A geezer action dream team takes on the bad guys , led by another household action geezer- all of them making asides to their acting catalogues.
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
