The Expendables Ranking

With the release of Expend4bles, I thought it would be fun to watch through all of The Expendables movies. The Expendables franchise is a big-budget action franchise that stars all of the best 80s action stars. It is essentially the equivalent of taking old 80s action figures out and hitting them together. These films are perfect examples of Junk Food movies. They lack substance and a solid story but are very entertaining. The novelty of seeing all of these stars together is the big draw of the franchise and just makes for a lot of fun. With that being said, here are my thoughts and ranking of the four Expendables films.

4. Expend4bles

Expend4bles is by far the worst film in the franchise. It has a few good action sequences and a fun enough performance from Jason Statham but beyond that, this movie is just not good. One of the biggest issues is that it utilized CGI way too much in its action scenes and set pieces. Stuff that used to be done on site in the other films was done on green screens and action sequences that were usually done practically were done with CGI. The movie doesn't have any of the fun star power that the other films have and the stars that they do have get sidelines to have the movie center around Jason Statham. I also felt that the new characters were extremely forgettable with little to no chemistry with the original crew along with villains that left no mark on the film. The whole point of the Expendables films is to deliver a movie with big action and 80s star power and this movie completely missed the mark. I also was not a fan of the direction they took the story and the Barney character. It just felt like it defeated the purpose of these films. In the end, this is a film that totally missed its purpose and ultimately failed to live up to the other films in the franchise.

Score: 4/10 Grade: D+

3. The Expendables 3

The Expendables 3 is the weakest of the original run of the film. However, it still has some fun moments. As with the rest of the films, the action in this movie is big and a lot of fun to see. I have some appreciation that they went for practical effects instead of a bunch of CGI. The third act in this movie is also a lot of fun as it gives so many of our characters a moment to shine. This movie also brings in a few iconic faces. Harrison Ford is a lot of fun to see in this film as he takes on the Bruce Willis role. He gets a few fun moments and is just always great. Antonio Banderas is the standout of the film. He steals every scene he is in and just has so many funny moments. He also has some great chemistry Stallone and plays off of him so well. However, the main plot of this movie just really hurts it for me. The movie makes the odd decision to sideline the original older case in favor of some newer characters which just completely misses the mark of the franchise. The whole point of these movies is to see all of these 80s stars on screen together. Replacing them with younger actors is not what people want. I also felt the movie as a whole was just less memorable. It doesn't have much of a memorable story nor does it have as many fun sequences. Overall, while it still has some fun moments, this movie misses the mark and purpose of the franchise.

Score: 5/10 Grade: C

2. The Expendables

The original film is a significant step up from the previous films on this list. This movie introduces us to the fun novelty of seeing your favorite action stars on screen together such as Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Jason Statham, and many others. This movie delivers all sorts of great action sequences that remind you of those from big 80s movies. This movie just goes all out in the third action with the action and explosions and gives me so much entertainment. The movie also embraces the idea of cheesy one-liners from old 80s movies and goes all out with them in this film. Finally, all of these characters have great chemistry together with Jason Statham and Sylvester Stallone playing off of each other so well. The biggest thing keeping this film back is that it gets a bit dull in the middle act. Instead of keeping everyone together, we have Statham and Stallone off on their own which kind of defeats the purpose of the movie. Once the whole team is together, the movie is a lot more fun. I also found that the villain was a bit lackluster. In the other films, the villain is some big-name actor. However, this villain isn't any one standout. In the end, this is a very fun film that is a great throwback action film that was close to being the best in the franchise.

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B-

1. The Expendables 2

The Expendables 2 is the film that hits the mark the best. This movie manages to deliver everything you hope for from a movie like this. It does everything bigger and better than the original films. All of the actors get more screen time, and there are bigger stars and bigger action sequences. What helps this movie top the original is that they went with a story that keeps the whole team together for the entire movie. We get to see nonstop banter and action. We also get to see some very cool moments from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Chuck Norris as this movie allows for more screen time of both Willis and Schwarzenegger. This movie also has the best third act in the entire series as we get to see all of these actors fighting side by side, trading one-liners and blowing things up. This movie is essentially a dream come true for any 80s action movie fan. I also really like how this movie uses practical action with real explosions and fight seasons instead of going heavy CGI. Finally, having all of these characters on screen together just makes for a really fun dynamic with nonstop entertainment. Of course by no means is this a great film. It's stupid and goofy with a pretty thin plot, but it absolutely delivers everything I wanted out of this franchise.

Score: 6.8/10 Grade: B-