This review was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn’t exist.At the end of Ted Kotcheff’s 1982 film, First Blood — about a traumatized Vietnam War veteran named John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) who returns home to find there is nothing left for him and active hostility towards his existence as a reminder of the disastrous campaign — the central conflict comes to a close without gunfire and instead via a more unexpectedly impactful moment of reflection. After an entire film spent battling the corrupt local sheriff and his cronies in the woods who tried to drive him away, Rambo gave himself up after breaking down in tears at all that had happened to him. It was a potent way in which to close and elevated an already well-crafted action film into something more resonant. What a shame they don’t make them like that anymore and instead just coast off their legacies.

At the beginning of Expend4bles, the fourth entry in the action series The Expendables, there is almost a light echo of First Blood when we meet back up with the now 77-year-old Stallone as Barney. Repetitive snarkiness aside, he may as well be Rambo in his later years as he is dealing with being alone and feeling the pain of a lifetime of injuries catch up with him. While it has nowhere near the depth, emotion, or complexity, it is still about an action hero who is seeing the world pass him by. To some degree, this is not new as each of the movies in this series has lightly riffed on elements of the genre and the respective parts that each actor has played in it with the second remaining the best by a wide margin. For a brief moment in the beginning of this one where we see Barney shooting the shit with Jason Statham’s Christmas, there is the promise of something potentially fun. Such false hope is dashed immediately.

What Is ‘Expend4bles’ About?
Image via Lionsgate

The story, which both matters not at all and far too much, kicks off with a group of baddies stealing a nuclear weapon (thanks for nothing Oppenheimer). Led by Suarto Rahmat, who is played by a largely wasted Iko Uwais of the spectacular The Raid: Redemption and The Raid 2, he wants to use it to start a war between the United States and Russia. Who else can be sent to stop him? That’s right, the ragtag team that is The Expendables. This includes Barney, Christmas, Gunner (Dolph Lundgren), Easy (50 Cent), Galan (Jacob Scipio), and Toll (Randy Couture), who are all overseen by their toothpick-chewing handler Marsh (Andy Garcia) who brought this mission to them in the first place. When this operation goes awry and tragedy strikes, they’ll have to track down the weapons before it is too late to avert catastrophe.

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This film is, to put it as bluntly as it tells its story, shoddily made. Even before the mission, there are several moments where it feels like many of the characters might not even be in the same room together. When Barney first approaches Christmas for help with something, a shot of him looking through a peephole is jarring in how much the entire background behind him looks fake. When the door opens and he sees Christmas fighting with his girlfriend Gina (Megan Fox) in what feels intended to be a comedic exchange, the distracting effects just suck all the life out of the scene. When we then go into the earlier action sequences, the effects feel more like they were made for a mobile game you get spammed with ads for rather than a finished feature. However, considering that director Scott Waugh’s other film from this year, the abysmal Hidden Strike, had similar problems, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. What is more disappointing is how the film doesn’t really know what to do with its talented cast.

‘Expend4bles’ Wastes Its Action Stars
Image via Lionsgate

Without tipping off anything, the film proceeds to sideline many of the main cast with Stallone in particular being basically an extended cameo rather than a full participant. This is unfortunate as there was potentially something to seeing him and Statham bounce off each other. The “jokes” they make are terrible, proving to be barely funny if you think about them for even a second, but there was still the potential for an okay buddy comedy that coasted off of their roasting each other. To jettison that would be fine if there was something else to chew on from there forward, but the film never sinks its teeth into anything interesting. If there was a highlight, it would be everything with Tony Jaa as a loner who has tried to leave the mercenary life behind though is unleashed in the extended closing act that is all set on a boat. Every second he has on screen is more kinetic, humorous, and thrilling than anything else taking place. There could have been a movie that was made about just him that would have been infinitely more entertaining and memorable than whatever this one was trying to be.

Even as Statham, who is essentially the lead of the film, never feels like he is phoning it in, there is just so little that stands out. The twists are obvious and can be seen coming from a mile away, making all the dancing around it feel tiresome. When the staging of many of the fights just involves people standing in one place, it feels like the film is taking the piss (sometimes literally) while never doing much more to come to life. It makes for the worst Expendables yet. The occasional moment of machine gun motorcycle jousting aside, it is a largely dull and dreary experience that never feels like it is ever anything more than a hollow mimicry of far better action works of the past. Even as it takes a turn to feel like it wants to be more like Die Hard, it just ends up feeling like the film itself is slowly dying a painful death.

Rating: D

The Big Picture

Expend4ables is the worst in the action series yet. The film suffers from poor production quality, with distracting effects that feel more like a mobile game. Tony Jaa’s performance stands out as the most entertaining aspect of the movie, overshadowing the otherwise uninspired action sequences.

Expend4ables is in theaters starting September 22.