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THE EXPENDABLES (2010)Movie Reviews
Action thriller about a team of tough mercenaries who are double-crossed while on a mission to overthrow a South American dictator. Cast:Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, Jet LiDirector:Sylvester StalloneRelease Date:August 13, 2010DVD Release:November 23, 2010From:LionsgateRating:RLength:1 hr 43 min
The Expendables (2010) played to weak reviews. • Richard Corliss wrote in Time, "...the seven veteran stars of 'The Expendables' are a cumulative 439 years old and have been making movies for 238 years.... The reunion plays OK..." • And Michael Phillips wrote in the Chicago Tribune, " 'Let her go.' 'He deserved it.' 'Come on, baby!' 'Ride and die!' 'It's personal business.' 'You shot me.' " More Reviews Below...
The Expendables (2010) Positive Reviews (45 Reviews, reviews below)
Richard Corliss, Time: MODERATE "...the seven veteran stars of 'The Expendables' are a cumulative 439 years old and have been making movies for 238 years.... The reunion plays OK..."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,086 words, 08/13/10
Jake Coyle, Associated Press: WEAK(cg) "Menacing one-liners ('Now we can see the inside of him, and I see lies!') and poor production values made me wonder if I walked into not a movie theater but a time warp."(See all of Jake Coyle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 808 words, 08/12/10
Thelma Adams, Us Weekly: WEAK(cg) "Stallone needs a lighter touch, and his face looks as laminated as a playing card. The film has some laughs -- but they're largely unintentional."(See all of Thelma Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 80 words, 08/12/10
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a completely low-tech, brute-force movie, a real meathead jamboree.... keeps the body count coming so that it sates you like a junk-food craving fulfilled."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 280 words, 08/13/10
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: MODERATE(cg) "...little more than an ordinary, uninspired action feature. Replace the name stars with unknowns and this would struggle to find a straight-to-DVD distributor."(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 896 words, 08/13/10
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: WEAK(cg) "Stallone forgets to include non-spazzy direction, a coherent plot, dialogue that actors can speak without cringing, stunts that don't fizzle, blood that isn't digital and..."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 553 words, 08/13/10
Claudia Puig, USA Today: WEAK(cg) "...a movie that nobody needs -- gratuitously savage, implausible and sometimes incoherent.... Stallone forgot to develop the characters."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 464 words, 08/13/10
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: WEAK "...might more aptly be described as Bad Kurosawa, Bad Peckinpah or Bad Leone. Which might be a way of saying that it's better-than-average Stallone."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 895 words, 08/13/10
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: VERY GOOD(cg) "Everyone gets their solos -- first an action beat, then a soliloquy that's usually about female trouble -- until the grand finale erupts, a symphony of skull-crunching..."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 446 words, 08/13/10
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: WEAK(cg) "Direct-to-video bad. Awful enough that Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme, not the choosiest of artists, took a pass after reading the script."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 430 words, 08/13/10
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: MODERATE(cg) "Most the dialogue is parceled out in three-word chunks... 'Let her go.' 'He deserved it.' 'Come on, baby!' 'Ride and die!' 'It's personal business.' 'You shot me.' "(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 496 words, 08/13/10
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "...a throwback to '80s run-and-gun action... as timeless as the reptilian brain -- and if 'The Expendables' is no classic, for about 20 minutes, it blowed up real good."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 748 words, 08/11/10
Stephen Cole, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "...what our heroes really want to do is beat their girlfriends' tormentors to a fine spray... After that - vroom - it's back to the clubhouse to play with more toys."(See all of Stephen Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 582 words, 08/13/10
Josep Parera, La Opinion: GOOD(cg) "...no hay héroes del género con más carisma que el trío de estrellas protagonistas de filmes de los años 80 tan recordados como 'Predator', 'Die Hard' o 'Rambo.' "(See all of Josep Parera's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 420 words, 08/13/10
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "People who liked this sort of thing in 1986 will get the warm fuzzies. Everyone else will be trying to digest a big ol' slab of cheese."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 211 words, 08/12/10
KEY CITIES (12 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...designed to leave filmgoers feeling not so much pumped as pummeled into submission, grateful for having survived an all-out assault on their senses..."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 552 words, 08/13/10
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: MODERATE(cg) "A towering corned-beef special of a movie... And then the governor of California, yup, Arnold Schwarzenegger, swaggers in. Stallone! Willis! Schwarzenegger!"(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 378 words, 08/13/10
Mick LaSalle, Houston Chronicle: MODERATE(cg) "...features a rogue's gallery of tired action stars who, when thrown together, suddenly hold the promise of a good time. For a while, it lives up to that promise, too -- then the story kicks in..."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 633 words, 08/13/10
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: MODERATE(cg) "...a gonzo action film from a guy who has forgotten more about making action films than most of the filmmakers who followed him.... disposable..."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 519 words, 08/13/10
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: WEAK(cg) "Sure, it's fun, after a fashion, to see them all in the same place, kicking and creaking. But that's about all... an excuse to watch these guys echo their on-screen glory days."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 575 words, 08/13/10
Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: FAIR(cg) "...utterly disposable.... the point is the action, and Stallone is a terrible action director. Sequences are visually incoherent, chopped-up, sloppy, vague."(See all of Shawn Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 295 words, 08/13/10
Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times: MODERATE(cg) "...overkill. In a good way, if good can be defined as 103 minutes of body-gnarling violence and macho posturing, each gratuitous to a grindhouse degree."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 578 words, 08/14/10
Adam Graham, Detroit News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...has more muscles on screen than any film this side of a bodybuilding documentary.... It's like the best summer action movie of 1987."(See all of Adam Graham's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 344 words, 08/13/10
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: WEAK(cg) "...more fun to think about as a concept than it is to sit through - yet another reminder that the cinematic legacy of the '80s was, in large part, dreck."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 632 words, 08/13/10
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (9 Reviews)
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "...a throwback to '80s run-and-gun action... as timeless as the reptilian brain -- and if 'The Expendables' is no classic, for about 20 minutes, it blowed up real good."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 748 words, 08/11/10
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: POOR(cg) "I don't want to give away any of the surprises, but -- well, there are no surprises. The story is a pile of clichés, yet somehow it also makes no sense."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 164 words, 08/12/10
William Goss, Cinematical: MODERATE "...not directed with any particular verve or wit by Stallone himself, but still satisfactory of the lowest common denominators and the highest possible decibel levels."(See all of William Goss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 743 words, 08/12/10
Lauren Wissot, Slant: WEAK(cg) "...the latest vanity project from the youth-obsessed Sylvester Stallone.... in dire need of less 'Rambo' firepower and more of' 'Rocky's' sweet-science finesse."(See all of Lauren Wissot's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 524 words, 08/05/10
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "People who liked this sort of thing in 1986 will get the warm fuzzies. Everyone else will be trying to digest a big ol' slab of cheese."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 211 words, 08/12/10
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: WEAK(cg) "...turn your suspension of disbelief on high, check all notions of depth and story at the door and just sit back and enjoy the explosive, testosterone-fueled ride..."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 883 words, 08/12/10
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: FAIR(cg) "It's a good thing you don't really need to 'understand' the action, as in just whose head is getting busted by just which mercenary at any given time, because you won't."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 751 words, 08/11/10
HIGHBROW PRESS (4 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: WEAK "...might more aptly be described as Bad Kurosawa, Bad Peckinpah or Bad Leone. Which might be a way of saying that it's better-than-average Stallone."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 895 words, 08/13/10
Anthony Lane, New Yorker: POOR "...savage yet inert, and breathtakingly sleazy in its lack of imagination.... 'The Expendables' is not fit to touch the holster of 'The Wild Bunch'..."(See all of Anthony Lane's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 281 words, 08/09/10
Michael Joshua Rowin, Salon: WEAK "...one feels not a little sadness for these preening he-men and their once culturally relevant dreams of big-screen glory.... at least the melancholy is real."(See all of Michael Joshua Rowin's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,317 words, 08/13/10
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Peter Debruge, Daily Variety: POOR "A hot mess... a nearly incoherent all-stars-on-deck actioner... take the cast away, and there's not much more here than the straight-to-DVD schlock..."(See all of Peter Debruge's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,062 words, 08/04/10
Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD "An effective mix of lean and over-the-top... often ridiculous, but it achieves the immediacy of a graphic novel without the overdone mythology."(See all of Sheri Linden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 724 words, 08/04/10
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: MODERATE(cg) "...not only dispensable but utterly disposable.... a downright schlocky and cheesy flick that would have been straight-to-DVD item."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,183 words, 08/04/10
A.O. Scott, New York Times: WEAK "...might more aptly be described as Bad Kurosawa, Bad Peckinpah or Bad Leone. Which might be a way of saying that it's better-than-average Stallone."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 895 words, 08/13/10
14.6 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Expendables (2010)'s reviews are separated by an average 14.6 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
The Expendables (2010) (45 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Expendables (2010)'s reviews cover 86.6% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 25,368 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 564 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 14.6 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Expendables (2010)'s reviews on average broke 14.6 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is The Expendables (2010)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Expendables (2010) (45 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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