Expend4bles (2023) | Film Review

When Sylvester Stallone initially kicked off The Expendables franchise, the promise lied with the details: corral a group of well-worn action heroes with a few new ones and give them another shot at the big screen. The results were mixed for many, but – personally – I thoroughly enjoyed every single one of the first three to varying degrees, The Expendables 2 being my favorite (Van Damme was a delicious villain). Thirteen years after that first one, Stallone and friends shake things up a bit by turning this chapter over to a new guard, and Stallone’s Barney ostensibly turning the keys over to Jason Statham’s knife-ninja, Lee Christmas. So, does The Expendables 4, or Expend4bles as it were, pull it off?

This time around, Barney and Lee are tasked with a mission to unravel a plan to steal nuclear detonators which will eventually lead to a disaster on a global scale. One which will make our villains – led by a secret foe discreetly known only as Ocelot – very rich. Due to reasons which will remain excised from this review, Barney is removed from the mission and Lee Christmas finds himself at odds with his own team. He decides to set-off on his own to hunt down the evil Rahmat (Iko Uwais), eventually teaming up with an old associate of Barney’s known as Decha (Tony Jaa).

Along for the ride this time is Lee’s sometimes love interest, Gina (Megan Fox), who happens to be a badass herself and eventually takes over as lead of the team. Also, Easy Day (50 Cent), Lash (Levy Tran), and Galan (Jacob Scipio) join Gunner (Dolph Lundgren) and Toll Road (Randy Couture) to round out our Expendables crew. Leading things this time, without Bruce Willis or Harrison Ford on tap, is Andy Garcia’s Marsh.

Director Scott Waugh is an effective enough director of action when he can hold the camera still, Jason Statham does everything he can, and it is a good call for this franchise to return to its R-rated roots. But all-in-all this is just The Expendablehs. Whenever the story is focused on Lee Christmas, the film coasts on sheer Statham-appeal, of which there is plenty. There is a rather tense set-piece aboard an ocean freighter that almost solely centers on Christmas, and this is easily the most enjoyable scene of the film. Waugh could have used a few more of these elaborate set-pieces.

But the remainder of the cast have little to offer due to a clunky story and pedestrian humor. This is a franchise that has accentuated the past successes of their cast, and aside from a rather clever meta-joke in regard to 50 Cent, there is not much meat for these heroes to hang on to. The team dynamic was a highlight in all three films, and it is sorely lacking in repartee here. Also, the noticeable lack of Terry Crews is greatly frustrating in every scene where Statham does not appear.

Not to mention how strongly the editing or the special effects harbor what should be a rather enjoyable reinvention of the franchise. There is an opening sequence that we keep going back to which seems relatively short in comparison to the ongoing Expendables team story, which seems to be over a much greater length in time. It’s an odd choice. Also, the CGI in this first half is at times horrendous, with Jason Statham mounting a gun against what seems to be a backdrop pulled straight out of the 1980s, but not in a winky-at-the-camera kind of way. This is a $100 million production with straight-to-DVD visual effects, and it hurts the film.

Overall, Expend4bles is a rather lackluster offering saved as much as possible by Jason Statham’s charisma. When Stallone and he are both present, we are reminded of the fun this franchise once carried with it. Unfortunately, most of what the audience is left with is a reminder of a time not too long ago when we simply could not let our nostalgia rest in peace. Maybe we finally should.