The Expendables - Enjoyed and disappointed in this movie all in one

Maybe I enjoyed action movies in the eighties and nineties too much. Basically, when I heard that this film was being made, I expected it to be the greatest action movie of all time. I mean... how could it possibly be anything else, based on the star-power included in the package?

However, by the time the credits rolled, I was left with a sense of `oh, was that it?' Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed the film immensely. It's about a team of unstoppable mercenaries who have to overthrow a fictional South American dictatorship which is secretly being funded by a rogue CIA operative. It was all good; I just expected more.

It's not that long and the action scenes, although they come thick and fast, were nothing that I hadn't seen a hundred times before.

I read somewhere that The Expendables was a `homage' to action movies of the eighties. I can see how that applies. The film feels right at home in the eighties, i.e. a time before inflated studio budgets and when all `action' was were big musclemen shooting a thousand faceless baddie troops. I suppose I expected modern day action scenes that were so big that I'd never seen anything like them before.

I've now watched The Expendables twice. I actually enjoyed it more the second time around because my expectations were lowered. Plus I've since seen the sequel (the imaginatively titled Expendables 2) which, in my opinion, is what the first film should have been.

If you like action movies, or are a fan of any of the many action heroes contained within, you'll probably enjoy this film. Just don't expect anything too new (and make sure you watch the sequel!). Stallone will be back (or is that Arnie?).

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that