The Expendables 2 - Q: How do you turn grown men into boys?

A: Let them watch Expendables 2.

Okay, let me just say that, as a grown man, I felt suitably ashamed for loving The Expendables 2 as much as I did. Perhaps it was growing up in the eighties with Schwarzenegger and Van Damme as action heroes to my generation? Either way, for the first time on screen, we get to see Stallone, Arnie and Bruce Willis fighting side by side... in a Smart car.

And there we have it - a Smart car. That alone should tell you not to take The Expendables 2 too seriously. It's deliberately over the top, silly and daft. Chuck Norris is so hard he can wipe out an entire army in one go. Too much? If you think so, you'd better not watch this film. As for me, I find it perfectly plausible that someone as tough as Chuck can take out a tank and a platoon in less than five seconds, so, that's why The Expendables 2 is for me.

Men and boys will be one and the same when they watch this. The action is wonderfully over the top and the cheesy one-liners flow almost as much as the fake blood from the hundred and one stooges who get used as cannon fodder for our heroes.

I can't see how any self-respecting action junkie won't love this. I'm sure it's one for the boys. Especially as a female friend of mine watched it and commented how she wasn't happy that Jason Statham wasn't in it as much as he was in the first one. With more heroes, the screen time for Statham (and Jet Li) is cut slightly short.

Either way, it's action-packed fun that you shouldn't take too seriously.

Roll on Expendables 3.

9/10 almost as perfect as The Godfather