I liked it, but I do think it is the weakest of the series, which is a shame, because it does have the best cast, and the best action set pieces yet. There two main problems though. The first, Ex3 goes against the very reason the first film was created to begin with. The PG13 rating. It tames these over the top sequences to fun, but not nearly as memorable. Where as the first film started with Dolph literally exploding a guy in bloody fashion, here we get Statham stabbing a guy right in the face with it cutting away before it even touches his head (I do hope there is an unrated bringing the gore back) 2nd issue: The other main point is to see these legends do the crazy shit, and they literally put the original team on the sidelines for almost an hour. Now it's time to the actual cast:

Stallone- Solid as ever.
Statham- takes an unfortunate backseat for most of the film, which sucks as him and Stallone have great chemistry together.
Couture, Lundgren, Li, Crews all much smaller this time, and none get to showcase their talents like in earlier editions.
Gibson- Finally a great villain. He could have had more fun in the first half, but he too seems to be tamed by the new rating.
Snipes- A real solid edition, it's nice to see him back.
Banderas- The true show stealer. Every single moment he is in is downright hilarious. His best most insane role since Assassins.
Ford- First two scenes are rough, but once he gets into the action (Making fun of Statham is downright hilarious) he's great.
Schwarzenegger- It's a shame it felt smaller than the last film. Nothing too memorable outside that final moment with Li.
Grammer- Awesome. Wish he was in it more.
New people- All kind of bad outside of Rousey, who I actually enjoyed immensely, especially with Banderas.

There are some truly great moments throughout, but the rating and the story went in the wrong spot, but the characters interacting are the highlights. I wish I could have rewrote this film, as I think I could have fixed the script to make it the ultimate Expendables film. One quick rewrite could have made it fantastic.



As is I give it a solid B+ once it gets going. An A once the team returns. Have fun with it, but don't expect to be knocked out of the park.

Oh man where to start with this one. Well I can definitely say it's the worst in the series, but I really enjoyed Gibson as the villain. Him, Snipes, Banderas, and Grammar seem to be having one hell of a time with their roles, but sadly this is a very mediocre action movie around all these fun performances.

The new guys were terrible, especially Rousey who is pretty hot and has the skills, but is obviously not an actress. Weirdly, enough I only found Lutz to be the most tolerable although that isn't saying much. The best parts are easily the dock action scene and the finale which could've been a whole lot better without the shitty CGI goofiness of Li, Arnold, and Ford on the chopper.

How much screentime has Gibson? I've heard it's not much more than an extended cameo, I hope that's not true.

Not much

Did you like him in the movie?

Except for one scene, it was not a memorable performance.

Would a little lie have hurt you?

I'm afraid, I am not in the mood for lying.

Eventhough Gibson isn't in it a whole lot he's still much better here than in Machete Kills. I really liked his scene in the van with Sly, but unfortunately the final confrontation just doesn't deliver.

The fight at the end isn't much, but for some reason I didn't find it as disappointing as the Van Damme fight scene from EX2.

Gibson is so much more fun in MACHETE KILLS than he is here.

It's more than a cameo, it's a legit role, just unfortunately underwritten. The first half of the film he is relegated to quick shots of him glaring at a girl's ass, and an occasional line. Then he has about 5 big scenes back to back, and he is awesome in them, then outside of the fight at the end he is again relegated to reacting to them via security. He's given a good amount with little to do outside of the middle. He definitely livens the film every time he's there though.

I mean he was obviously on set and a lot of scenes were filmed. I think a lot may have been cut out due to the rating.

The third time is the charm for the Expendables. Almost. When I say this is the best film in the franchise to date, it is not high praise considering how flawed the entire three-picture enterprise is. However, the highs here are higher than before, and the lows are nowhere near as low as The Expendables 2 at its worst. In this episode, perhaps the last, Sylvester Stallone's Barney and his team of chiseled, dry-aged mercenaries realize a former-colleague-turned-arms-dealer they presumed dead is, in fact, still alive. When the first attempt to capture or neutralize him fails, resulting in a near-fatal wound for one second-string Expendable, Barney disbands the old team and recruits a fresh-faced squad, one among them portrayed by UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey in her acting debut. I doubt there is an Academy Award in her future, but she is sexy and engaging in this context. The junior Expendables will frustrate many fans because they are such an obvious (and perhaps cynical) attempt to broaden viewership, but I for one believe they fit with surprising ease into the overcrowded tapestry, and I savored the scenes in which they are recruited one by one by Stallone's Barney and a type of gun-for-hire talent agent played with sleazy charisma by Kelsey Grammer.

The aforementioned antagonist is played by none other than Mel Gibson. The role is fairly thin—another Western abuser of the Third World who upsets Barney and his Expendables' righteous and violent sense of right and wrong—but Gibson is a talented actor and one of the great film stars of our time, and he infuses it with a certain menacing fire. Also welcome are newcomers Wesley Snipes and Antonio Banderas. The former's presence fades later in the film, but he steals scenes early on as a soldier known as "Doctor Death." His character is sprung from a foreign prison in the opening action sequence. His crime? "Tax evasion," he quips. Corny, but amusing. Banderas is even more invaluable. He is, in fact, downright hilarious as an overeager soldier without an army, desperate to audition for and join the Expendables team, showing up again and again without an invitation to prove his merit in combat. The actor delivers his colorful, mile-a-minute dialogue with verve, and I am tempted to say this is his most satisfying performance in an American film. Not so welcome is Harrison Ford as the team's taciturn new CIA contact. Per usual in this era of his career, he dons a vibe-murdering grimace and delivers his lines (both serious and quote-unquote comic) with an astonishing dearth of conviction.

Among the returning cast, Jet Li is unfortunately squandered even more than in the second film, showing up for no more than two minutes to fire a machine gun in no direction in particular. No punches. No kicks. I am not sure if he hates this franchise or if it is not interested in utilizing him, but either way, Yin Yang, his bland and infrequently glimpsed character, may be the most deflating part of the saga in retrospect. Arnold Schwarzenegger is also put to rather boring and minimal use beyond a few spot-on one-liners, but Jason Statham is in fine form and still has the most interesting on-screen dynamic with Stallone's protagonist as knife-wielding sidekick Lee Christmas.

Despite the controversial switch from an R rating to a PG-13 (and the resulting absence of over-the-top gore), the action set pieces in this film are more engaging than the ones in the prior two. The compositions are crisper, the editorial rhythm more assured, and there is a bit of adventure and espionage blended into the expected gunfire galore, particularly during a second-act infiltration of a Romanian skyscraper which has the Expendables scaling walls and accessing a security system via computers rather than simply forging in with heavy firearms ablaze. The final conflict does run long, however, and suspense is a tad muted because the intrigue is spread thin in order to involve each key character. Stallone and Gibson's climactic fistfight (they, groan, throw their guns aside in honor of caveman authenticity) is also shorter and less interesting than expected. An earlier verbal feud is, in fact, much more intense.

B-

Nice review David, it's almost a frustrating film for hardcore fans. At some points its the gutsiest, most fun. Others you just have no idea why they would do that. I disagree about the Lows of part II, I found that film to just be spot on in general.

Ford is mostly squandered until the that scene with Statham on the phone. His first scene is so oddly filmed it looks like it's his limo and they just started filming right then and there. The bar room scene at the end is almost the best of the entire film. Banderas spending a fortune on his tattoo before being given entry is hilarious. I could honestly watch an entire spinoff film of Banderas and Grammer. It's too bad they couldn't "Marvel" off the Expendables films. 2 films a year with a few of the guys would probably be even better than the ensemble film, being able to focus more on a better scripts.

In all honesty I could watch and entire spinoff film of just Grammer and Banderas.

My soul withered during Ford's one-liners during the final fight. "Drummer in the house!" "Ooh, that's gotta hurt!"

Banderas' tattoo reveal at the end is indeed hilarious. Great gag. Great character. He does such an awesome job in this.

Thanks gun. That sounds a lot better. Sucks to hear about a lackluster final fight again, though.

The Expendables 3

Awesome. Much better made film than the other two. The comedy was better and only when needed (Banderas was awesome). It was a better staged film, not throwing all of its eggs into one simple mission-story. The action was also great and while I would have preferred blood, it didn't bother me too much that it wasn't there. Crews not being part of the film was great and Snipes filling in was brilliant. What was really great was how this time around I really felt like they had a real threat to the team. Mel Gibson was a great villain and his and Sly's fight was epic - fookin' loved it.

Jet Li is in it for about 4secs and Ford was cool (but really out of place in this film as he's not an action star at all). Grammer was much better. The youngsters were pretty impressive and I liked it how they didn't really take over the show. I wish that Statham had/did more. The songs chosen throughout the film were great, but the score was just recycled from the first two. All in all this was a true blast!!

I was kind of thrown off by how decently the film was made. The cinematography at times is really nice. This should have been the first of the franchise. It is much better than the second and on par with the first.

A-

You gave the second a straight A.

I lowered it over time to a B+

It is short, but it just felt epic, and Mel was the best villain yet (not a difficult feat, I know).

1. The Expendables A-
2. The Expendables 3 A-
3. The Expendables 2 B/B+

1. The Expendables (A-)
2. The Expendables 2 (B+)
3. The Expendables 3 (C)

1. 3: B-
2. 1: C+
3. 2: C+ or maybe a C

All far below such films as Bullet to the Head, Escape Plan, The Mechanic...

THE EXPENDABLES - C-
THE EXPENDABLES 2 - B-
THE EXPENDABLES 3 - D+