To get its franchise back on track, The Expendables 3 disappointed fans.
The first chapter of Sylvester Stallone directing, co-writing, and starring in the lead role. Jason Statham, Jet Li, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin rounded out the all-star cast. Despite less-than-favorable reviews, audiences were on board with the unabashedly explosive, retro-style thrills of the movie, carrying it to a sizeable profit at the box office.
The franchise followed up with The Expendables 2 in 2012, which added Liam Hemsworth, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Arnold Schwarzenegger to the ensemble. Hemsworth’s disillusioned sniper Billy the Kid is the first of the team to be killed in action, when international criminal Jean Vilain (played by Van Damme) kicks a knife through his heart. This instantly positioned Vilain as a dangerous adversary and sparked the revenge-fueled narrative of the sequel.
Still, for an edgy Wesley Snipes, Ronda Rousey, Antonio Banderas and Harrison Ford – survive a massive shootout and pile into a tiny helicopter to escape. Stallone was hoping to reach a broader audience with the PG-13 rating but has since itted the lighter tone was a misstep.
The easiest way for Expendables to inject some hardcore drama into the mix is to kill off one or more major characters in the next installment, proving that Ross’ mercenaries aren’t the invulnerable killing machines they seem to be. One of the few affecting moments of the third film came when Stonebanks shot heavy weapons specialist Hale Caesar (franchise regular Terry Crews), sidelining him with serious injuries until the end of the movie. Like Vilain’s murder of Billy in the previous film, this immediately set up Stonebanks as a credible threat to the team. To make up for the comedic tone of the rest of the movie, the fourth film should take things a step further with its next big bad. Having the antagonist of The Expendables 4 put down a main character (or three) is a surefire way to resuscitate a franchise that sorely needs to live up to its name.
