REVIEW: "The Expendables 2"

With “Con Air” and “Lara Croft: Tom Raider” Simon West taking over the  directing duties  from Sylvester Stallone,  this sequel is a slicker and tighter film  , reuniting  most of the stars of the original sleeper  hit (including Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger,  Jet Li, and Dolph Lundgren). Some new familiar  and not so familiar faces are added:  Chuck Norris, Liam Hemsworth , Jean-Calude Van Dame and Chinese actress Yu Nan. While it was a nice touch having some estrogen  thrown into this  uber-testosteronized  comedy-thriller,  some old school female action stars could have easily  joined the mix.  How ‘bout Pam Grier or “Wonder Woman”  Linda   Carter  or  Peggy Lipton from “Mod Squad”  or  Angie Dickinson of “Police Woman” fame???  Hmm. Maybe in “Expendables 3”??? The door is left wide open. And there’s already talk of wooing  Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Wesley Snipes and Nicolas  Cage.

There’s lots of action and lots of violence , but it’s not a gorgy.  The  magic is in the  cheeky references to the stars’ past gigs.

 2-and-a-half stars