MOVIE REVIEW - The Expendables 2

Summertime is action time at the movies, and the summer 0f 2012 has been the biggest one yet.

Now, the summer is winding down and there is one more straggler action flick has appeared, The Expendables 2. TE2 is the sequel to the original with Stallone, Statham, Willis, Lundgren, Norris, and virtually every other aging action hero from the 1970's 1980's and 1990's in it. This time they even drug along Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Plus, they have introduced a few new young characters with young stars Liam Hemsworth and Nan Yu.

If you didn't see the original, here's the basci deal. Barney Ross, (Stallone) leads a group of "for hire" ex-soldiers that go around the world doing impossible jobs that no one else will. They are highly trained, and the best at what they do. They deal with the most violent mobs, and cartels that one can imagine. They are also off the radar, and no one really has their backs. Thus, expendable.

Here, one of their young recruits is killed in front of them by a horrible mob named The Sangs. The Expendables then go on a mission to wipe out The Sangs and end their rein of slavery that they have instituted to mine illegal plutonium that would change the balance of world power with nuclear weapons.

Full disclosure first. There is a TONS of gratuitous violence here. Anything that can blow up does, and any kind of weapon that can be fired - is. It is not overly bloody, but there of course is way too much killing mostly of people that you hate anyway. It is loud, and it is action pretty much from start to finish. But there is something here that gives it a pass.

It is humor, and the fact that it makes fun of itself, and of themselves as actors and characters. In a very subtle and at times not so subtle sense, it parodies the movies that have made all of these action stars - stars in the first place. It's not afraid to acknowledge their respective ages, and joke about it. It is a series of very over the top action sequences that at times are more amusing and entertaining than anything else. And that works.

It also does take time to tell a real story and addresses a real man code that will endear this movie to its core audience which of course is - men. All men. This is the definition of summer fun action flicks. TE2 also takes the time develops a villian that you hate, with an agenda that makes you mad. It's over the top, and has a nice chemistry that is undeniable between our main characters. This series gets it. The time for silly "serious" movies for these guys are long over. And now it's time to look back and relive it to a degree, but recognize that you are at a different stage of your life. Time to have fun, and laugh at your own expense.

The Expendables 2. Rated R. And deserved. But somehow these movies work.