The Expendables 3: Antonio Banderas Saves Saggy Middle (Review/Trailer)

The Expendables 3 Antonio Banderas Saves Saggy Middle (Review/Trailer)

The Expendables 3 Antonio Banderas Saves Saggy Middle (Review/Trailer)

The Expendables 3 feels a little flat without Bruce Willis as Church and the middle is a bit saggy, perhaps as much as Kelsey Grammer’s middle but Antonio Banderas saves the entire film as the best action-man/comic relief imaginable. It never helps a film when an actor who was in the first two installments of a franchise leaves suddenly with a good portion of bad publicity. Willis was fired from the third segment of this popular escapist action “series” amid producer Sylvester Stallone’s Twitter tirade where he accused Bruce of being greedy and lazy.

Not that this occurrence seemed to stop the screening audience from enjoying the film. In this third trip down Expendables’ lane, Barney Ross (Stallone) and his regular crew start the movie by saving a former Expendable, Doc (Wesley Snipes). After a fairly impressive opening, which consists of a lot of train and helicopter action, Doc finds out that he’s been drafted to help Barney and crew take out a bad guy and a missile.

While performing this second mission, Ross discovers another former Expendable, whom he believed to be dead by his, Barney’s hand, still very much alive. Stonebanks (Mel Gibson) is alive and well and he thwarts Barney’s mission and worse, shoots Caesar (Terry Crews) leaving him barely clinging to life. The leader of these mercenaries then fires everyone, Christmas (Jason Statham), Toll Road (Randy Couture), and Gunner (Dolph Lundgren) saying that he does not want them to die.

Barney decides he need new blood to help him take out Stonebanks. It is this part of The Expendables 3 that is saggy, slow and a bit boring. Antonio Banderas makes a brief appearance during this search for new talent which saves things for a brief moment, but the entire mid section of the film could have been shortened considerably.

Another thing that does not help the film was the decision to have Kelsey Grammer play a mercenary “headhunter.” Whether this was some sort of “dig” at Bruce Willis or just a last minute fill, is not certain. But in a film where the schtick is all about action stars, old and new, filling out the cast, it is puzzling to see where comic actor Grammer fits in. Sure he played the Beast in one of the X-Men films, but he is not known for action roles unlike the rest of the cast, it is puzzling to say the least.

Another character or two was missing from the cast list as well as Willis. Charisma Carpenter, who had the rather thankless role as Christmas’s girlfriend in both the prior films, was conspicuous in her absence. Mickey Rourke was also missing, but then it was never really confirmed that he would be back for this third outing. Jet Li might as well have been absent as his return was really a glorified cameo appearance. Sure he shoots a few rounds off, but his amount of screen time was disappointing to say the least.

The film had way too much of the new recruits, or new members of Ross’ Expendables and not nearly enough of the “old guys.” Terry Crews in his role had a little more screen time than Li and Statham, Lundgren and Couture show up later but the film could have used their presence throughout and not just at the beginning, very briefly in the middle, and at the end. Harrison Ford, who was presumably Willis’ replacement was amusing enough but like the other “older” action figures, could have been in the film a bit more. Although to be fair to Ford, his on set ankle injury probably cut way down on his part.

Before handing out kudos about what does work in the film, it has to be pointed out, yet again, that Kelsey Grammer’s presence in the movie is a complete mystery. If he was intended to be some sort of comic relief it did not work and was unnecessary as Banderas fulfilled that role perfectly. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger had funnier moments in the film than Grammer did. There is a “chopper” reference that “Arnie” makes which, combined with the expression on his face almost makes the entire film worth watching for just that moment.

That is enough of what was “wrong” with the film. Looking at what was done right for a moment, it has to be mentioned that Mel Gibson makes a terrific bad guy. The new “kids” on the crew, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Kellan Lutz and Ronda Rousey all do a great job as the younger members of the mercenary group. Rousey rocked it and her fight scenes packed a solid punch. If ever a studio decides to do a female version of The Expendables, this lady’s name should be at the top of the list.

The stunts and fight scenes are cracking and the action sequences contain enough adrenaline to keep most very happy. The film opens with a great scene between a chopper and a fast moving train that is absolutely impressive. In terms of the prior films, the violence is not quite so graphic or over the top since the filmmakers decided to leave the R rating behind. This may also have been a factor in the slow meandering middle part of the film. Keep an eye out for a pretty spectacular stunt towards the end of the movie, it is impressive and memorable, despite being a very short sequence in the film.

Antonio Banderas, however, steals the film from everyone. His performance as the very verbal Galgo is just brilliant. His antics, as well as his fight scenes, keep the audience amused and looking for his character throughout the entire second half of the film. The actor has shown that besides being an action star, his comedic talents are second to none.

The Expendables 3 should probably be the last in this franchise. With the film being so slow and saggy in the middle, this seems to prove that the writers, and the actors, are stretching a bit for material here. Even the banter between the characters is not as natural, funny or clever as in the first two films. Antonio Banderas saves the movie almost single handedly and Mel Gibson gives good bad guy. The film opens countrywide on Friday, August 15. In terms of enjoyment, this PG-13 version of the franchise is still fun as long as the audience do not mind the yawn-worthy midsection of the film.

By Michael Smith

Sources:

IMDb

AMC Town Square 18

11 thoughts on “The Expendables 3: Antonio Banderas Saves Saggy Middle (Review/Trailer)

  1. Wow, marvelous blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your web site is magnificent, as well as the content!

  2. One possible explanation behind Li’s limited screentime this time around. Instead of having to deal with another movie like in Expendables 2, apparently Li has a legitimate health issue with a hyperactive thyroid. After looking at his wikipedia page and the sourced article detailing it, he was just diagnosed with that last year. Hyperactive thyroid= Can’t do much exercise, and I’m pretty sure that factors in on his ability to do fight scenes.

  3. In 3rd Mel and Banderas were only great in this movie, rest all sucked. In the 2nd movie Jean Claude was the best… But out of all 3, I liked the 2nd movie.

  4. While I enjoyed Banderas, it was an absolute shame to populate his scenes with fighting sequences while Jet Li flew around in a chopper shooting a machine gun. Who scripted that move? What an absolute waste of time and talent. If the action was the main thing to carry this movie, Jet Li’s talents were totally wasted.

    1. I don’t think Li had much of a choice in the matter. After looking into his Wikipedia page, Li had a hyperactive thyroid since 2010, and made his condition public just last year. Because of this, he can’t do much physically with his fight scenes now-a-days. Kind of surprised he was able to do Flying Swords at Dragon’s Gate at all if he had this condition for the past four years.

  5. C’mon! Gibson saved this POS film! Mel and Banderas were the only characters you actually cared about. You’ve way underrated Mel’s as usual acting abilities. Statham would have delivered I’m sure had the script let him, but the rest of the cast was just terrible. The film didn’t really deliver to either intended audience at the box office but I’m sure it will do well on Blue Ray and DVD.

  6. Umm I think you needed to address the fact that Barnes kept calling Both Arnold and Harrison’s characters Church. Was that a stat Willis???

    1. You are quite right Angela! I had completely forgotten that literally moments (in screen time) after Harrison Ford’s character says, “You’ll never have to worry about Church again,” Arnie’s character is called Church. And, as you pointed out, Ford’s character as well. Oh well, perhaps Sly really missed Bruce after all…

      1. Arnold’s character is names Trench not Church!! Fords character tell him they won’t have to worry about Church because he’s gone.

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