The Expendables series is an odd one within the pantheon of action movies. It's a series that now consists of four movies, and collectively, they exist to feature action movie stars from decades past getting the chance to shine on screen again, even during old age. That is the appeal, really. They are blatantly all about nostalgia, and perhaps for some, that's okay. Things get a little stranger, however, when you consider that the series began 13 years ago now, with that almost being enough time for those initial Expendables movies to themselves feel nostalgic.
Perhaps the pandemic can be blamed - time was warped, in a way, and it's taken almost 10 years since the third Expendables for the fourth to come out. But it's here at last, and as of 2023, this series is now a quadrilogy, and a very inconsistent one at that. Some Expendables movies provide certain quantities of entertainment value, while some prove to be quite dire to sit through. It's far from a great series, and every cast member (besides maybe Chuck Norris) has appeared in at least one superior non-Expendables movie in the past. But they exist, they're silly, and they can be fun. They're also ranked below, from bad to least bad.
4 'The Expendables 3' (2014)
Of all the movies in the Expendables series, The Expendables 3 might well have the most impressive cast. Yet the star power can't save what ends up being a surprisingly limp and boring action movie, with just about everyone being wasted here. Not that anyone comes to these movies for the plot, but it's worth at least stating the basic premise here: Sylvester Stallone's character, Barney Ross (the leader of the titular squad) clashes with an old friend turned enemy (Mel Gibson) who re-emerges after years presumed dead, and reveals himself as a threat who needs to be dealt with.
It might not sound too bad on paper, but a handful of problems rear their ugly head relatively early on. For starters, this film exceeds two hours, while the other three are - no joke - all exactly 103 minutes long, which is a more appropriate runtime for a brain-dead action movie (this one should've been called The Extendables). Another problem is the apparent need for Ross to ditch his usual team and hire numerous new characters who feel forced in, and aren't really all that entertaining. The biggest problem, however, is the PG-13 rating, which dulls the impact of the at least fun and over-the-top violence found in the other movies (a decision Stallone regretted). It all makes for a dire viewing experience, and should be avoided at all costs.
3 'Expend4bles' (2023)
The stupidly titled Expend4bles might be a little less offensively bad than the third entry in the series, but it's honestly not a whole lot better by any means. At the very least, it returns the series to R-rated territory, giving it the sort of edge and grit that the third movie shouldn't have shied away from, but that's about all it can be praised for. In actuality, this isn't exactly a true return to form, and regrettably goes even further than the third movie when it comes to bringing in younger members to the titular squad.
Maybe that's understandable, to some extent, given how various cast members who were getting on in years back in the early 2010s are now obviously considerably older. But that doesn't take away from the feeling that it's all a little bit sad to see things sink to this level, with it barely being any better than the already very disappointing third film. And when it comes to the new cast members, many are wasted and given few opportunities to shine, including incredible martial arts movie actors like Tony Jaa (of Ong Bak fame) and Iko Uwais (best known for starring in the excellent The Raid movies).
2 'The Expendables' (2010)
The film that, for better or worse, started this whole long-running action movie series, The Expendables stands as a not-entirely awful flick that still could've been a good deal better. Still, for its time, the idea of seeing so many action stars on screen in the one movie was an exciting prospect, and the cast here is admittedly impressive. Beyond Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Steve Austin, and Terry Crews are some of the biggest names in the supporting cast, with Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger also appearing here in cameo roles.
The plot's about as generic as action movie plots get, following the crew as they go to assassinate the dictator of a small island in South America, only to find out their mission is as simple as it initially seems. Most of the non-action scenes are pretty dull, and even then, the action isn't always shot fantastically... but there are brief bursts of fun here, and though some of the CGI blood and fire/explosion effects look bad, whenever a stunt or explosion is pulled off for real, it looks pretty great. It's sporadically entertaining, if a bit visually ugly all around, but you can definitely do worse as far as contemporary action movies go.
1 'The Expendables 2' (2012)
Though it's not nearly good enough to be considered a highlight of the 2010s, The Expendables 2 can claim to be the best movie within the series it belongs to, and by a considerable margin at that. Honestly, if you only have time to watch a single Expendables movie in your lifetime (and time is finite, after all), it should be this one. It improves things in the villain department by giving Jean-Claude Van Damme the opportunity to ham it up as a slimy and over-the-top bad guy, and there's even the slightest hint of stakes here, given that early on, one seemingly invincible member of the squad actually ends up being expendable, and (surprisingly) dies.
Beyond Van Damme, it makes improvements in the casting department in other regards, with both Willis and Schwarzenegger getting more to do here than they were given in the first, and there's a fun appearance from Chuck Norris, too. It feels more self-aware than the first movie, and the action is shot better as well, with less rapid cuts and improved lighting this time around. It can still prove a little boring during the stretches where there's little action, but truth be told, the highs outweigh the lows here to the point where The Expendables 2 is actually kind of decent, and easily the best entry in the series so far.
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