What Went Wrong With The Expendables 4?
The Expendables 4 has just come out at the cinema and is widely getting slammed by critics and fans alike. But the question is what has caused both sides to turn on the franchise so quickly. Whether people liked the others or not, they generally always found an audience. So, today I am going to look at what I believe to be the mistakes made in the movie.
THERE WILL BE FULL SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE OF THE EXPENDABLES 4
What Went Wrong With The Expendables 4?
1 – Age Rating
We will start with one subject that doesn’t give away any real spoilers but offers up a bigger discussion. The franchise as turned back to the Rated-R or 15 in the UK age rating. This is the first time we have seen this since the first movie and already blocks out an audience. However, it does mean things can get more violent and have more adult language. While this does take out the younger audience, it does get to play into the style of movies that made most of the veteran stars famous.
2 – Lack of Returning Expendables
This is the fourth movie in the franchise and none of the main cast have ever seen killed off. However, only FOUR of the original cast return Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture. First, I would point out that I fully understand why Bruce Willis and Jet Li haven’t returned due to their personal health. They also explain that Antonio Banderas doesn’t return, by having his son added to the team.
However, Terry Crews, Wesley Snipes, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harrison Ford are nowhere to be seen. As well as the younger group that was recruited in Expendables 3 are also not mentioned and given random replacements. The whole point of this franchise is to give big action stars a movie to shine in and now we don’t seem to see many at all.
3 – Not Enough Action Star Additions
This might be one of the more controversial comments, but it doesn’t feel like we get enough classic action stars joining the cast. I would point out that I loved the addition of Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais who might well be two of the best action stars who haven’t been given a big American release yet. Ong Bak and The Raid are considered two of the best action movies of the last 20 years, so we know how good they are.
On the other additions, Andy Garcia works as a replacement for Harrison Ford/Bruce Willis replacement. However, Jacob Scipio replacing Banderas doesn’t seem to click, Megan Fox as an action star doesn’t work. In fact, it looks like she is on a makeup shoot in every scene, while everyone else looks beat up, she looks like she hasn’t even done a thing. 50 Cent is also not known for his action star presence and feels like a simple Terry Crews replacement. Finally, Levy Tran rounds off the cast who is mostly there for jokes.
When you look at other names connected with the project with have an impressive list including the following names. Jack Nicholson, Carl Weathers, Kurt Russell, Pierce Brosnan and Ron Perlman.
4 – Failure to Give Us the Fights We Wanted
Despite having a smaller cast, the idea that we get Iwo Uwais and Jason Statham having a short fight and that is the only person he has a proper fight with is disappointing. When we can have one of the best action stars not involved in more than one real fight we can feel let down. This was a perfect chance to give us an extended fight between Uwais and Jaa, one that could have been for the ages.
5 – The Jokes
One of the major factors behind the jokes was that it was a wink, wink, we used to do big action movies that make no sense. Now, the jokes are Oh I am old, this hard, or worse penis jokes. Most of them miss the movie. The only redeeming joke that happens in the movie, is the bodyguard sequence for Christmas.
6 – Fake Out
Something that could have made Expendables 4 stand out would have been following through. One of the major incidents in the movie is Barney getting killed off in the first mission. It uses this as a major plot point for Christmas to find himself and get former Expendables to return to conflict. However, the final act sees Christmas saved by Barney who had faked his death, Nick Fury style. This decision completely undermines the whole plot of the movie. It takes away the fact these soldiers would sacrifice their lives for the greater good.
These are a few reasons why I think Expendables 4 wasn’t very good.
What do you think Went Wrong with Expendables 4?