The Expendables 3 (2014) User Reviews (448)

Fun... mostly

[bowmanblue · 7/10 · 9 December 2014]

If you're thinking of watching 'The Expendables 3,' then 'part 3' is a kind of odd place to start any franchise. Therefore, I would generally recommend starting with part 1 and going from there. However, in case you're in any wonder as to what it's all about, it's basically an ensemble cast (led by Sly Stallone) of all the biggest (and best?) action stars of the eighties (plus Jason Statham thrown in for good measure).

What you have is a bunch of old men who really should be playing golf and yet we suspend our disbelief long enough to believe that they can really run, jump, punch and generally take on wave after wave of insignificant bad guys without so much as getting shot. So, if you generally like (or can at least remember) some of these faces from yesteryear and the epic on-screen battles they fought then you'll probably enjoy the nostalgia trip which this film basically is. It never takes itself seriously, so don't expect anything dark and moody, just fun.

The first Expendables outing was definitely fun. And, for the record, I enjoyed part 2 even more. Therefore, I was really expecting to LOVE the third instalment. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but there was one thing I didn't approve of. Namely the fact to interject some 'fresh blood' into Sly's team. Basically, it wasn't necessary. Sly chooses youngsters over the established faces who we actually care about. Therefore, we don't really know them as well as the older action stars and these youngsters take up a reasonable proportion of the first third of the film. Then they end up getting captured and the old team has to be assembled to get them back. Basically, they could have left out the whole 'youngsters subplot' and got on with our aging heroes hunting down rogue expendable baddie, played by Mel Gibson.

I think if I was going to watch this again (and I probably will!), I'll skip the first third with the 'kids' and go straight on to the rescue mission. Plus I thought there was too much CGI explosions for my liking – but I'm no fan of computer added trickery, unless it's really seamlessly intertwined with the film. Half the time you could tell the explosions were added post production.

Anyway, if you like the first two films, or any of the stars, you should get something out of this. Just don't be too misled by the advertising posters – not all the stars featured play a major part. Some are only in the film for literally a few minutes.

Good Fun! And Mel Gibson is Great as a baddie!

[namashi_1 · 7/10 · 15 November 2014]

'The Expendables 3' is an entertaining 3rd part in the series, which had an amazingly impressive sequel. This action extravaganza which completes the trilogy, is indeed Good Fun! And its such a pleasure to watch Hollywood Legend Mel Gibson stealing the show, by enacting the baddie to perfection!

'The Expendables 3' Synopsis: Barney augments his team with new blood for a personal battle: to take down Conrad Stonebanks, the Expendables co-founder and notorious arms trader who is hell bent on wiping out Barney and every single one of his associates.

'The Expendables 3' serves its propose, which is, to Entertain the audience. And it does that well. Sylvester Stallone's Story & Screenplay is meant for the masses, as it delivers enough scope of human tension & explosive action. Although I'd like to point out, that, the first-hour of the film, is slightly slow-paced & dull. Its the second-hour which is arresting & the climax is simply brilliant.

Patrick Hughes's Direction is satisfactory. Cinematography is dusky. Editing could've been more sharper. Costume Design is perfect. Action-Sequences are the mainstay of the film.

Performance-Wise: After Mel Gibson, its Stallone who delivers a performance of substance. He leads the pack with toughness. Its also nice to see Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes & Antonio Banderas joining in. They all play to the gallery well, as do the rest.

On the whole, 'The Expendables 3' is a winner!

Mediocre...

[ikari1 · 5/10 · 5 August 2014]

The first one was interesting seeing old big names on screen. The second one had the Chuck Norris jokes and van Damme doing his signature kicks. This one?... This one has a lot of "kaboom and badawoom"... Which is why, I guess, it is an all right movie.

Unfortunately none of the big names do anything interesting on-screen. If you're expecting to see Wesley Snipes do Blade stuff, or Jet Li some amazing kung fu, nope! you will be disappointed...

Mel Gibson is great, but he's got a tiny part. The only fun is provided by Antonio Banderas.

As for the new actors... who cares!

The problem with the Expendables movies is that the more big names are on the credits their on screen time has to be shared with others and it breaks down to just a few moments each.

I do not understand how they missed the point again!

The Expendables 3: I stand corrected, a bit

[Platypuschow · 6/10 · 22 May 2018]

Okay fine The Expendables franchise isn't a complete failure in my eyes, this is by far the best one and three movies in shows potential.

First of all I want to address a point. I've long since complained about the state of a world where it's highest paid people are actors, singers and sports people. Though I'm a movie obsessive I'll never deny that they are offensively overpaid and Expendables 3 demonstrates that with the absence of Bruce Willis. They tried to get him back in a small capacity, just 4 days work and offered him 3 million. 3 million dollars for 4 days work! In response, he demanded 4 million and they decided to cut him loose. So think about this, a man being paid more for a days work than a minimum wage worker is likely to make in their entire life! That ladies and gentlemen is the world we live in.

Anyway I digress.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that The Expendables 3 entertained me but it certainly had its moments. The action was marginally better than the previous two films but it's saving grace was the cast. No I'm not talking about the same guys who have been phoning it in for the past two movies, I mean the newbies. Antonio Banderas stole the movie, he was brilliant. Snipes delivered like I haven't seen him do so in years and despite all the criticism I think Rousey did a great job as well.

So fine, it's not the big action blockbuster to end all action blockbusters but it blows the previous two movies out of the water. With a great villian, the new cast and a good lengthy finale it's passable stuff.

The Good:

As much as it pains me to say, Mel Gibson

Antonio Banderas & Ronda Rousey

The Bad:

Robert Davi was wasted

Still mindless cliched stuff

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Every person on the planet without any formal training can wield any type of firearm like a professional

The moment Gibson was outed as a bigot, he started doing bad guy roles and nailed it every time

I genuinely want to know if it's possible to attain/maintain a physique like Stallones without steroids

Countless explosive shells fired from tanks at a building rigged with explosives won't set them off

Disguising yourself as a bad guy complete with helmet without your allies knowing you're doing it in a full assault situation makes perfect sense

Oldies can still kick ass!

[chivas-pm · 6/10 · 17 August 2014]

Arnie, Ford, Stallone, Statham, Snipes, Mel Gibson, Banderas and Kelsey Grammar (totally unexpected) - What more do you want on a big screen?

Movie starts off with a rescue of Snipes from a moving train - this one gives you back 50% of the money you paid for the movie.

This movie is all about watching some of your best actors on a big screen, kicking ass and having fun. This is a true 'man movie' in terms of wise cracks and the conversations between men.

Movie has couple of twists when Stallone sacks his old team to go with a new team, result of failed assignment etc. but the team reunites and helps Stallone in the end - this is for you to watch and I don't want to blow the covers here...

Movie not only presents some good action scenes, it packs good humor and I could hear the whole theater laughing out loud. I really like the exchange between Ford and Statham - Ford asking 'God Damn it, what type of a language is it?" (I guess the old American and English slang war i guess)

Buy yourself popcorn, nice drink, relax and enjoy.

Mind-numbingly tired

[chaos-rampant · 30 August 2014]

The second was mildly enjoyable, the third time it's tired, the attraction has lost any charm and they still haven't figured out a way to create a sense of world. Terminator, Lethal Weapon, all these films created their own world. Even Cobra had a home to come back to, that marvelous Venice beach apartment next to the Pepsi logo where he forked pizza with a knife.

There's absolutely none here. There's an action plot with actors mouthing their lines when they have to, then on to the next scene. Willis is swapped for Ford but it's again the same thankless plot function of a few minutes. Arnie hovers around in spots - he says 'choppa'. A few amusing scenes with Snipes and prison. And the action mechanics are completely slapdash, overall it feels like the second album after reunion of old heavy metal stalwarts, still polished but all the passion has gone out a long time ago.

Banderas is the only one who manages to charm and that's because he's the only one written with a tiny smudge of life - a screw loose because of what he witnessed.

Needs to be seen on the big screen, but the bluray release will be a better movie

[slightlymad22 · 6/10 · 14 August 2014]

Continuing my plan to watch every Sly movie in order, I come to Expendables 3.

Plot In A Paragraph: Barney Ross (Sly) disbands The Expendables and signs up some new blood to take down arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson)

Expendables 3 is certainly action packed and while there is plenty hand to hand knockabout and a lot of people die, but they either quickly fall bloodlessly, or it's all off screen (a lot of quick cut aways) with a PG13 rating there is no viewing of the actual carnage.

For me Snipes owned the beginning of the movie, (but then seemed to have been forgotten about the rest of the movie) Grammar kept things moving a long nicely during the recruiting section. Then Banderas walks away with the movie in the final third. If the character of Doc (Snipes) had been more carefully scripted, and given more screen time in the second half of the pic, he would have easily stolen the picture.

Sly has shown before he can be a fine dramatic actor when allowed to escape his action hero confines, however here Gibson steals the scenes he shared with him. His hairline is distracting again (especially when he meets Ford for the first time) at times, as is his wardrobe. He seems to change clothes every scene. In fact he actually looks younger in this movie, than he did in the first.

A big problem for me with this one is, Sly's Barney Ross is suddenly invincible!! the old man who "just got my ass kicked" in the first movie is long gone. No longer are The Expendables a team, who are there for each other (the first movie is the most ensemble of the three) it's a Barney Ross led gang. And he is fine with doing things on his own.

For his brief time on screen Ford brings style to the proceedings and simply radiates presence. Gibson is under used (in the first half) But he owns the scene with Sly in a Van midway through. It is the stand out scene of the movie (the only one with any intensity, and an example of how good an expendables movie can be) and a reminder of how good Gibson is. He is easily the best villain to grace the franchise. That scene in the van is possibly the best acted scene in the franchise.

Jason Statham has less to do in this movie than the other movies, but he gives his usual fine performance as Christmas. Jet Li once again is sadly nothing more than a cameo. Lundgren's Gunner seemed to be slipping back to the unbalanced guy from the first movie, and Couture just seems happy to be there!!

Of the young guns, Ortiz and Powell are bland and uninteresting, Kellan Lutz is at least annoying with his lack of respect for Barney, whilst Rhonda Rousey (My god is she hot) is OK

There is an Expendables movie so of course there is a fiery climax, which unfortunately involves some Awful CGI explosions. If Superman IV should have thought film makers anything, it is 'if you have bad special effects, don't reuse them over and over again!!'

There are less jokey references to the stars previous roles than in Expendables 2, and it is much effective than the infinite amount in Ex2. It is longer than other two movies, so it gives a bit more time to know the characters, Sadly it wasted on the likes of Ortiz and Lutz, who are both a waste of screen time.

The fight between Sly & Gibson is too short (About same as Sly and JCVD in Ex2) and is predictable. The climax is also more than slightly ridiculous. As I said earlier, Gibson is the best villain to grace an Expendables movie, one you felt could hurt the Expendables, and it is was saddening to see him dispatched so effortlessly and singlehandedly by Sly. I'd have rather Gibson got the better of Sly in a brutal fight, with both of them giving every ounce they had (as Rambo and Riggs would have done) before Sly won, or even better if Jet Li (ala Lethal Weapon 4) helped Sly fight him.

The core audience of this franchise don't care about the new younger people that were added to the cast, and they also don't want to see a PG-13 movie with them in, whilst younger cinema goers don't care about an Expendables movie.

I think if we got an R rated DVD, it may be a bit better thought of, but the lame new recruits would still be a waste of screen time, the fight would still be the same and again all of the Expendables would live.

Another Expendables movie that continues the trend of the previous two movies, some good parts, some not so good parts, an overall feeling of a missed opportunity, but still OK.

Hampered by the rating, which angered some/most fans, and the HD screener leak, Expendables 3 limped to $39 million at the domestic box office, and ended the year, the 80th Highest Grossing Movie of 2014.

Nice to see so many stars on one frame

[Seraphion · 7/10 · 13 August 2014]

After the last movie, Barney goes on freeing one of his old team members, Doc. And on their next assignment there's a surprise, the target of the op turns out to be Stonebanks, Barney's presumed dead old teammate, who is still alive and now is a big shot arms dealer. Stonebanks get a clean shot at Barney but instead shot Caesar to get to Barney's mind. Stonebans' trick worked, Barney feels that he's not into losing anyone else close anymore, and decides to break up the team that's been with him since the first movie. He then contacts Bonaparte, and together they recruit young guns to make a new team. With the new team, they take on Stonebanks again and succeeded. But Stonebanks apparently has a tracker with him and the team gets ambushed on a bridge. Barney was tossed into the river while the youngsters are captured. Barney then sets up to go alone for the rescue, having only Galgo, the talkative operative formerly denied entry to the team by Bonaparte, to go with him.

But as the team's plane readies to taxi on the tarmac, the old team of Lee Christmas, Doc, Toll Road and Gunner Jensen joins him for the rescue. On the other side, Trench who delivered Barney's team to the location, gets in touch with Drummer, the CIA exec, and Yin Yang, who now works for Trench, to join the rescue. Barney's group get to the youngsters easily but then Stonebanks contacts them saying that the building they're in are already rigged with C4. Thorn, the tech youngster, manages to rig a signal jammer buying them time. Stonebanks then sends the army backing him. Drummer, Trench and Yin Yang come in with a helicopter, providing air cover. After all the hot action, Barney asks Drummer to pick the team up on the roof. When the team's up safe on the heli, Stonebanks catches up to Barney and they do the final battle. Barney wins the fight, just as the signal jammer runs its battery out and the building blows up. But Barney escapes by jumping to the fast rope on the heli.

The story finally comes to the classic 'old dead teammate turns out to be not dead but has become an enemy' premise at this third movie. The story now strangely tries to be a touching one although the bigger part of heavy action and the hard aura by the action cast still gets the greater part of this movie. The small jokes here and there are now better and are more easily laughable. Yet there is a slightly odd situation where, besides Stallone's focus character, all the older characters like Christmas and Toll Road feels much less active due to this movie having to introduce strong new characters in Galgo and Doc.

The action is as expected, explosive and brash. What's nice about the action this time is on some characters. Doc has a way to spice things up to be able to improvise on things whether it's a stealth run or a head on shoot out. Galgo is nicely a surprise because with his old looks and talkativeness, his action is not bad at all. The younger characters also brings in a great addition to the action sequences.

The acting here is nicely worthy of some praise. The addition of Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson does make it better because they make their characters optimal by their acting. Ronda Rousey and Victor Ortiz gives a nice effort to act well, despite there's something missing on their facial expressions usage. Antonio Banderas makes his character worth waiting for because he can handle Galgo's eccentricity. Wesley Snipes make Doc's unpredictability nice to see.

My final say is a solid 7 out of 10 score for this movie. I do recommend you to see the action this movie offer. It's a good old school fight and shoot action entertainment amidst all those superhero movies.

Seems the audience is Expendable

[anghart · 3/10 · 7 August 2014]

When the first Expendables was announced, it was supposed to be a throwback to the early years of action cinema - gratuitous violence, one liners and major carnage. The first two films lived up to this. The third is just awful.

Instead of spending more time with the aging heroes we've come to love, we get stuck with a bunch of whiny youngsters who don't do anything and aren't very interesting. I seriously doubt the so called "broader" audience this film is aimed at are gonna care about it. And the people who were interested in the series are going to be bitterly disappointed. Nice one, Sly!!!

Some of the new additions to the cast aren't that bad: Banderas, Snipes, Ford, Grammar, but Gibson completely owns the film - which dies whenever he is not around.

How's the action? Instead of being focused and over-the-top like the other two films, we get bland MTV style kills, thanks mainly to the new PG-13 rating. Who thought giving the film this lame rating was a good idea? Hey, lets take a series that is aimed at adults, starring aging action heroes who only the older audience will remember, and turn it into a dumb teen movie where the target audience WILL NOT CARE who they are or what they have done. Surely one of the worst business decisions in recent memory.

Newcomer director Patrick Hughes has not done anything with this film, but its really hard to tell if that was intentional or if the PG-13 hack job done to the film has made it bland.

Overall, this film is just a waste. Too soft for its hardcore fans, and not "hip" enough for its intended young audience. No one will be happy. Sure, it might puts bums on seats for the first week, but it will quickly disappear after that...and with good cause.

"What mean Expendable?" "It's like when you're invited to a party and don't show up and nobody really cares".

I suspect theater owners are gonna know the meaning of this come August 15.

Expendables 3: Antonio Banderas Performance

[California_Girl_2058 · 7/10 · 14 August 2014]

The plot: Barney Ross says he's retiring the original Expendables and giving the new job to four new twenty year old expendables. Later Barney must let the original Expendables come back; combining the young and Older Expendables, to work together against Stonebanks (Mel Gibson). My kids and me, agreed that Antonio Banderas was the best Character in this movie. Antonio reminded me of Wayne, a character in the X-Men Wolverine, who talked a lot. Mel Gibson played a good bad guy. Wesley, needed more funny lines like in "Demolition Man" (the scene in the Museum). People like me (54) will enjoy watching the older actors of this movie. Though, I agree with a reviewer that said "we enjoy watching the action men of the 80's. Why include young twenty year olds in this movie?" In the Movie Theater Auditorium: almost all the audience were women. If I were Stallone, I would have casted Linda Hamilton, Sigourney Weaver, or Lucy Liu. If Stallone wanted to catch the young viewers; he should have casted Vin Diesel or "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson, are well-known to the younger generation. David Morse, Tom Sizemore: excellent choices for bad guys. Hulk Hogan an Expendable? Yes!

An action movie filled with boredom

[NastyNecros · 4/10 · 31 July 2014]

I enjoyed the first two movies for what they were. They were fun rides with old actors kicking ass and making jokes about how old they are.

The third installation of the series has both of those things, but, sadly, not enough. The whole reason these movies exist is for us to enjoy the nostalgia exploding through the screen while we listen to crappy one-liners and bad jokes. This movie takes itself way too seriously and, even though it tries, it just isn't self aware enough for it to work. It spends a big portion of the plot introducing a bunch of young characters pretty much no one cares about, and then it tries to make us care about those people we've never seen in our lives before. Needless to say, it does not succeed. All of a sudden we're suppose to give a damn about these one dimensional characters, and I'm not saying that the main cast has more dimensions than one, but we don't need dimension. We don't need backstory. We don't need emotion.

We need to see old people doing over the top action, make old man jokes and reference their old movies. The movie just takes itself too seriously. There are jokes, but there are also dramatic moments which just fall flat. The acting isn't that good either, and neither are the new characters. It was cool to see Snipes back in action but his character was pretty much useless and didn't make any sense plot wise. Banderas was suppose to be annoying for the characters in the movie and funny for the audience, but he was just annoying. Gibson's role was pretty fun, even though he kind of just played the Joker. There's a scene taken straight from The Dark Knight, but I didn't really mind it, it was fun. Ford was just really plain and did nothing for the movie.

Overall it's one of the most boring action movies I've seen. It has literally every single action movie cliché ever made, and the performances were average at best. There are also moments where the CGI is terrible and takes you away from the movie even more. I don't recommend it unless you are a big fan ( a really really big fan).

Just watch it

[enquiries-81-121224 · 9/10 · 15 August 2014]

You know what. With a busy lifestyle and so much to do everyday, every now and then you just need to watch an action movie that you do not need to think too much about, that simply washes over you and puts a nostalgic smile on your face.

The plot might be thin, you know it will likely come good in the end and you know that the good guy is going to win. But that does not matter a jot. It is filled with quips, familiar faces, memories of the 80's and just good fun.

There will be people that hate this film as just another example of mindless violence, but who cares. It is what it is.

If that is what you need, then go and see this film. I loved it.

Expect the Expected

[MrSelfPaid · 7/10 · 6 August 2014]

Another year, another expendables movie. People who'll complain that the movie falls short of their expectations, expect the unexpected. This movie follows in the footsteps of the prequels with the violence toned down a bit cause of the PG13 rating. Mind blowing action, check... lots of one-liners, check, middle-age-actors-trying-to-prove-they-still-got- it, check, believable effects, check, great plot, hmmmmmmm what do u expect? Enjoy the ride for what it is and don't take it too seriously and you will be entertained.

Kudos to Stallone for keeping it going and I hope the movie is a success cause like it or not, we need these guys to remind us of all the awesome movies they did it their heydays. Antonio Banderas is fun to watch, Ford is his usual self, Snipes gives a good performance, Gibson plays the villain part as best as he could given the script and the newbies played their part well.

Expect the Expected.

The Knife Before Christmas

[ferguson-6 · 5/10 · 17 August 2014]

Greetings again from the darkness. Whether you saw the first two in this series will directly correlate to whether you head to the theatre for this third entry. The filmmakers' attempt to attract a younger audience by adding a "new" crew and dropping to a PG-13 rating backfires, and will not provide the legs this franchise needed for more installments.

The regular old geezers are back: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Jet Li (briefly), and Arnold Schwarzenneger. In addition, we get new "old" blood in the form of Antonio Banderas, Kelsey Grammar, Wesley Snipes, Harrison Ford, and the dominating presence of Mel Gibson as the bad guy. The young blood comes in the form of Kellan Lutz, Glen Powell, boxer Victor Ortiz, and MMA superstar Ronda Rousey. The blandness of the newbies simply steals valuable screen time for the old folks, and the movie suffers because of it.

The film's biggest flaw, however, comes with the biggest screen hog of all-time: Mr. Stallone. We understand that this is franchise is his baby, but why field an all-star team if you won't let them play? Snipes gets some time early in the film, replete with a reference to his real life prison sentence for tax evasion, and Ford and Arnold get in a few shots, but the only savior here is Mel Gibson. It's a reminder of just how good he can be on screen ... if we could just forget what a horrible person he can be off screen.

There is no need to go into detail on the plot or describe any of the characters. You know what you are getting if you buy a ticket. It's just a shame the film's direction and script aren't at the level deserving of a cast that includes: Rambo, Mad Max, Blade, Conan, Han Solo, Hercules, Zorro, The Transporter, He-Man, and even ... Sideshow Bob!

Razzie Alert - Expendables 3 - Wild Turkey

[JasonDanielBaker · 4 August 2014]

Aging mercenaries portrayed by aging action stars team with younger mercenaries to battle an international arms dealer (Mel Gibson) in a poorly written, badly shot and cut, muddled mess of an action film - the third entry in the series/franchise/action hero seniors tour begun by Sylvester Stallone (already having milked his Rocky & Rambo franchises for remaining crumbs) in 2010 with a decent first entry.

A pirated copy of this third entry was leaked online (by someone who WILL be caught and dealt with) in late July predating the August 15th, 2014 official theatrical release which is why the derision has come so fast and furious in advance. Millions have already downloaded it and spread the word about how bad it is and in particular how bad the younger actors in it are. It is also why box-office receipts won't be very impressive. Plenty have already seen it and told others not to bother.

MMA fighter Ronda Rousey, who portrays Luna - one of the young mercenaries, is sure to be nominated for a Razzie as 'Worst New Star' for her acting. I've seen better acting from Tough Actin' Tinactin. But that will inevitably be part of the draw of the movie. Audiences will want to judge for themselves if her acting is as terrible as they have heard.

Since words can't fully describe (but I'll try) how bad Rousey's performance is they won't be ready for what they see. Her characterization is composed of rolling her eyes, shaking her head and squinting in an insipid characterization given by an irritating, crass and unattractive individual with no previous acting experience.

They should've got Gina Carano if they wanted an MMA star. Gina is way cuter, her MMA comes across better on screen and she is a passable actress.

The gimmick upon which the first two Expendables movies built an audience was this 'family reunion' style casting of old action movie stars. But producers were driven to lock-up a newer audience demographic. Going younger and cheaper whilst bringing in new blood may have seemed like a good plan at first but the adverse results are plain to see.

Mel Gibson is the best aspect of the film. He could always act. But his scandalous, offensive outbursts and history of violence add all the necessary subtext for him to become Hollywood's premier villain and tack 20 more years on to his career if he does it right. This is the perfect role for him and he milks it for all it is worth. The screen comes alive when he is on it which unfortunately isn't for very long.

The remainder of the older action stars in the cast give performances as tired and sad as you might expect. Schwarzenegger inspires more pity than Harrison Ford. Antonio Banderas with his over the top acting is nearly as bad as Rousey. Bruce Willis should count himself lucky he was left out of the mix. Wesley Snipes? Let's not even go there.

Whether it is botox or just aging Stallone looks like a toy action figure left too close to a radiator. Yikes!

Jet Li is among the action stars billed but is barely on screen for 5 minutes.

Exactly what you expect to see

[freego1 · 6/10 · 4 August 2014]

So as the title says, its exactly what you expect to see .You are going to see a million bullets fired at the main characters and don't hit them, but every single bullet the leading characters fire leaves a dead body ,not so bad if you are a fun of this type of films !

There are some serious explosions through the film that are really believable and some stunts that are performed good.

If you are a snob viewer that wants "true story" go and see some documentary or a biography, this film has is not for snobby viewers cause OK some things are just unbelievable..But this type of films always has those parts.

Some scene with the helicopters seemed fake(computerised) but its OK, if you re a fan of bullets flying around you can oversee it.. So overall a good film with a lot of action that i would suggest !!

A perfectly enjoyable film, if you know what to expect

[mattdunsmore · 7/10 · 4 August 2014]

By now you should really know what your getting into with "The Expendables 3" if you've seen the previous installments in the series. If you have not seen the previous films then with an "Expendables" movie you should expect witty jokes, lots of action, a star studded cast filled with old and current action stars and a paper thin story which is used just to set up the next gun fight. "The Expendables 3" is no exception to this formula and that is not a bad thing. Although there is some problems with the formula.

One thing to note about this new installment in the series is that the story is the best it has ever been. Its not Oscar worthy but its more interesting and fleshed out than the previous films. "The Expendables 3" see's Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and his team of mercenaries go after an arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson) who turns out to have history with Barney and "The Expendables". Now Stonebanks is set out on wiping out "The Expendables" which forces Barney to retire his old team and recruit a new team.

The cast in "The Expendables 3" is even bigger this time around with old favorites returning such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jet Li to reprise their roles as Trench and Yin Yang. Along with some great new editions like Antonio Banderas and Wesley Snipes. However the cast is just too big this time around. Lots of fan favorite characters are given very little to do and the same goes to some of the new characters. For example Harrison Ford does very little apart from tell Barney where to go and what to do throughout the film. He just feels shoehorned into the story because they couldn't get Bruce Willis back to reprise his role as Church. Also most of the new younger editions to the cast are not given anything interesting or note worthy to do apart from make fun of the older members of the cast about how old they all are and shoot a gun at random soldiers. Mel Gibson is the best villain by far in the series as he is truly menacing and really is a force to be reckoned with, but he feels underused and the film would have benefited from a good villain. What makes most great action movies great is the presence of a truly menacing villain. A few great action movies to name with fantastic villains is "Die Hard" and "The Terminator".

Of course the action is the most important part of any action movie and the action in "The Expendables 3" is as good as any of the previous films. This film doesn't try to do anything really that new with the action but there are a couple key moments particularly in the latter half of the movie which stand out and there is plenty of witty banter between characters to entertain you between the action sequences. Although some of the special effects in the movie are horrifically bad and really take you out of the action.

Over all "The Expendables 3" is a perfectly enjoyable film with entertaining action scenes, some incredibly bad effects which take you out of the film, a much improved story and a fine cast although there is some questionable new editions to the cast which make you wonder why they are even in the movie apart from the fact that Sylvester Stallone believes that bigger is better

Shutdown Your Brain, Don't Think, Enjoy It and Have Fun!

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 2 August 2014]

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and The Expendables rescue Doc (Wesley Snipes), who has been imprisoned for eight years, from a train that is transporting him to a maximum security prison. Doc joins Barney, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham ), Gunner (Dolph Lundgren), Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) in the assignment of stopping the dealer Victor Mins during a transaction of bombs. However they discover that the dealer is actually the former Expendable Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson) that shots Hale Caesar badly. The Expendables take their friend to the hospital and Barney meets Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in the waiting room that tells that they are old.

Then he has a meeting with the operating officer Max Drummer (Harrison Ford) that had hired The Expendable to kill Victor and he gives one last chance to Barney to fix the problem. Barney concludes that his crew is old and decides to recruit a new and faster team with the support of his friend Bonaparte (Kelsey Grammar). Barney hires Thorn (Glen Powell), Luna (Ronda Rousey), Mars (Victor Ortiz) and the rebel John Smilee (Kellan Lutz) and .refuses the cooperation of his old team. They head to Bucharest but their mission fails and only Barnes escapes from Stonebanks. Now Barney intends to return to rescue his team with the outcast Galgo (Antonio Banderas). However his old team is like a family and they will never leave Barney fighting alone because family fights together to protect a member.

"The Expendables 3" is another entertaining adventure of this group of action actors that does not stop to grow. The team lost Bruce Wilis, but now Wealey Snipes, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Antonio Banderas and Ronda Rousey has joined the cast. The plot is the usual, lots of action, shootings, deaths and fun, but entertains a lot. Shut down your brain, do not think and you will certainly have a good-time. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Mercenários 3" ("The Mercenaries 3")

The best one of the trilogy!

[Joejoesan · 7/10 · 7 August 2014]

Yeah, did I make you curious? Of course! The most IMDb reviews want to make you believe that this is the worst action movie ever. Well, I didn't think so. I even dare to say it's the best Expendables movie until now. Okay, the action scenes weren't that great. Once you see one man shooting or fighting, you have seen them all (although the motorcycle stunt was hilariously spectacular). But this time this Expendables outing has humor and a heart and that makes a big difference.

Three actors make this movie worth seeing: Wesley Snipes, who gives the first part humor, Antonio Banderas, who does that in the second part, and Mel Gibson, who is actually a great villain. Oh, and before I watched this film I had doubts on the presence of Harrison Ford, whom I didn't see as a gung-ho member of Stallone's macho fight club. Well, actually he isn't. Ford - who's really old in this one - plays Stallone's CIA client that gives him the order to kill Gibson. In the finale he can't resist being part of the action, puts on his helicopter uniform and flies to the scene of the crime.

What I very much liked about part III of The Expendables was the logical presence of the actors involved. I remember Chuck Norris suddenly popping up in part 2. That scene seemed pretty forced, only facilitating the idea that the producer had scored another 80s action star. With the exception of Jet Li, who can be seen at the end, all the actors get enough screen time. Even Dolph Lundgren gets his moment.

I can imagine the actors having a lot of fun filming this movie. And let's be frank: subconsciously you wonder which actors you want to see in part 4 yourself. Pierce Brosnan has shown interest. Who follows?

7/10

Children Friendly.

[seechester · 5/10 · 2 August 2014]

-Jet Li appeared for 5 minutes total and doesn't even fight (seriously? Feels like he was kept in the movie (top-billed too!) just to lure asians to watch it. Yes I'm an Asian.)

-Action scenes are a yawn; all the been there done that. No suspense whatsoever; it's even worse than a Micheal Bay film.

-The climax fight was just 3 minutes tops and was like Stallone wasn't even trying.

-PG-13 violence; Christmas's knife stabs are now blood-less and bullets are now made of rubber since nobody bleeds or spurts blood after being fired upon by a minigun. Seriously?

-The storyline is just a drag and dull; the worst in the series IMO. The "young-bloods" in this movie are just plain unlikeable, arrogant and disrespectful i.e. One of the young ones (I didn't even bother knowing his character name) screamed at Stallone to shut up. Are these kind of characters the ones we're supposed to like?

-Banderas was just wasted and everyone hates his character. He was supposed to be comic-relief, but instead he's just annoying. -Talking about comic-relief, the jokes were just bad. I remembered laughing with tears watching EX2; I barely grinned at this. Stallone said he wanted to go back to the dramatic storyline like EX1 and look what happened. Not dramatic and not funny.

5/10 P/S: Just don't waste your time.

Old dogs learn new tricks

[dvc5159 · 6/10 · 14 August 2014]

Patrick Hughes' "The Expendables 3" is an odd action film. Starring nearly the entire roster of '80s to '90s action heroes, coupled with a few unknown young faces desperate to be the next big action star, it bears the mark of a bloated mess. That its PG-13 restrictions not only abandons its core fanbase but also leads to rushed editing at times that leave slightly sour aftertastes after each kill, only adds to the negatives, apart from some truly dreadful CG effects. That it all boils down to another Stallone film, as he uses said action icons merely as back-up fodder to appease his egotistical lead character.

And yet, despite all of that, I enjoyed it as much as the first two. How on Earth did that happen?

Firstly, "The Expendables" franchises are what I like to describe as "fanboy" movies. There is no need for a plot, as long as it appeases the core fanbase, with every one liner, every weapon of choice, down to the costumes they wear. One might argue that the vastly overrated "The Avengers" as well as other Marvel films fall under that same category - it appeals to the fanbase.

"The Expendables 3" is an attempt to bridge the gap between the old and young generation of action, but Stallone and the "Olympus Has Fallen" co-writers Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt swerves back the direction back to "you know what, we need the old band after all". This isn't merely in the film's story, it's also outside - the blending of styles are uneven at first, but somehow come together well in the preposterously over-the-top stunt-filled finale, with both young and old getting caught into the frenzily-edited chaos. The absence of the old guards in the film's second third merely underlines the fact that we need these icons more than ever, because none of these modern day "stars" can carry a movie by themselves because their combined charisma is miles away compared to icons like Schwarzenegger, Gibson or Snipes alone. I don't mean this as an insult, I was amused that I managed to see what Stallone was trying to do (or perhaps I've seen way too many movies).

I would strongly agree however that this film was not meant for PG-13, in many parts due to the annoying editing. No one can ever disguise R- rated tendencies as PG-13. Yes, there are a couple of sensational action sequences (particularly in the climax), but the level of violence is so clearly neutered down that one would just go "If only". Well, we'd have the Unrated blu-ray for that. Disappointing, because these action sequences truly have the potential to be among the best in the franchise, courtesy of Hughes and stunt coordinator Dan Bradley of the Bourne series. Ah well, Blu Ray shall await. I'm not going to mention the dreadful CGI (that thankfully weren't that abundant), but I've seen people complain of a lot of shaky-cam in the film. I didn't notice many, so kudos to that for making most of the action well-shot and framed.

And yet, why did I still enjoy the film? It's because of Patrick Hughes. Only his second film (following the solid Aussie western "Red Hill"), Hughes approaches the story with a dead-on seriousness that makes the action sequences more fun when they do come, and takes his time to invest in Barney's plight into replacing his old team with new ones, following the near-loss of one of his own, and in the hopes that the new team will subdue the villain Stonebanks with less complications. All of this is essentially a build up to a stunt-filled, sensational climax involving an abandoned hotel and an entire army against The Expendables. And also some shoddy CG helicopters.

The 2nd act is a pale imitation of Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai", though Kelsey Grammar is surprisingly good in the role he's given. In fact, most of the actors seem to have a grand time in the film, especially Gibson and Banderas, the former delightfully and menacingly ravishing each second he's on the screen like a King Cobra, and the latter akin to a screw-loose monkey that borders on being the Jar-Jar Binks of the franchise (but not quite). Ford and Schwarzenegger seem to be game in the film, but the old gang comprised of Statham, Lundgren, Couture, and Crews look tired. Again, it's great to see Wesley Snipes back in action and having some funny moments on his own, but Jet Li is again underutilized, this time more so than the previous one (though it can't be helped that his disease is worsening at this stage).

"The Expendables" franchise is one which never quite satisfies its core audience and never reaches its full potential - it's too ironic for older fans to appreciate yet it's too old-school for the new generation to "get it". This presumably final one ambitiously attempts to fill the gap, and although it doesn't quite succeed, when all is said and done it does get the job done very well when all one is looking for is some good old-fashioned action and mayhem. Don't be surprised though when the extended cut does in fact arrive. It should be even more polished than it is now.

Who is this movie even for?

[jdowlicious · 4/10 · 4 August 2014]

The Expendables series was supposed to be bring back the thrills of the great 80s action films. Nostalgia is the safe go-to for audiences of today, and Stallone knows this. Most of the man's career has revolved around him playing the same roles for over 30 years. The trailer came out and it was extremely promising. Bringing in actors like Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis and what do you know? Stallone was even directing, a man who had proved himself a competent action director. Even of recent years, Rambo IV was pretty awesome. Ironically however, these 80s stars created something as dull and humourless as today's modern action films. Where was the fun? Where was the one liners? What should have been a spectacle piece with soul was a shaky-cam filled ride of nauseating proportions. Sure there were some small moments of fun, but they were few and far between. So, has the third iteration in the series any good? Not really.

The movie follows The Expendables on a mission to stop a weapon's trade, they discover an old foe once thought dead (Gibson), takes out one of their own. Their leader, Barney (Stallone), to keep the rest of his Expendables brethren safe, goes on a suicide mission with a new younger team to exact revenge.

Here lies the fundamental problem with the film - the actual Expendables aren't the focus of the movie. There's been an attempt by the filmmakers to attract a younger audience by bringing in fresh, younger 'action stars' and of course the PG-13 rating, the series' first. This could have worked, if they hired ANYBODY who had a star credit in the past three years. Instead, the audience is subjected to a bunch of no-name stars running around, spouting annoying banter at one another. The reason why people come to see these movies are for the nostalgia of the past films these actors have been in, and that they are in a film altogether. So when you disband what the audiences came for and replace them with a bunch of nobodies, you're completely alienating your existing fan base. What people want to see if Rocky and The Terminator killing bad guys together, and when you just replace them with regular mercenaries, it isn't special to the viewers anymore.

That's not to say that's the only problem with the film. For this type of movie, motives of character's aren't entirely clear. Why would Barney abandon his loyal team ready to fight by his side for a bunch of random mercenaries? The action is still largely incoherent, with either way too many cuts during the scene or really poorly executed fight choreography. The visual effects department looks like it had to take a pay cut for the actor's, there is better CGI on Agent's of Shield (every car ride is flat green-screen, one scene with a base jumper just looks completely unfinished). The editing - dear lord - the editing in this movie is some of the worse I have seen in a film in a long time. There are multiple cutaways to things for a minuscule amount of time that the audience has no idea what it is (a scene ends with a guy who the audience hasn't picking up a magazine and leaving), or is completely unintentionally hilarious with how the cut has been executed. The main example that sticks out is a scene that slowly zooms in dramatically on Stallone's face for about thirty seconds, as if the character was about to have a flashback, just to cut straight to the next scene at a hospital. However, the biggest crime this film commits is it's waste of talent. Jet Li is one of the top billed actors, and yet has about 90 seconds of screen time. Wesley Snipes has a fun and humorous introduction to his character, but then is just relegated to the background after the first act. Terry Crews is one of the most charismatic actors in films today and he is COMPLETELY wasted in the movie.

This movie is getting a 4/10 from me, because there are several elements that save this lazily made film. Antonio Banderas is an absolute joy to watch, giving a crazy, over the top performance that would make Nicolas Cage jealous. Mel Gibson, whilst more restrained, gives his all as the crazy bad guy, and although the majority of the visual effects are an eyesore, the stunt work in the third act of the film is quite impressive and even engaging.

Skip this one, go watch Guardians at the cinemas again.

Great popcorn flick

[hawkfrend-875-968087 · 8/10 · 5 August 2014]

I read a lot of bad reviews about this film, attacks on the script, plot and direction, so I was pleasantly surprised to find they were all wrong and they totally missed the point. I think these people were expecting Oscar winning performances but this film is about watching bad guys getting their a*s kicked. I also read that the actors seems withdrawn and bored of their roles and that is utter rubbish, and even if that were true it doesn't matter, im not interested in deep characters and meaningful performances in films like this, I just want to see lots of destruction and the bad guys getting owned.

There's some funny dialogue here and there and Banderas' character had me smiling a lot.

If you like action films you will enjoy this action romp, so ignore those bad reviews and grab yourself a bucket of popcorn and enjoy.

Snipes. Gibson. Ford. Banderas. Grammar. Davi.

[CowherPowerForever · 7/10 · 15 August 2014]

Even more legends grace the screen one more time for The Expendables 3. Just like the two prior films, the action is fantastic, the one liners are fun, and its overall an amazing joyride. With new younger actors(and some non actors) taking bigger roles some may get upset. Need not worry, the attention is still on the characters we have come to love over the decades. This is my review of The Expendables 3.

Not only does Sylvester Stallone take part once again in writing the script but, he adds newer stars of the action genre, Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt. Rothenberger and Benedikt(actually married to each other by the way) both wrote the smash 2013 action film, Olympus Has Fallen. To be honest going into the film I knew there was going to be a lot of downtime because the runtime comes in at just over two hours. However, the entire franchise has lent itself to this problem, and of the three films so far, Expendables 3 takes the cake for biggest downtime. This can be a problem for some but, I thought the characters and the progression was nice. Having actors like Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, and Antonio Banderas fill that time makes it worth sticking through. While the story takes a good bit to introduce the newer characters it leads to some fantastic action scenes and an overall fantastic time at the movie theater. The one liners are good in number and will leave big action fans laughing each time one comes out. Stallone, Rothenberger, and Benedikt deserve some good credit for writing a fantastic action movie for us 80s/90s action fans, and I give them a good grade.

This time around the film is directed by Patrick Hughes, who recently directed Red Hill in 2010. While I have never seen this movie, it apparently is a nice action movie. While I cannot speak of his previous work, I can say he does a fantastic job. While not the best outing in terms of directing in this franchise, the action scenes are fluid and he really takes control when there is a lot going on in some of the more massive scenes. I personally love over the top action in films like this, and towards the beginning of the film something so over the top happens that you will be talking about it for some time after you left the theater. It was that amazing. To trim down on the budget, you could tell more CG was use. I am not a fan of a big CG fest in my action movies. Thankfully the CG only comes in spots here and there, nothing harmful. Now onto these amazing actors. New additions to the franchise are Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Kesley Grammar, Antonio Banderas, and of course the man himself, Wesley Snipes. After a few years off, he is finally back and better than ever. While I cannot say he dominates the film, there are some very nice action scenes with him. As a huge fan of his action films, I am just glad to see him back on the big screen. Mel Gibson plays the bad guy in this film, and frankly does an amazing job. While I would have rather seen him play a good guy, he easily is the most well rounded villain of the franchise. Younger actors who were added to the casting this time around are Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Kellan Lutz, and Ronda Rousey. While I cannot say I like the additions of all these younger actors, I cannot say they really hurt the film. Also keep an eye out for one of my favorite actors of all time, Robert Davi, who has an appearance in this film. Overall, in this department, Hughes does a fine job of directing some intense action scenes, and gives us fans something to watch over and over again down the road. He gets a big thumps up in my opinion.

Brian Tyler is back for his third outing scoring these films. Just like the previous films, they are good but, nothing special or memorable that us hardcore action fans remember from those great 80s/90s action films. I'm not trying to bring him down at all, he is one of the better composers today, and he gets the job done in this film. He really shines in those high impact action scenes. Tyler gets a good grade from me in scoring of this film.

In closing, these films are made for the action fans of the 80s/90s when stars like Stallone and Schwarzenegger were huge. For fans like me, we just get a joy of seeing some amazing action scenes with stars that were on top of the world in the genre just a couple decades ago. For those on the fence, starting out watching the first two films is what I recommend just so you get use to the feel of the franchise. Watching some classic action films as well wouldn't hurt. So, go out there and see this movie, it is well worth it in my opinion.

8/10

Old School Actions But With Galgo Style Plot

[michael-sengwah · 5/10 · 16 August 2014]

Learning from the mistakes in The Expendables 2, the cast has reunited in this sequel with a climax that really brings back or nearly close to the old school action thriller just as in the original first film. However, having the Galgo style of plot has dragged the entire film into an unnecessary overlong of 2 hours. While the old cast still brings a lot of fun and maintains the brother love across the trilogy, the introduction of the young Expendables might seems a fresh strategy to develop possible sequels but the poor performance, poor developed screenplay and moderate quality of visual effects have ruined part of the film. At least, it compensates audiences once again with amazing scores from Brian Tyler which enhances the actions scenes but overall, Barney's emotional feelings in this sequel seems to be similar to the boring emotional Iron Man in Iron Man 2.