The Expendables 4 is “in development”, with a release expected next year.

The original The Expendables (2010) is about a group of mercenaries bringing down a dictator. It has well-staged action, that’s—in the final act—extremely violent and off putting to some degree.

As the mercenaries, the “old guys” and some young ones are one of the film’s attractions. They are a who’s who of action actors from the 1980’s, 90’s, and the new millennium.

The camaraderie does not quite come together, there is little or no chemistry, though they may grow on you in The Expendables 2 (2012).  Still, as with most of the movies made by Sylvester Stallone, who co-wrote, directed and starred, The Expendables is not sloppy.

Theme

The Expendables is about what the authorities do with wrongdoers who are getting away with it. These dictators and criminals are affecting innocent lives. But no one is taking them by the scruff of the neck and bringing them in.

Enter Mr. Church (Bruce Willis of Die Hard fame). Church is a CIA operative who convinces guns for hire—“expendable” mercenaries—to deliver on bringing down a dictator on a remote island.

Turns out a dodgy American is masterminding a money making operation illegally there.

There is a verse in the Bible that tells us the authorities are there to punish wrongdoers. The authorities sort out the messes that only they can.

The Expendables deals to that kind of mess to make a truthful statement about crime and punishment. Bringing down the guys on the wrong side of the law, or bringing them in, is the only way to stop them.

However, sacrificing yourself for this cause is hard on the soul when a trail of violence is left in its wake. This is the life that enforcers must face with all the conundrums it may entail.

Sequel

The Expendables 2 is big budget action. It is also a parody of macho 1980’s action films and stars, such as Chuck Norris (as a ‘lone wolf’) and Jean Claude Van Damme (as the baddie). The movie opens with a bang, but if you noticed the plot stretches credibility.

A couple of themes here. A young man, one of the expendables, is killed. A price should be paid for his murder. Not in Christian sense, but in the retributive sense.  If the price was the price that Christ paid, the killer would live. But since that is not the case in this movie, it is retribution.

Secondly, Barney Ross (Stallone) has trouble understanding why a bad man can continue living, but a good man’s life is cut short. It sounds like one of those Book of Job questions.