Expendable? They're Definitely Not!

The Expendables 2 opens Friday August 17th.

In 2010, Sylvester Stallone brought The Expendables to the big screen. It seemed like a simple premise. Get all of the action stars from the 80's, 90's & 2000's and put them in a film that accentuates action over everything and just enough story to satisfy the audience. Now, if you're thinking I'm being hypocritical, I'm not. The Expendables used cameos by some of actions biggest stars from days gone by like Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzennager (with a great joke made by Stallone to the former Governor) and some of today's stars like Jason Statham and Jet Li. Add in expanded roles for Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews and Randy Couture with a good monologue delivered by Mickey Rouke and you got a new franchise from old parts. Hell, Stallone even recycled 80's actors for the villain by chosing Eric Roberts fresh off his supporting role in The Dark Knight. The Expendables was fun and satisfying. On Friday, The Expendables 2 comes to the big screen with larger roles for Bruce Willis and Arnold, but it's gotta be bigger, right?

Jean-Claude Van Damme hasn't been
a villain in almost 25 years. 

Simple rule of a sequel: Gimme more. If you're telling a character strong story, gimme more stuff to think about. If you have an action film, gimme more action. If you have a star-studded action film, gimme more stars. That equation allows Liam Hemsworth, Chuck Norris and the new bad guy, Jean-Claude Van Damme. The latter (Van Damme) hasn't played a bad guy since his early days Black Eagle, but after his critically acclaimed performance in JCVD, where Van Damme plays himself and robs a bank to stay afloat financially, Van Damme could be this summer's most pleasant surprise. How many fans are dying to see JCVD fight Jet Li or Jason Statham... or both. He's the bad guy, act two will belong to him. Let's see him mess up some guys. Lundgren already fought him from the 1993 film Universal Soldier. This time, he gets to take on Rambo. Bigger isn't always better, but just expect a good time.