The Expendables 3 Suffers From a Bloated Cast

3 Out of 5 Stars

I do like action movies and don’t even mind some that have major plot issues at times.  I have enjoyed a lot of movies that Sylvester Stallone has been in over the years.  I really enjoyed The Expendables when it came out and I enjoyed the sequel The Expendables 2 as well.  That is why I was interested in seeing The Expendables 3 even before I knew much about the plot.  I did enjoy the movie when I had the chance to see it, but I don’t like it as much as the first two movies.  This one has more issues.

Barney Ross and the team are on a mission to rescue former Expendable Doc.  He has been held prisoner for several years and is currently being moved on a train.  Doc was one of the first members of the Expendables and none of the other guys know him.  The next mission goes bad when Barney recognized Conrad Stonebanks, the man who started the Expendables with Barney originally.  Conrad went rogue and Barney has believed him dead for years.  One of the guys is injured, and feeling guilty and wanting to avoid that happening again, basically fires everyone and then recruits new, younger mercenaries.  Eventually everyone has to work together in an attempt to face Conrad.

There is no indication of how much time is supposed to have passed since the end of the second movie when The Expendables 3 begins.  There isn’t any sort of recap to anything that happened in the previous movies.  The events in this movie don’t directly build on the first two movies since there is no continuing story line.  It is kind of interesting to find out a little more about the founding of the group, but even with finding out about Conrad, there isn’t that much shared.  Barney and Conrad’s conflict works well enough as a story even though it isn’t developed as well as it could have been.  Much of what happens seems to be an excuse for more and more wild action scenes.  It just would have been nice if the story had been a little stronger.  There are attempts at humor throughout the movie, with some working better than others.

Over the top action scenes turn up throughout the movie.  There is all kinds of shooting as well as some fist fights.  Doc uses knives, much like Lee, which causes some conflicts between them.  As the movie continues, the action sequences just get bigger until there is absolutely no hint of believability to what is going on.  A handful of people with limited weapons is supposed to take out what amounts to an army, complete with helicopters and tanks.  It does get a bit ridiculous.  All sorts of nameless characters are injured or killed in some way, especially later in the movie.  Despite that, the movie is rated PG-13 instead of R like the first two in an attempt to get more younger viewers to see the movie in the theater.  It is true that there is very little if any blood shown even with all the injuries and killings, but the rating still doesn’t seem right to me with how high the body count is.

A lot of the cast has been in all three movies, but this one also has several new, younger members.   Frankly, too much time is spent with the new members at the expense of the returning characters.  The new members don’t stand out at all really.  One of them is a woman bouncer and another one is a former member of the military who doesn’t like taking orders and seems a bit moody.  I didn’t particularly like or care about any of them.  I liked the characters from the first two movies so I wanted to see more of them, not younger moody people I don’t care about.  Before seeing the movie, I didn’t realize that the younger members of the cast were going to receive the most attention, with the older members being shoved to the background for the most part while the new guys crack jokes that involve calling the older members Grandpa.  I wouldn’t have minded so much if there was just one or two younger characters added, but a whole new younger team was overkill.  That, along with adding Doc, Bonaparte, Galgo, Drummer, and having Trench around a bit more, has the cast just too big.  That results in none of the characters getting enough attention and there really isn’t any character development.  By trying to feature every member of such a large cast, it ends up with no one really featured.

The set up with Doc and how they rescue him is interesting, then in no time, that is forgotten to focus on the new team.  A big part of the appeal of the first two movies was the fact that they featured several older action stars together in one movie.  This movie went to far off track that idea by focusing so much on the new younger team.  Adding Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford would have been more than enough and would have fit in more with the original set up. 

Ronda Rousey, a mixed martial arts figher who currently has at least one title, plays Luna, the woman bouncer that Barney adds to the new team.  Really the only thing that stands out about her is that she is a woman who acts tough.  I didn’t particularly care about the character and I wasn’t that impressed with her acting.  It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great either.  Kellan Lutz, who played one of the moody, sparkly, vampires in the Twilight movies is John, the kind of moody former Marine.  I do wonder if anyone involved in the casting was hoping that some of the Twilight fans would follow Lutz to this one.  Thorn is some kind of veteran who is really good with computers and Mars is a sharpshooter who has a fear of heights. 

Lee, Yin, Gunner, Toll Road, Hale Caesar, and Trench are all back, with some of them doing more than others.  They were all fine in what they were able to do.  Doc starts off looking like a bit of a wild man.  He quickly proves that he still has his work skills.  Wesley Snipes is good in the part.  Galgo is a kind of older mercenary who is desperately trying to get on a team again.  He talks a lot.  I liked Antonio Banderas in the part.  Bonaparte is someone that Barney knows who is helping find the new team.  It seems like Bonaparte has done mercenary work in the past.  Kelsey Grammar only has a few scenes.  Harrison Ford is in a few scenes as Drummer, a CIA agent that gives Barney missions.  Drummer is replacing Church, the character the Bruce Willis played in the first two movies.  Willis was originally going to be back, but then he wanted more money for only four days of shooting, so the character was removed.

Conrad started the Expendables with Barney years ago.  Somewhere along the way, Conrad starting turning more and more to the criminal side.  There was some sort of confrontation and Barney believed that he killed Conrad.  Instead, Conrad was able to become a huge arms dealer and he lives a lavish life.  He is ruthless and he decides that he is going to take out Barney and the team.  Mel Gibson does a good job with the part.  This is the first time I’ve seen him play a bad guy, but he handles it well.

Overall, The Expendables 3 is entertaining though it does have story issues and too many of the cast - the ones that many people probably want to see - are under used.  I have heard that there are plans for a fourth movie.  If that moves forward, I think it needs to return to the main cast from the first two movies and get the cast size back under control. 

22 Jump Street - Overload of Crude Humor

2 out of 5 Stars

I try to keep an open mind about new movies.  I tend to give most movies a chance, even when I am not particularly fond of members of the cast.  With some actors and actresses, it is a little harder for me to do that.  Originally I really wasn’t interested in seeing 22 Jump Street.  I only recently saw the first movie, and, well, it wasn’t a favorite.  I don’t really like Jonah Hill, though I have managed to like some of his movies.  I ended up going to see 22 Jump Street.  I should have followed my initial instincts and avoided it.

After somehow managing to be successful with their assignment out of 21 Jump Street that sent them back to high school looking for drug dealers, partners Jenko and Schmidt have trouble with other assignments.  They get a lead on Ghost, a drug dealer, but mess up in a big way and are sent to 22 Jump Street - across the street in a different abandoned church from 21 Jump Street.  Captain Dickson assigns Jenko and Schmidt to go undercover at the local college to find who is suppling a new drug called WHYPHY that has been linked to the death of a student.

It doesn’t take long for Jenko to start up a friendship with Zook and Rooster, fraternity brother football players.  Schmidt doesn’t fit in with them at all and he starts feeling left out.  He does manage to start a relationship with art student Maya even while being looked down on by Maya’s roommate Mercedes.  Jenko and Schmidt start to drift apart and the investigation, as well as their friendship, suffers.

During the first several minutes of the credits, there are a series of clips from fake sequels that have Jenko and Schmidt going undercover in other schools, like medical school, culinary school, and a seminary - in which Seth Rogen replaces Jonah Hill as Schmidt because of “contract negations”.   The clips are amusing.  At the end of the credits there is a short scene that ties back into something that happened earlier during the movie.  I’m guessing it was supposed to be funny, but I didn’t think it was.  It was just an attempt at a joke being taken too far yet again.

While I did laugh here and there at things happening in 22 Jump Street, I didn’t find the movie that funny overall.  Far too often, the “jokes” fell flat for me.  From very early in the movie there are a lot of jokes about movie sequels being exactly the same as the first movies, how a bigger budget doesn’t guarantee success, and how all sequels stink.  The movie is very self aware, including through the clips during the credits.  That stuff is fine at first, but it gets old fast.  The same thing happens any other time something actually funny happens.  The writers didn’t know when to quit.  Mercedes spends just about every minute she is on screen making cracks about old people and how ancient Schmidt is.  That was just stupid.

There are a lot of gay jokes tied to the relationship between Jenko and Schmidt.  There are some tied to Jenko’s growing friendship with Zook as well later in the movie.  The first few of those jokes was fine, but again, the writers didn’t know when to quit.  It got to a point where it was uncomfortable that they were resorting to that sort of joke again.  The humor would have worked better overall if there wasn’t so much overkill with certain types of jokes going on.   It is almost like someone decided that if it was funny once, then doing the same sort of joke 900 more times will be absolutely hilarious.  It isn’t.  I don’t mind dumb comedies or silly movies at times.  This one just didn’t work for me.  There some pop culture type references, including references to Batman, Robin, and Spider-man.  Sexual references, some of which are rather vulgar, are used throughout the movie.  They are something else that I think were intended to be funny that weren’t.

I don’t know if everything in the movie was actually scripted or if improvisation went on during filming.  Jonah Hill is part of a group of male actors who do a lot of improvisation during their movies.  They seem to think anything they think up on the spot is hilarious no matter how stupid it is.  Saying whatever pops into your head and then laughing doesn’t make something funny.  Some people are really, really good at improvisation, but not everyone is.  Hill - and the group of actors that includes Seth Rogen - isn’t that good at it.  I have seen extras on some DVDs that have actors going on and on and on, trying to come up with something funny by just spewing nonsense.  A lot of the stuff that Mercedes says about how old Schmidt is has that sort of feel to it. 

The few action scenes do seem a bit exaggerated and over the top.  There is sort of a chase at the beginning, and a longer chase later that has Jenko and Schmidt going after two different suspects.  The action does take a back seat to the attempts at humor.  Some violence is in a few scenes without the movie being violent overall.  The word that rhymes with luck, along with variations of it, are used by just about every character, something else that is over done.  Drugs play a part in what is going on, including when Jenko and Schmidt unknowingly ingest some and have a weird trip.  The movie does deserve the R rating, and it isn’t one that children of any age should see.

I didn’t think any of the characters were that interesting.  Jenko is good looking and becomes popular at college, but he is dumber than a box of rocks.  That makes it harder to believe him as a college student than the fact that he is older than his classmates.  Schmidt is overly needy and clingy where Jenko is concerned, but he is still somehow able to hook up with Maya, a girl well out of his league.  Jonah Hill didn’t annoy me as much as he has in other movies, but he still isn’t funny.  Channing Tatum really isn’t funny either. 

Maya is just a pretty art student who has a family member that could add complications.  Mercedes is a waste most of the time.  She and Schmidt get into a fight at one point that is just ridiculous.  Captain Dickson is only around in a few scenes.  He mostly is yelling about something.  The Ghost is a drug dealer the guys are after at the beginning who may or may not turn up again later.  Rooster and Zook are the football playing frat brothers.  Neither of them seem that bright either.  Zook is around a little more since he becomes more of a friend to Jenko.  I didn’t realize that Wyatt Russell was playing Zook when watching the movie.  Different students are around briefly without them adding anything to the movie.

22 Jump Street has a few moments here and there that work or that are funny, but overall, it just isn’t funny.  I know the movie has gotten a lot of good reviews, but I don’t understand that.  I don’t get what is so good or entertaining about it.  This is definitely not a movie for everyone.

This review is part of elvisdo’s 7th Annual Funny Pages Write off because of the references to Batman, Robin, and Spider-man.   

X-Men: Days of Future Past - Time Travel and a Naked Hugh Jackman

The X-Men have been popular Marvel characters for years.  I use to watch a cartoon, which is where I first learned about the characters.  I have read a few of the comics over the years and I eventually picked up a book that has a lot of information about the various characters and storylines.  I have seen all the movies and enjoyed them to varying degrees.  I have been interested in seeing X-Men: Days of Future Past since I found out it was being made.

There have been three X-Men movies that were sequels to each other, a prequel, X-Men: First Class which is set back in the 1960s, and two movies focused on Wolverine.  X- Men: Days of Future Past is sort of a sequel to all the movies and also a prequel for the original three X-Men movies, depending on what is happening, because of the time travel aspect of the plot.  It can be a little confusing, especially how certain things and events were already changed in X-Men: First Class.  Some of what I mention while discussing X-Men: Days of Future Past will be spoilers for people who haven’t seen the previous movies.  Read at your own risk.

In the future, mutants are being hunted by large robots called Sentinels.  A group of seven, including Kitty Pryde find a way to deal with the situation by constantly sending the consciousness of  Bishop back in time to himself.  The group meets up with Professor Charles Xavier, Magneto, Storm, Iceman, and Wolverine to discuss a plan.  The consciousness of Wolverine will be sent back to 1973 while the others stand guard in case of a Sentinel attack.  He is then to find Charles and Erik so they can stop Mystique from doing something that leads to the creation of the Sentinels. 

There is a short scene after the end of the credits.  It is definitely a big hint at what is to come in another X-Men movie. 

I saw X-Men: Days of Future Past in 3D because of the start time.  There is one scene early in the movie that has falling snow.  It very briefly looks like the snow is falling out over the audience.  That is really the only 3D effect that I noticed, so there really isn’t any reason to see that version of the movie.  

Days of Future Past is one of the more well known stories from the X-Men comics.  I haven’t read the original comics featuring that story, but I do know the basics of it so I am aware of some of the changes made for the movie.  Logan/Wolverine is the one who does the time travel thing back to his younger self instead of Kitty.  It is said that Logan is the only one who would be able to survive traveling back as far as is required for their plan because of his ability to heal.  He has to go back to 1973, an earlier time than from the original story as well.  I think those changes work for the movie overall. 

While I really enjoyed X-Men: Days of Future Past, I did have issues with a few things.  Those things were mostly connected to things changed by X-Men: First Class that resulted in changing backstories for Charles and Mystique in kind of a big way by making them meet as children and then basically grow up together.  It seems to have been done just to find a reason to have Mystique running around in her naked blue form.  That didn’t come up too much in this movie, though in a few scenes, it seems like a love triangle including Charles, Mystique, and Erik is hinted at.  I just don’t care for that change so I was happy when it didn’t play too much of a part in the plot. 

Certain parts of the plot for the movie can get a little confusing because of the part that time travel plays.  When the movie begins, it is in the future - I’m not sure what year it is, but it is made clear that it is the future.  That part of the movie, when Kitty is helping Logan do the mind time travel thing, takes place after the previous X-Men movies.  The events in 1973 are set after X-Men: First Class, but before all the other X-Men movies, including the two Wolverine movies.  In that part, Logan is back to just having bone claws.  What happens in 1973 may or may not change future events for the different characters, including things that happened in the other movies.  It is entirely possible that a certain mess from one of the previous movies has now never happened because of what is done in 1973.  I’m being deliberately vague about this in an attempt to avoid saying too much.  Some may not like that or the fact that time travel plays such a big role in what is going on.

There is a decent amount of action throughout the movie which helps to keep the pace moving.  Within the first few minutes, there is a fight between a few mutants and the Sentinels in the future.  When Logan wakes up in the past, naked, he barely gets his pants on before he is in a fight.  The water bed is the first casualty, but he quickly deals with the guys who show up right after.  Different mutant characters are involved in different fights throughout the movie.  Those scenes do require a lot of special effects, mostly tied to the use of the different mutant powers.  I do think the effects were done well.  

There are a lot of characters in X-Men: Days of Future Past, something that has happened in the other X-Men movies as well.  Unfortunately, because of that, some characters end up with very little to do.  While that is disappointing, I would rather see that and have the story handled well than have too many subplots crammed in as an attempt to give more characters more to do.  That has not worked well in the past. 

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen return to play the older versions of Professor Charles Xavier and Erik/Magneto.  I love them in those parts, so it was really nice to see them again even though the younger versions of the characters had more to do.  James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are fine as the younger Charles and Erik, but they are no Stewart or McKellen.  The young Erik is a massive jerk, which is sort of expected for the character.  The younger Charles has turned into a massive jerk in his own right, which is a big contrast from how the character has been portrayed before.  I don’t really like jerk Charles, though I can see how he becomes the older Charles that is more familiar. 

Logan/Wolverine may end up with the most to do and he more fully connects the future and past portions of the movie.  Logan is the one who travels mentally back in time and it is up to him to find the younger Charles and Xavier and convince them he is from the future and what they need to do.  Logan is back to having his bone claws in the past, and that is a little different since I’m more use to seeing him with the adamantium claws.    Hugh Jackman has played the character several times now, and I think he is very good in the part.  Once again he is in crazy good shape, which is put on display when he emerges from bed naked.  He is seen fully from behind and a lot of his front is shown then as well.  Mystique spends a lot of time in her naked blue form.  Something about the look of her in that blue form looks slightly off to me this time.  It could be because they came up with a new method for the makeup involving a body suit.  Mystique does have a useful ability that helps her in several situations.  In this movie, she is able to take on the appearance of anyone she sees.  I thought that she had to touch them to do that, but I could be wrong about that.  Jennifer Lawrence is fine in the part. 

Hank McCoy/Beast is back as well, mostly in 1973.  Evidently, in this version of the story, Hank came up with some kind of serum or something that allowed him to revert back to looking fully human instead of being furry and blue.  That just doesn’t seem right to me since Hank/Beast has always stayed furry and blue once he took on that appearance.  Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver is a new young mutant that is recruited to help get to Erik.  Peter can run really, really fast.  So fast, that he seems to just disappear at one place and reappear in the next.  He doesn’t get much to do, though there is a really cool sequence done with him moving at his super speed. 

Kitty, Bobby/Iceman, Colossus, Blink, Sunspot, Warpath, and Bishop take part in the future part of the movie.  I had not heard of Blink, Sunspot, or Warpath before.  I have no idea if they are characters from the comics or created specifically for the movie.  Havok and Toad turn up briefly, but they end up with not much to do.  A few other more well known characters also briefly appear.  I’m not going to say who because I don’t want to spoil anything for people who haven’t seen the movie yet.

Bolivar Trask is the scientist who designs the Sentinels.  He is trying to get the government to use the Sentinels to protect people from mutants.  Trask has experimented on mutants as part of the development of the Sentinels and he has military contacts.  Trask fully believes in what he is doing, believing that what he is doing is a good thing.  He is rather arrogant.  He will try to manipulate different situations to help his cause if possible.  Peter Dinklage is very good in the part.  A younger William Stryker turns up, helping to hunt down mutants and send them off to Trask to experiment on. 

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a very entertaining movie.  I do think it is one of the better comic book movies that I have seen.  People that are more familiar with the comic books may not like some of the changes.  People who have enjoyed the previous X-Men movies should give this one a chance.  I plan to add the movie to my collection once it is available no Blu-ray.

This review is part of Elvisdo’s 7th Annual Funny Pages Write Off.  Elvisdo is another former Epinions member, and he hosted this write off there for six years.  It was something that several members - myself included - looked forward to each year.  I am very happy that he has decided to do it again.