The Expendables 4

While his 60s in the 2010s, Sylvester Stallone (Armor, Rocky Balboa) did the unthinkable… He created a new action movie franchise with The Expendables. Now four films deep into the all-star action saga, The Expendables 4 (titled theatrically under the far cornier moniker Expend4bles) shifts focus from Sly to Jason Statham (Mechanic: Resurrection, Meg 2: The Trench) in a more intimate, stripped-down entry where, one again, the titular team has to stop a former Expendable gone rogue in order to save the world.

After the Expendables fail a mission in Libya, nuclear warheads land in the hands of the mysterious terrorist Ocelot. Now a leaner team than they’ve been in the past, the Expendables have to track down the warheads and solve the mystery of who Ocelot is before they lead to the start of World War III.

Despite having top billing, Stallone is not in the movie very much. This is clearly a passing the torch sort of movie from Stallone to Statham with mixed results. Director Scott Waugh (Hidden Strike, Need for Speed) started out as a stuntman, and it comes through with The Expendables 4’s sharper focus on melee combat.

Unfortunately, the cast is loaded with less big-name stars this time around, and it shows. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (Escape Plan 2: Hades, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping), Megan Fox (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Think Like a Dog), and Andy Garcia (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, The Pink Panther 2) are no Mel Gibson (Forever Young, Ransom) Chuck Norris (Invasion U.S.A., Sidekicks), or Wesley Snipes (Murder at 1600, Sugar Hill). Iko Uwais (The Raid: Redemption, Triple Threat) and Tony Jaa (Detective Chinatown 3, Monster Hunter) add some much-needed flair to the action scenes and are underutilized compared to the many mindless goons getting gunned down over and over again.

Despite this, a simpler plot and the inspired setting of an aircraft carrier for much of the movie gives this movie a zippier pace than most films in the series. What sinks the big action set pieces are notably cheap looking special effects that come straight out of a made for Syfy Channel creature feature. There’s an big expectation of throwback huge explosions in this kind of movie, and it really doesn’t deliver in that regard.

Better than the sluggish box office might suggest, The Expendables 4 manages a back to basics approach that is more or less successful. If there’s a fifth Expendables motion picture, let’s hope they bring in bigger stars and better special effects.

The Expendables 4 is now available for purchase on physical media and digital platforms.