The Expendables | 100 Movies Bucket List

This is a first-time watch that I'd only really heard about in passing. I had no idea what it was about until I watched it.

And honestly, the only thing that excited me about it, without knowing the plot, is that it stars and is directed by Sylvester Stallone, who I'm a huge fan of due to the Rocky movies (and now outside of them).

I really liked it straight away, from the opening scene.

The cast of this film is amazing. It feels unexpected, but also, every time someone new comes in, it just makes sense. They are all absolutely perfect for their roles and play their parts so well. No actor or character feels inauthentic or out of place, and recognising the actors goes part of the way towards us caring about the characters earlier than we otherwise might have.

And you really do care about the characters from early on. They're such interesting people who are really well-written and feel authentic. Even if you don't know much about who they are outside of this story, you are extremely invested in the ones we spend the most time with.

You also care about their relationships with each other. Their interactions take the film away from just being a traditional action film to become a film with both action and heart.

That being said, I really wish we got to see all of them for a more even amount of time. It's fine that some of them were main and other supporting, but I really wanted to know them as a whole to really root for them, and there were some that I just couldn't because I didn't really know them.

This also comes down to the story being a really interesting one. Not only do you want to know how it ends, but you're completely along for the ride.

One of the best things about the movie is the action scenes. They're done so well, it looks like the actors are actually doing most of the stunts, and they drive the story forward rather than stalling it. As interesting as the softer moments of the story are, the action is ultimately where it lives and this is great. And as someone who doesn't always love action movies this is definitely a huge compliment!

So overall, I really liked this film. It was a lot of fun, and I'm really glad it was on the list!