The film is about a group of elite mercenaries, tasked with a mission to overthrow a Latin American dictator who they soon discover to be a mere puppet controlled by a ruthless ex-CIA officer. It pays tribute to the blockbuster action films of the 1980s and early 1990s, and stars an array of action veterans from those decades, including Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Gary Daniels, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger (the latter two in cameo roles, though Willis was credited on posters and commercials), as well as more recent stars such as Randy Couture, Jason Statham, Terry Crews, and Steve Austin.
This action movie also starred Eric Roberts, the brother of Julia Roberts.
The Expendables received mixed critical consensus but was successful commercially, opening at number one at the box office in the United States,the United Kingdom,China and India.
A sequel is currently filming for a release date of August 17, 2012.
Plot
The Expendables, bikers and elite New Orleans based mercenaries, are deployed to the Gulf of Aden to halt Somali pirates from executing hostages on a vessel. The team consists of leader Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), former SAS soldier and blades specialist Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), martial artist Yin Yang (Jet Li), sniper Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) and demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture). Jensen instigates a firefight, causing casualties for the pirates. Jensen then tries to hang a pirate, but Yang physically stops him when Ross and the team discourage the act. As a result Jensen's psychological problems and drug use lead to Ross reluctantly discharging him from the team. Later, Christmas becomes upset discovering his girlfriend Lacy (Charisma Carpenter) has left him for another man. She reasons that she did not see Christmas often or knows his line of work.
Ross and rival mercenary leader Trench Mauser (Arnold Schwarzenegger) visit a man called "Mr. Church" (Bruce Willis), who takes the name after their meeting venue. Church offers a mission in Vilena, a South American island in the Gulf of Mexico, to overthrow its dictator General Garza (David Zayas). A busy Trench hands Ross the contract. Ross and Christmas fly to Vilena for initial undercover reconnaissance and meet their contact, Sandra (Gisele Itié), only for them to be discovered. Ex-CIA officer James Munroe (Eric Roberts), with henchmen Paine (Steve Austin) and The Brit (Gary Daniels), deride Garza but keep him in power as a figurehead for their own profiting operations, while Sandra is revealed to be Garza's daughter. Ross aborts and causes casualties among the army as they escape, but Sandra refuses to leave Vilena and let her people suffer. Meanwhile, a vengeful Jensen approaches Munroe to help and Garza is angered further when Sandra is captured by Munroe, who has her waterboarded for information.
Lacy has been physically abused by her new man, so Christmas beats him and his friends, then takes her home having revealed his work. Ross and the group discover that Mr. Church is a CIA operative and the real target is Munroe, as the CIA could not afford a mission to kill one of their own directly. Ross meets mission coordinator Tool (Mickey Rourke) to express his feelings. Tool makes an emotional confession about letting a woman commit suicide during the Bosnian War, instead of finding redemption by saving her. Ross is then motivated to go back for Sandra alone, but Yang accompanies him. Jensen and hired men pursue them on the road, ending in an abandoned warehouse, where Yang and Jensen fight a second time. Jensen attempts to impale Yang on a pipe, but Ross shoots him. A wounded Jensen makes amends and gives the layout of Garza's palace. Ross boards the plane with Yang and finds the rest of team, ready to aid him.
The team infiltrate Garza's compound. Thinking Munroe hired the Expendables to kill him, Garza has his soldiers' faces painted, preparing them for a fight. Christmas, Yang, Caesar, and Toll plant explosives throughout the site but Ross, while saving Sandra, is captured by the Brit and Paine. The team save him and kill the Brit, but are pinned down by Garza's men as Paine wrestles Ross. Caesar fights back with his automatic shotgun so Paine escapes and Garza finally stands up to Munroe, ordering him out and returning his money. Instead, as Garza rallies his men against the Expendables and Munroe that he believes to be the same, Munroe kills him and takes off with Paine and Sandra. Garza's men open fire in rage. The entire team fights their way through Garza's soldiers, detonating the explosives, demolishing the palace and destroying the compound. Toll kills Paine by burning him alive while Ross and Caesar manage to destroy a helicopter before Munroe can escape. Ross and Christmas catch up to Munroe, killing him and saving Sandra. Later, Ross gifts the mission payment to Sandra to restore Vilena. The team travels back home and celebrate at Tool's tattoo parlor, with the reformed and recovering Jensen. Christmas and Tool have a game of knife throwing and Christmas recites a limerick about Tool, then throws a bullseye.
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