The Expendables 2
The Expendables 2 | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Simon West |
Screenplay by | Richard Wenk Sylvester Stallone |
Story by | Ken Kaufman David Agosto Richard Wenk |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Shelly Johnson |
Edited by | Todd E. Miller |
Music by | Brian Tyler |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release date |
|
Running time | 103 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $100 million[2] |
Box office | $10.5 million[3] |
The Expendables 2 is a 2012 American ensemble action film directed by Simon West and written by Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone, based on a story by Ken Kaufman, David Agosto and Wenk. It is a sequel to the 2010 action film The Expendables, and stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film follows The Expendables, a mercenary group, as they seek revenge against Jean Vilain (Van Damme), a rival mercenary who murders one of their own, and threatens the world with a deadly weapon.
Principal photography took place over 14 weeks beginning in September 2011 on an estimated $100 million budget, with filming occurring in Bulgaria, Hong Kong and New Orleans. The film was released across Europe on August 16, 2012, followed by a North American release on August 17. A tie-in downloadable video game was released on July 31, 2012, that served as a prequel to the events of the film.
Plot
The Expendables are deployed to Nepal in order to rescue a Chinese businessman. The team consists of leader Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), former SAS soldier and blades specialist Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), martial artist Yin Yang (Jet Li), weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture), and snipers Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren) and Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth), the group's youngest and newest member. The mercenaries rescue the businessmen, as well as Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Ross' rival. Yang accompanies the businessman in his return to China, and temporarily departs from the group.
Ross accepts a mission from Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) to retrieve an item from a safe from an airplane that was shot down in Albania. The team, accompanied by tech genius Maggie (Yu Nan), retrieve the item from the airplane; their victory is short-lived, after discovering that Billy has been captured by Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who intends to retrieve the item. The Expendables surrender the item, however Vilain executes Billy and leaves. The group buries Billy and swears revenge on Vilain; Maggie reveals the item on the plane was a computer, containing a blueprint to an abandoned Soviet Union mine which stores plutonium. Vilain, along with his right-hand man Hector (Scott Adkins), intends to retrieve a large amount of plutonium and sell them, for 4 million dollars a kilogram.
The team decides to travel to the mines, although the group stops by an abandoned military base where they spend the night. The next morning, the team are ambushed by Vilain's army, but the army is quickly eliminated by Booker (Chuck Norris) single-handed, who departs the group shortly afterwards. Before departing, Booker informs the group about a nearby village with residents who are against Vilain. As they enter the village, the group discovers a number of armed female villagers who are guarding their children. The women tell the mercenaries that the men of the village have been taken to work at the mine; the miners never return to their families. Eventually, the Sang arrives to take more villagers to work, but the team successfully kills all the Sang, saving the village. The group stages an attack on Vilain through infiltrating the mine by shooting their plane through the caves; the plane is destroyed in the process. Vilain causes a set of explosions that buries the team and the miners underground. After Jensen makes an unsuccessful attempt to detonate a portion of the mine, Trench and Church rescue the mercenaries and the miners trapped in the mine; the miners are reunited with their loved ones from the village.
The Expendables, Trench and Church pursue Vilain to the airport, where Vilain and his men would depart on a private plane with the plutonium. The team, rejoined by Booker, fight their way through the airport. Christmas encounters and fights Hector and eventually decapitates Hector with a helicopter blade. Ross and Maggie follow Vilain to the hangar, where Ross and Vilain exchange a couple of words and then fight and with the battle ending by Vilain being strangled and stabbed in the chest by Ross and he is killed, avenging Billy's death. Church, Maggie, Booker and Trench say their goodbyes to Ross, with Church giving a worn-out airplane to Ross (as a replacement of the team's destroyed airplane). As the team departs in the plane, the Expendables give a final toast in honor of Billy. The group leaves a large sum of money to Sophia (Nikolette Noel), Billy's French girlfriend, as well as a picture of Billy and Billy's final letter to Sophia.
Cast
- Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross:
- The leader of the Expendables. Stallone insisted on performing his own stunts, ignoring the advice of his doctor following several surgeries to repair a neck injury and broken back he had received while filming The Expendables.[4]
- Jason Statham as Lee Christmas:[5]
- The Expendables' knife expert. Statham described his character as "kind of a workingman's hero… a guy you’d want to go out and have a beer with."[6]
- Jet Li as Yin Yang:
- The Expendables' hand-to-hand combat expert.
- Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen:
- A volatile member of the Expendables, nearly undone by years of combat stress and alcohol abuse.[7][8] Lundgren's personal history including his chemical engineering degree were integrated into the character's story by Stallone. Lundgren had been hesitant to participate in the film based on the first script draft, but rewrites and additional content for his character altered his stance.[9]
- Chuck Norris as Booker:
- A retired military operative on a mission to save his old teammates. The character's name is a homage to 1978 action film Good Guys Wear Black in which Norris portrays the character John T. Booker.[7][10]
- Jean-Claude Van Damme as Jean Vilain:[7]
- The leader of an opposing team of mercenaries.[11] A former member of the French Foreign Legion, he is bent on destroying the world even if it costs him his life.[12] Van Damme had previously been offered a role in The Expendables but failed to come to an agreement with Stallone and ultimately never took part.[13] Van Damme was intentionally distant from the cast and crew during filming to stay in character.[14] Commenting on the role, Stallone said: "We’ll have a big showdown between me and Van Damme, which has been anticipated for a long time, so it should be a good one."[15]
- Bruce Willis as Mr. Church:
- A secretive Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent.[16] In late August 2011, Stallone stated his interest in having Willis return for a role in the sequel – expanding upon his brief cameo in the original – potentially as a "super villain".[17] Willis was confirmed to be involved in a "substantial" role on September 6, 2011.[18][19] Commenting on the film, Willis said: "Hopefully, they'll start shooting it while we're young enough to survive."[20]
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench:
- Ross' arch-rival and occasional ally.[7][10] Stallone noted his intention to have Schwarzenegger return for a sequel before the release of The Expendables, stating: "If this works, I would love to get him in the next one".[21] Schwarzenegger's involvement was confirmed on September 6, 2011, his "substantial" role expanding on his cameo in the original film.[18] Schwarzenegger filmed his scenes in 4 days.[22]
- Terry Crews as Hale Caesar:
- The Expendables' barrel-weapons specialist.
- Randy Couture as Toll Road:
- The Expendables' demolitions expert. Couture described the character as "the glue that holds all of these dysfunctional guys together".[8]
- Liam Hemsworth as Billy the Kid:
- A former military sniper disenchanted after serving in Afghanistan.[7][23][12] Hemsworth was confirmed for the role on September 19, 2011.[24] Hemsworth had been cast in the previous film in a similar role as a different character,[25] but his role was ultimately written out of the script. Stallone remained in contact with Hemsworth and offered him a role in the sequel when production moved forward.[26] Stallone described the character as the next generation of The Expendables who is not as "cynical as the other team members".[7]
Martial artist Scott Adkins portrays Hector, Vilain's right hand man. Adkins had also been offered a role in the original film, but turned it down for Undisputed III: Redemption.[27] Yu Nan portrays Chinese agent Maggie.[28][12] The cast is rounded out by Charisma Carpenter reprising her role as Christmas's girlfriend Lacy;[29] Swedish actress Amanda Ooms as Pilar, a sniper;[30] and Nikolette Noel as Sophia, Billy's girlfriend.[31] Professional Tennis player Novak Djokovic cameos as himself. He was invited to participate by producer Avi Lerner.[32][33]
Several actors were reported to be in talks to appear in the sequel at various stages of its development. In October 2010, Willis claimed that Steve Austin would be returning to the series as villain Dan Paine.[20] In November 2010, Charlie Sheen was reported to be in consideration for the role of a CIA agent hunting down Willis' character.[34] In August 2011, Variety reported that actor, and expert martial-artist, Donnie Yen had been offered a role in the film. The role was a condition of a partnership between Nu Image/Millennium Films and an unnamed Chinese distributor that would see the distributor becoming a producer on the film in exchange for a Chinese actor being cast. The partnership was also considered to make a Chinese release of the film easier to achieve.[35] In September 2011, Stallone confirmed that he was in talks with Nicolas Cage[15] and John Travolta,[2][5][36] claiming the only obstacle to their involvement would be scheduling.[15] In July 2011, Mickey Rourke was stated to be reprising his role as Tool,[5] but by late September it was reported that he had dropped out of the film,[37] and by October 18, 2011 this status was confirmed.[38] Antonio Banderas was reportedly offered a role but was unable to participate due to other commitments.[39]
On his approach to casting, Stallone explained that he was looking particularly for actors who had not experienced recent significant success in film, saying: "I like using people that had a moment and then maybe have fallen on some hard times and give them another shot. So we’re always looking for actors like Michael Biehn and Michael Paré. I like those kinds of guys. Someone did it for me and I like to see if I can do it for them."[15]
Production
Development
Prior to release, Stallone stated, "I have an idea ready to go" and "I'm going to try to do something that's quite radical".[40] In an interview on August 15, 2010, he said that he does not have a new script yet, but "It's plotted out in my mind's eye."[41] On April 18, 2011, Stallone confirmed that he would not be returning to direct or write The Expendables 2.[42] David Agosto and Ken Kaufman have been hired to write the script based on a story by Stallone. Lionsgate confirmed at CinemaCon that the sequel will be in US theaters on August 17, 2012.[43] A teaser poster for the film was released at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[44] It has been confirmed that Simon West will direct the sequel.[45] Writer Richard Wenk, who worked on West's (The Mechanic), came on board to pen a new draft of the script. Lionsgate purchased the North American and United Kingdom distribution rights to the film for $35 million.[46]
On January 19, 2012, Stallone confirmed that the film was being aimed towards a PG-13 audience, meaning the film could be viewed by people above thirteen years of age and children below that age with parental permission, unlike the R-rating of the previous film which restricted the film to those over the age of seventeen. The reported change received a negative reception.[47][48] Speaking to Ain't It Cool News about the change, Stallone said "The PG-13 rumor is true, but before your readers pass judgement, trust me when I say this film is large in every way and delivers on every level."[47] It was reported that the change was requested by Norris before he would take part in the film because he did not appreciate the swearing present in the script.[49] However shortly before release the adult-oriented rating was confirmed. West stated that "the shooting style and the dialogue, from day one, it was R-rated."[48]
Van Damme redesigned his and Stallone's characters' final fight in the film with Stallone's approval. Van Damme had been unhappy with the scripted fight which involved his character running away and only a brief confrontation between the pair. He felt that the audience would want to see a more involved fight scene between the two actors.[50]
Filming
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Plovdiv_airport_-_New_terminal_building.jpg/170px-Plovdiv_airport_-_New_terminal_building.jpg)
On a budget of $100M,[2] the shooting of The Expendables 2 began on September 29, 2011 and took place over 14 weeks.[51][37] Filming took place largely in Bulgaria at the Nu Boyana Film studio in Sofia, the city of Plovdiv and the town of Bansko.[5][51][52] One of the film's larger set pieces took place at Bulgaria's second largest airport, Plovdiv Airport, involving gun fights, explosions and car chases throughout the building.[51] On October 27, 2011, while the 2nd Unit Stunt Team were filming on reservoir Ognyanovo, 15 miles outside of Sofia, stuntman Kun Liu was killed and another, Nuo Sun, was left in critical condition during a staged explosion on a rubber boat. Sun underwent a five hour operation which left him in stable condition.[53][54] Filming also took place at Devetashka Cave in Lovech Province.[55] As part of the cave shoot, BGN600,000 (approximately $408,762) being spent rebuilding a 114 meter bridge crossing from the cave over the river Osam – only the concrete bridge columns remained of the original structure. Nu Boyana Film Studios announced that the bridge would remain after the completion of filming as a gift to Bulgaria.[56]
Other filming locations included Hong Kong and New Orleans.[51] Filming had concluded by December 25, 2011.[57] By February 9, 2012, it was reported that The Expendables 2 was in post-production.[58]
Controversies
On November 16, 2011, the production received a fine (of between $343–$3,440) from the Bulgarian environmental protection agency for unlawfully removing shrubs and small trees from the entrance of Devetashka Cave. Although permits had been obtained, allowing sets to be built in the area, including a bridge directly to the cave, environmentalists complained that filming may damage the cave, the habitat of approximately 40 endangered species. To avoid further problems, the producers agreed to not film explosions, car chases and fires near the cave.[55]
However, later that month Bulgarian environmentalists claimed that the bat population in the cave had been reduced by up to three quarters-from approximately 30,000 recorded in 2010 to 8,000 in 2011. Nikolay Simov of the Center for Bat Studies and Protection at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences blamed The Expendables 2's production for the reduction.[59] On January 16, 2012, the Veliko Tarnovo Appellate Prosecutor's Office overturned a ruling by their Lovech equivalent to prevent an investigation into an "excessive" number of dead bats found in the cave following filming, including several endangered species. The European Commission became involved contacted the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters, inquiring information about the dead bats, while the Bulgarian Ministry and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences conducted their own probe and claimed that the number of deceased creatures was within normal parameters. The Veliko Tarnovo Appellate claimed that the Lovech Environmental Ministry had failed in its duty to investigate violations made by The Expendables 2's crew.[60] On February 23, 2012, a Bulgarian court ruled that the crew had violated the law of their filming permit.[61]
In July 2012, the family of the stuntman killed during filming filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the producers of the film, Nu Image and Millennium Films, and its stunt coordinator Chad Stahelski, alleging that the conditions of the stunt were unsafe.[62]
Music
Brian Tyler composed the score for The Expendables 2, having also scored the original film. His score combined percussion and electronic elements with an orchestra. The score was released as The Expendables 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Lions Gate Records on iTunes on August 14, 2012. The score contains 14 songs.[63][64]
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Expendables Return" | Brian Tyler | 4:40 |
2. | "Fists Knives and Chains" | Brian Tyler | 3:05 |
3. | "Track 'Em Find 'Em Kill 'Em" | Brian Tyler | 4:54 |
4. | "Making an Entrance" | Brian Tyler | 4:08 |
5. | "Respect" | Brian Tyler | 3:58 |
6. | "Rest in Pieces" | Brian Tyler | 2:55 |
7. | "Preparations" | Brian Tyler | 3:15 |
8. | "Party Crashers" | Brian Tyler | 5:19 |
9. | "Rescue" | Brian Tyler | 4:43 |
10. | "Countdown" | Brian Tyler | 4:25 |
11. | "Bad Way to Live" | Brian Tyler | 3:41 |
12. | "Vilain" | Brian Tyler | 2:42 |
13. | "Dueling Blades" | Brian Tyler | 4:32 |
14. | "Escape" | Brian Tyler | 4:28 |
Release
The film first premiered on August 8, 2012 in Madrid, Spain,[65] followed by premieres in Paris, France on August 9,[66] London, England on August 13,[67] and Hollywood on August 15.[68] The film was first released on August 16, 2012,[67] with a North American release following on August 17, 2012.
Box office
In the week before release, North American pre-release tracking estimated that the film would gross between $30-$38 million to finish as the number 1 film during its opening weekend.[46][69] Other tracking showed that up to 17% of North American audiences were reluctant to visit cinemas following the mass murder in a Colorado cinema in late July 2012, which could affect ticket sales.[70] The film earned $10.5 million during its opening day from 3,316 theaters.[70]
Critical reception
As of August 16, 2012, the film has garnered a 66% approval rating from 67 critics – an average rating of 5.8 out of 10 – on the review-aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, whose consensus reads "Taut, violent, and suitably self-deprecating, The Expendables 2 gives classic action fans everything they can reasonably expect from a star-studded shoot—'em-up — for better and for worse."[71] Metacritic provides a score of 53 out of 100 from 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[72] CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "A-" on an A+ to F scale.[70]
The Hollywood Reporter's Justin Lowe called the film "taut, humorous and attractively packaged". Lowe considered Schwarzenegger's brief role to possess the most memorable dialog, commenting that he steals any scene in which he is present. Of the action choreography, he said that West's direction and the cinematography of Shelly Johnson "never disappoints".[73] Variety's Justin Chang appreciated the self-referential humor to each actor's film history and the hyper-violent action scenes. However, he felt such scenes were undermined by poor editing and a "grimy" visual scheme used throughout the film. Chang commented that the "thrill" of seeing all of the actors on screen mitigated perceived plot issues.[74]
USA Today's Claudia Puig considered the shift from the serious tone of the original to an emphasis on humor to be entertaining. Puig said that the film is: "corny, barbaric and sometimes visually murky. But humor and self-deprecating macho charm make this male pattern badness crowd-pleasing fun."[75] The New York Times Neil Genzlinger said that the film was "pleasantly dumb fun if you watch with the right mind-set", but criticized the dialog as "embarrassing" if intended seriously and formulaic plot points.[76]
The Daily Telegraph's Robbie Collin gave the film 3 out of 5 stars. He appreciated the use of practical stunts and special effects over computer-effects, stating that it "gives proceedings a flame-grilled authenticity". Collin offered a mixed compliment overall, saying "I was thoroughly appalled, mainly at myself for enjoying it."[77] Empire's Nick de Semlyen was more critical, labeling it a "huge, bulging disappointment". Semlyen criticized the plot, and what he perceived as overuse of references, set pieces and dialog from the cast's filmography, without crafting memorable moments of its own. Semlyen praised Van Damme's "grandstanding, plutonium-crazed baddie", and Lundgren’s "action-troll" as high points.[78]
Video game
The Expendables 2 Video Game is a downloadable four-player cooperative shoot 'em up video game. It was published by Ubisoft for PC, PlayStation Network (PSN) and Xbox Live Arcade and was first released on July 31, 2012 for PSN. The game's plot is a prequel to that of The Expendables 2, with Barney Ross, Gunner Jensen, Yin Yang and Hale Caesar appearing as playable characters.[79][80][81] Lundgren and Crews provide voices for their respective characters.[82] According to review aggregators Metacritic and GameRankings, the game received generally negative reviews.[83][84]
Sequel
In March 2012, Couture stated that a third installment of The Expendables could enter production in late 2012, following the release of The Expendables 2.[85] In April 2012, Steven Seagal said that he had been offered a role in a third film.[86] In August 2012, producer Avi Lerner confirmed that Nicolas Cage had been signed for the potential sequel. He also stated that the producers were intending to bring back the series' current stars, attempt to have Rourke reprise his role, had already approached Clint Eastwood about a role, and had plans to pursue Harrison Ford and to approach Wesley Snipes following his release from prison.[87] Stallone said: "We are thinking about different concepts – the first one is the hardest. The second is the natural progression. The third, that’s when the air gets rare. We’re thinking ambitiously about it... You now have to give audiences something they don’t expect at all – maybe even going into a different genre."[88]
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