keeping this sequel as entertaining as the first.   I will admit that I was a little apprehensive about this sequel, especially since the first one was so entertaining. I really felt that this 2nd installment would fail like most other sequels. It failed in some areas, I wouldn't call it a total fail.

All characters from the first film made their return, with the addition of other great well known action heroes. I enjoyed Jean-Claude as the villain. I have never been a Jean-Claude fan, but I actually enjoyed him in this movie. His character gave the story substance when it was on the verge of being overloaded with too many characters. Because there were so many new characters, the film did lack some of the charm and humor in the first film. The original characters like Crews and Li did not get the shine that they received in the first film. Whats even more strange is the fact that Li's character was replaced by an Asian female 20mins into the movie. That was disappointing because the female character lacked everything that Lei brought to the film. The overload of characters put this movie on the verge of corniness to me. Characters like Chuck Norris, Schwarzenegger, and Willis were popping up in scenes out of the blue saving the day...smh...corny.

The bickering between Stallone and Statham's characters was the most entertaining to me, besides the action. Although this is an action film and this movie is packed full of it, the action sequences were not written as well as the first movie. Don't worry, it's still a very entertaining movie, especially to see all your favorite action heroes in action again. The first one was definitely better, but I didn't hate this one...B-