Saw this last night and enjoyed it quite a lot. There is really no plot to speak of. Stallone and co. are sent to recover an electronic device from a plane crash. After they do, bad guys led by Jean-Claude van Damme show up, kill one of Stallone's guys, and steal the device, which is a map to a hidden cache of Russian plutonium. Stallone and co. give chase, eventually catch up to Van Damme, and a MASSIVE gun battle ensues. Oh, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Chuck Norris show up for the blood-spattered finale. If you loved 80s action movies, you will have a grand time watching this. Stallone is in fine form and still believably kicks ass. Schwarzenegger says several of his trademark lines. When Norris shows up, the audience I was with actually broke out into applause. All of these actors make sly references to themselves and their careers (e.g., Norris is referred to as a "lone wolf", and one story told about Norris' character is just one of those funny Chuck Norris anecdotes). I only wish they had put Willis into a situation reminiscent of Die Hard. So, I'm going to give this film TWO ratings. If you're an 80's action fan or just love movies where stuff gets blowed up real good: 8/10 If you're just a regular movie fan and like decent action: 6/10
Good timing! I read an article in a newspaper about this, and am interested. Glad it's not taking itself too seriously. Anyway, is the action super fast-paced to the point where you can't follow it? Is there shaky camera gimmicks or a lot of jump-cuts that make it hard to follow? This is my only concern.
No, it isn't shot Bourne-style. I had no issues following the action. There are a couple of instances where something happens and you're confused about what exactly just occurred, but you're SUPPOSED to be. The film WANTS you to ask "What happened there?" because it gives you the answer five seconds later. Doesn't matter a bit. Other than you may wonder why Stallone's character owes Willis' (and a bit of dialog explains why), there's nothing that calls back to the earlier film.
It's cool that Randy "The Natural" Couture is in it, even if he does copy my stubble and buzz cut look.
Agree with Paladin about 100%: Pure action cheese that kowtows to the 80's in a major way. Liked the first one a bit better; also don't know why they had to sub some Chinese girl in for Jet Li. Lots of fun and laughs, and leave the laws of probability and physics at the door!!
Saw this today without having seen the first one beforehand (which wasn't a problem at all). Highly entertaining, mindless action fun with plenty of jokes to keep you laughing. The imagery is quite bloody but so unrealistic that you can't help but occasionally laugh. Only nitpick I have is that they could've picked a hotter Asian chick (Maggie Q comes to mind...).
The first movie had a chunk in the middle with shit plot and no action. Does this movie do the same? Cause as much as I loved the explosions in the last one, I almost turned it off halfway through the "plot" hour.
Nope, Paladin has pretty much given away the entire "plot" in the opening post. They just shoot and blow shit up for the duration of the entire movie. Also, my two favorite quotes: Schwarzenegger and Willis: Jet Li:
