The Flickering Myth writing staff give their thoughts on the trailer for The Expendables 3….
You can watch the trailer here.
BOOM! CRASH! EXPLOSION!
That’s more or less what the trailer for The Expendables 3 involves. But for some more insightful thoughts, let’s look at what the Flickering Myth writing staff thought of the first full trailer for the third part of The Expendables trilogy…
Scott Davis: I enjoyed Expendables 2 more than the first, so I am looking forward to this one. It’s 80s action fan nirvana cranked up to 11 with Ford, Gibson, Snipes and Banderas involved. Can’t wait!
Ozzy Armstrong: Best blockbuster of 2014? Hells yeah. Loved both the first and second and this looks like another slice of fried gold. Genuinely can’t wait.
Luke Owen: My grin got wider and wider as the trailer went on. Just great stuff. Who would have thought we’d see Simon Phoenix and John Spartan on the same side?
However, I never felt like the Expendables movies lived up to expectations, so I am trying not to get too pumped by the trailer. Lets just hope that Stallone can make this movie about “fun” rather than trying to make a political point.
Matt Spencer-Skeen: I’m tempering my expectations, I think they’re clearly aware of the value of the new names they’ve added and that they’ll get new people in on those names alone. If the end product can look anything as good as those names on paper do then it can be amazing but my hopes aren’t as high as they once were for these films.
Anthony Donovan Stokes: Aren’t these supposed to be funny? Didn’t laugh once. I’m glad Snipes, Ford, and Banderas are getting paychecks but they could all be doing something way better. I hate this franchise but if there’s a glimmer of hope it’s that some of this action seems inspired.
Anghus Houvouras: The Expendables has been a series that has been far better conceptually. The idea of teaming all these action icons is beyond brilliant but the movies are so thinly constructed featuring characters so one dimensional that calling them cardboard feels like an insult to corrugated material. I’ll watch it because I’m still hoping that somewhere in this endless pile of coal there could be a diamond.
Anthony Donovan Stokes: I’d consider it a pile of something else.
Chris Cooper: Overall I’ve been disappointed with the first two. Some good action hero banter but generally not as inspired as the idea suggests.
But, this looks as thought it could be much better. Judgement reserved. I will add that my love for Terry Crews has grown immeasurably since Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Love that show. So I look forward to seeing more of him. At least Stallone has shaved off that terrible moustache.
Luke Owen: You hush your mouth. That moustache was the third best actor in the movie. At least it was convincing.
Chris Cooper: I love a good moustache. That was not one of them.
Brogan Jameson Morris: The Expendables movies work on the same level as the Fast and Furious films – they’re wilfully stupid, occasionally cringeworthy, sometimes even a bit DTV, but also quite a bit fun. They also refreshingly lack the self-seriousness of so many modern blockbusters (thanks for that, Christopher Nolan), and The Expendables 3 looks like more of the same, if not better – the set-pieces look insane, and Patrick Hughes seems to have stepped up the style as the new director. I’m worried it might suffer from trying to stuff too many stars into the running time, but if looking forward to the new Fast and Furious film is now apparently OK for critics, I’d say it’s just as fine to expect some mad thrills from this preposterous-looking threequel.
Tom Jolliffe: As an 80’s action aficionado I’ve enjoyed the franchise so far, even if it’s not really matched the potential it could have done. I really dug Patrick Hughes’s film Red Hill. Really well made, and it looks like he’s added a lot of energy in the Expendables 3. The scale looks big too. This is the first one that looks like it’s a proper tentpole film. Gibson seems to be inspired and will hopefully given more to do than Van Damme in the last film. It seems as if this film has struck a good balance between old school action films and modern blockbusters.
Villordsutch: I see this trailer and I “Pfft!” to myself. Then in a year or two when it arrives on Netflix and everybody has left the house I will sneak this on and watch it like I’m an eight year old watching Rambo again for the first time and love it.
I grew up with this style of film being one of my core genre’s, next to horror films (I really shouldn’t have been watching) and Sci-Fi classics this just drags me back to those days over heroes not dying. Yes I’m more of a film snob then I was when I was eight but somewhere at my core there is still a child who wants to greet somebody called Dillon with quick arm wrestle whilst insulting his mother.
I’m a total sell-out for the Expendables movies and I hate myself for it.
Chris Cooper: Don’t hate yourself Vil. Just embrace it.
Gary Collinson: Having Arnold and Stallone in the cast is enough to get my money regardless, but based on the trailer, this looks like it could be great. Best cast yet, a good director (Red Hill is definitely worth watching, if you haven’t seen it), and it looks like there’s some epic, over-the-top action sequences. I’m trying not to get too excited though, as like people have said, the series is yet to live up to expectations (although the second one was much, much better than the first). But I hope it turns out well, and that it does well too, as most of these guys are in desperate need of a hit.
Thomas Harris: Nope. Just nope.
Kris Wall: Really looking forward to it, first was ok, second was great fun with JCVD and this looks like more of the same, but with Wesley Snipes and Harrison Ford. Just hoping they drop the classic catchphrase swapping that overshadowed Expendables 2, we get who these guys are and their legacies, just let them blow stuff up!
Andrew Naylor: Magnificent 80s cheesefest. I, for one, cannot wait to see it.
Anghus Houvouras: I like that they had to break Snipes out of jail. Life imitating art.
Anthony Donovan Stokes: I would like to say that was probably meta , but I think that’d be giving Stallone too much credit.
Brogan Jameson Morris: I also enjoy that they busted Snipes out, in what looks like a satisfying – I imagine – opening sequence. I can’t wait to find out how that train journey goes so wrong that it literally explodes a prison at the end.
Sadé Green: My very simple reaction is: can’t frikkin wait. Nothing like a good mindless action film with the greats!
Luke Owen: Anyone else sad that Snipes doesn’t have bleached blonde hair?
Chris Cooper: Simon says bleed!
Helen Murdoch: Really looking forward to it. They’re good fun movies that don’t try to be clever. Love the addition of Banderas and Snipes. Mel Gibson as a tyrannical villain – such a stretch for him!
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So, a mostly positive reaction – although it’s positivity that is also laid with reservation.
In THE EXPENDABLES 3, Barney, Christmas and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks, who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables — but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet.
The Expendables 3 opens on August 15th with Patrick Hughes (Red Hill) directing a cast that sees returning Expendables Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews and Jet Li and franchise newcomers Harrison Ford (Star Wars), Wesley Snipes (Blade), Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon), Antonio Banderas (Desperado), Kellan Lutz (The Legend of Hercules), Kelsey Grammer (X-Men: The Last Stand), Glen Powell (The Dark Knight Rises), Ronda Rousey (Fast & Furious 7), and Victor Ortiz.
