Sylvester Stallone no longer has to prove to anyone that he is one of Hollywood’s biggest action stars. With Rambo and Rocky, he built a legacy that will last through the decades. However, over the course of his career he has made some serious mistakes when it comes to the quality of his films.
Rarely has it been as painful as with The Expendables 4. The attempted revival of the action series from the 2010s turned out to be one of the most listless Stallone vehicle recent past. Even the toughest fans will reach their limits in this cheerless, gray spectacle without highlights.
If you want to see for yourself: The film is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
New on Amazon Prime: The Expendables 4 with Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham
The first The Expendables film was released in cinemas in 2010. The concept is as simple as it is ingenious: Stallone brought together numerous action stars from the 1980s as a mercenary squad on the screen and also recruited a few younger faces like Jason Statham, who became the second main character in the series in the following parts.
You can watch the trailer for The Expendables 4 here:
The Expendables 4 – Trailer (German) HD
The Expendables 2 and The Expendables 3 were released in cinemas two years apart. With the latter failing financially, it took almost a decade for Stallone to bring back his personal Avengers team – this time with the intention of Passing the baton to Statham. Similar to what he had done in Creed.
Where his Rocky Balboa had a very dignified farewell in the Creed films, things went worse in The Expendables than one could have imagined in the bleakest direct-to-DVD sequel. This despite the fact that the film had a budget of $100 million and featured some big names.
Even Megan Fox couldn’t save the bitter decline of The Expendables with Part 4
In addition to Stallone and Statham, the cast included Expendables veterans Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture, not to mention martial arts specialists Tony Jaa (Ong-Bak) and Iko Uwais (The Raid). Plus Andy Garcia and Megan Fox on the way back to the blockbuster cinema – actually a good mix.
Director Scott Waugh was also able to impress in terms of action with Need for Speed. But what he delivers in The Expendables 4 is a tragedy for everyone who longs for something adrenaline-charged, something explosive and something crashing. Although there is a lot at stake in Part 4, this film anything but rousing.
For around 100 minutes you wander through half-baked action sequences, have to listen to one-liners and are rewarded at the end with a visual horror that will even break your heart if you are not involved in the series at all. This is where Stallone really just burned a part of his legacy.
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