The Expandables 3 (2014) - Still cool and gripping but the weakest part of the franchise so far - 7/10 (17/08/14)

The third part of The Expandables is another explosive action movie with interesting cameo appearances by cult actors such as Harrison Ford, Jet Li and Arnold Schwarzenegger and a bunch of old action heroes like Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes and Mel Gibson as well as a younger generation of action stars such as Kellan Lutz, Victor Ortiz and Ronda Rousey.

The most interesting actors in the movie are Antonio Banderas who plays the clown and comes around with a few amusing slapstick gags, Wesley Snipes who plays in a very emotional and almost schizophrenic manner where he quickly turns from being ridiculous to menacing and back again and Mel Gibson who portrays a clever, cold-hearted and unpredictable villain.

Some other actors have less screen time than usual and can't always convince. I would have liked to see more of Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and Jason Statham. Instead, the new movie introduces a younger team of Expandables but these new actors like Kelsey Grammar, Kellan Lutz, Victor Ortiz and Ronda Rousey simply don't have the charisma and talent of the old generation and feel rather exchangeable. The idea to reinvent the franchise and feature a younger cast was promising but the final result is below expectations. There are far more charismatic action stars like the younger John Cena, Tony Jaa, Li Bingbing and Iko Uwais or even the older Josh Brolin, Mark Dacascos, Liam Neeson and Keanu Reeves for example but these issues have already been discussed before. 

The story of this movie isn't as generic as the one of the first movie but not as diversified and dramatic as the plot of the second movie. I feel that the story is overall too similar to the second film who remains the best of the franchise to really come close to it. The Expandables 3 is still an entertaining action blockbuster but clearly the weakest of the three movies.

On the positive side, the locations in the movie have become more exotic and beautiful and take place in different parts of the United States of America, Russia and Somalia among others. The setting, camera, sound and special effects are top notch. On the negative side, I'm aware of the fact that this movie isn't supposed to be realistic at all but some scenes felt so forced and unreal that it was unintentionally hilarious like the part when the motorboat in the port of Mogadishu managed to perfectly jump upon the back of a driving truck. This wasn't the case in the first two instalments in my opinion.

In the end, this is a good movie if you feel like switching your brains off, getting a fast-paced entertainment and seeing many famous actors in the same movie. While the film is still solid, it's definitely the weakest release of the franchise and the seven out of ten points I'm giving here are maybe a little bit generous. Still, action movie fans can't obviously get around this movie as there are way too many gripping action sequences and cool actors around.