I agree with everything you say except that the action was bad. I thought the action was great, especially the hand to hand. I could forgive the movie’s shortcomings because I liked the action so much. Yeah, it could have been better, but I enjoyed it, and I would recommend seeing it as long as your expectations aren’t too inflated.

I think the point of the movie was be as action cliched as possible. That sounds like the point and that is exactly how it was advertised. I think you went in with false hopes for a completely different movie. I still respect your opinion but I have to disagree

I think the success of this movie is that it gets people talking about Rambo: First Blood Part Two and Commando. I had a lot of fun here and I was far more ill than you were. And though I agree the shaky cam was ABUSIVE AS HELL. This movie had well thought out action beats, comedy, a paperthin story line that is really no more than a catalyst for “lets watch these guys tear shit up” – which is the spirit of movies like Commando.

You weren’t playing by the rules when watching it. You were supposed to turn your brain off.
:-)
Oh, and this was most definitely not a verbatim copy of Brad’s review. He actually seemed to really enjoy this movie. I hope your critic side isn’t becoming too powerful… wouldn’t want it to ruin your ability to have fun watching something shitty.

I had a really good audience with me in the theatre when i saw the expendables. Pretty much everyone was there to see a bunch of guys blow shit up, and i think everyone had a great time (every violent death was met with a theater full of “OOOOOOH”

So you didn’t go to see Scott Pilgrim.

Oh Spoony, I am disappoint.

Seriously though, GREAT MOVIE. Curious to see what Spoony thinks of it.

Boondock saints was fucking awful (not disappointing, it was awful) and caused me to seriously reevaluate the tastes of many of my friends.

Trashed Boondock Saints and The Expendables in the same video. Prepare for more hate mail than Kristen Stewart received when Twilight fans thought she was cheating on Pattinson.

On the names thing, they explain that everyones names in the movies are code names.
Otherwise you’re right. It’s Rambo but without any of the heart.

Go watch Inception again, dammit!

I was hoping he’d mention Arnie’s role in this at least a little bit

I saw it with my best friend last night, and I walked out amazed with it. While your points are valid, Spoony, I walked into it expecting a cheesy, action-hero-over-the-top-explosions movie, since I grew up with those types of movies. I loved the light-heartedness of it and all the references to other movies hidden in it as well. The characters were over the top, the plot was predictable, and the special effects were everywhere, but that was the point of it all, in my opinion. I totally agree on Dolph Lundgren being one of the best characters in the movie, but Jason Statham’s knife-play and Jet-Li throwing down were both amazing too.

The running time wasn’t even an issue. I was so into the entire movie that 2 hours in the theatre felt like an hour. The only way this movie would’ve been ever better was if Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal were in it, and they almost were.

I hope this turns into a trilogy, because I’ll be there on opening night both times. To each their own, friend.

That was your Predators review?
2 lines in an expendables rant?
Spoony, Spoony, Spoony…
You really should pick your rants better. This one didn’t justify a rant, and I would have listened to you rant over Predators for hours…

I find it kind of humorous that Brad seemed to enjoy this movie a lot more than you, Spoony, especially after you announced that you thought he would see it in the same light. I’ve not seen it yet myself, but perhaps you were too harsh? I

f you have migraines, you need to get you some Maxalt, because I use it for mine and it works like a dream. Just saying.

I think what you’re getting at is the same problem that you had when filming the Epic Brawl: you can only fit so much of each actor into the allotted time. It would take FOREVER if each action star did their own thing, so they are somewhat required to tone back their distinctive characteristics in order to make the movie as a whole work. I’m surprised that all of them were even capable of sharing the screen time, given many of their reputations for being THE star of their movies. If Rambo had had all these actors in it, it would have been a poorer movie, because there would be no opportunity to really focus and dial in on a single character. This isn’t a throw back to action exploitation films, this IS an action exploitation films. They’re selling tickets with the cast’s names alone, no one knows what the hell this movie is about from the trailers alone. But you know what? I’m okay with that. It was just cool to see them all in one place for one more hurrah.

Whooo! FF10 and Ultima! Oh and spoony please do deadly Preminion!

Now, who believes Spoony’s migraines are him developing psychic powers?

I thought of it as an all-star game. You get these really good people and yeah, it’s not their best ballgame (Except for the one or two veterans who want to show them a good time. Mickey Rourke is capital A ACTING when he gets his small opening), and it’s better in concept than in execution, but they have a good time and the audience has a reasonably good time. Yeah, I get what Spoony’s saying, but I accepted it as the dumb 80′s action movie even if they needed a “I don’t need the gun, John, I DON’T NEED THE GUN!!!!!” villain. They try to make one of the characters a former personal friend turned villain, but it’s never convincing. I get wanting more. I really do. There’s a difference between concept and execution and the execution is far from the greatest (Save when Jet Li gets in a fight with one of the other famous guys. It’s the stuff nerdy dreams are made of). But I enjoyed it.

Now Scott Pilgrim is absolutely brilliant. Remember Revenge of the Nerds when they had that big music number to win the competition that was so dorky, so bizarre, yet was handled with so much confidence and energy that it’s awesome on every level? That’s all of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and it’s glorious.

Well said, Spoony. I was down on this one without the impediment of a migraine, tbh.
The tone is all over the place and what the fuck was with the CGI? That shot of Eric Roberts near the end (you know the one I mean) looked retarded.
Definitely agree on the screenplay score- this should really be the action equivalent of The Avengers, where all of these guys face a threat that no one of them on their own could have stopped back in their heyday. Instead, the plot could as easily have been Rambo 5.
Plus, it just blows its load after the Bruce-Arnie-Sly scene. And what the fuck was with Dolph Lundgren’s character arc?!
Gotta say, some of the hardcore action was really impressive, but as you say, the overall impression was underwhelming. 3/5

It’s Official Michael Cera is now manlier than all of The Expendables. I don’t know if that’s really good for Cera, or really sad for The Expendables…

Oh well, Keep up the good work Cera!

WOW it’s funny you mentioned Cinema Snob’s review at the beginning, because I literally watched that review right before this one right after getting home from seeing this movie with some of my friends, and you and Brad could not have agreed less. I can almost go point for point between the two reviews and show how you two have opposite opinions. I have to really agree with Brad and a lot of people who commented here; me and my friends had an incredibly fun time simultaneously laughing our asses off at how cheesy it was and shouting “FUCK YEAH” over and over during every action scene. I can definitely see the comparison with Rambo 4, since I also thought that even the action scenes and their take on “ultra-violence” were similar. Here’s the thing – I don’t disagree with the flaws you pointed out, but you overestimate Brad and your similarity in film taste. Brad expected this film to be absolutely retarded explosions and blood with some absolute badasses, and he can leave his brain at the door. You both may enjoy exploitation films on the same level, but he does so out of genuine love for camp and violence, and you seem to also love that stuff, but with some level of brain function still going on, which is also why you always go point for point examining movies as thoroughly as you do, although the movies don’t warrant it.

Now as far as the movie itself goes, I definitely saw some flaws. It was certainly tonally inconsistent and had “subplot-itis,” where Sly thought having a subplot = having character depth. The whole thing about Statham’s girlfriend had no point, Jet Li’s asides about needing money went nowhere, Randy Couture and his gross-ass ear where useless, and I could care less about the general and his daughter. It also tried to sometimes be serious, like the *SPOILER* waterboarding scene *SPOILER OVER*, and Eric Roberts’ character was the most over-the-top villain I’ve ever seen. However, everything was forgiven to me by how incredibly awesome these guys were playing off each other, like even the entirely pointless scene with Arnold, Sly, and Bruce Willis was amazing because of their banter, and I really have to disagree with you about the action scenes and how they were shot. I do agree in that I hate shaky-cam action scenes, but I think a much worse culprit was Quantum of Solace, because of the ridiculous editing, which made everything a blur. Here I could tell what was happening almost always because although the editing was quick, it wasn’t frenetic to the point where I couldn’t see anything except for a few times like during the car chase. Plus the action and gore to me was just so FUCKING AWESOME, particularly the opening scene and the fight in the bunker at the end, that with a great, vocal audience and some guy buddies, this was incredibly fun to watch, if not particularly memorable except for those two points.

I also just want to make one final point about your critique. You kept on talking about “what the film was trying to be” in comparison to other films. My problem right there is that you’re already making assumptions about peg-holing the movie into another movie’s precedence instead of enjoying the ride. I do always hate when people tell me that they liked Transformers 2 because “it’s just a popcorn flick” – but I would 100% say that about The Expendables. Why? Because it doesn’t insult me as an audience member. Transformers and that sort of movie are annoying because they go out of their way to cram in stupid jokes and gags while detracting from the action, where this movie (most of the time) at least spends its time blowing shit up and being awesome instead of being dumb. Yeah it’s flawed, but comparing it to Rambo: First Blood Part 2 or Predator isn’t fair because it’s not those movies, it’s The Expendables, a really fucking dumb movie with some hilarious banter and incredible action between awesome guys as a tribute to their fans. Sure it could have been a “serious action movie” a la Dirty Dozen, or Where Eagles Dare, as Brad said, but that precludes the enjoyment of the movie just for its own sake as the ultimate testosterone thrill ride with your friends, which it was for me.

Question. Does anyone even know what the fuck “hipster” means anymore? Because I’m hearing it thrown around like “emo” was a few years ago; no real definition, used to describe anything that the user happens to dislike.

Yeah, gonna disagree on this one, severely. I will however blame it heavily on the migraine because I do usually respect your remarks on movies.

First up, I picked up on what the movie was going for: mercenaries wanting to get out of the life with their souls intact. We get Rourke’s character talking about failing to save a woman when it was well within his power to do so, Stallone wanting to avoid that same experience, Lungren turning to drugs, Statham trying to settle down with a woman, and Li even trying to get some extra cash for a family he hopes to have someday. Barney thus ends up going on a suicide mission because otherwise he isn’t certain he could live with himself, and his men stick with him because they might not be able to live with themselves if they couldn’t save him. The woman’s motivations don’t matter, nor does the country, its just the principle of abandoning someone they could save. Since you mentioned Boondock Saints I’ll point to the movie’s opening sermon where the priest commented on people standing by and doing nothing.

The movie’s tone does shift quite a bit, but it sort of needs to as its facing the task of playing up the awesomeness that is so many action stars in one place while trying to tell a decent story. The plot is passable, and I will give it a lot of praise for not falling into the usual two traps of having a guy fall in love with the rebel girl or fall in love with the people of the island who are enslaved. The villains are stock, yes, but they were not the focus so that’s also fair. The anti-government movement, the villains, they never really were important to the film, they just existed for background more than anything else. This was about the heroes from the get-go. The woman was a pretty bad actress though.

Now, no question the camera work was terrible at some points. It’s essentially the Bad Bourne effect, where people try to replicate the flowing shaky cam of the Bourne movies but do it terribly be making it very artificial, say shaking the camera intentially. Directors sometimes do this to give you a perspective shot, but it really is counter to how films are and typically should be shot. We can forgive the Bourne Trilogy because it was really the best way to get shots like the roof jumps. Unfortunately for this film many times when we experience the Bad Bourne effect there was no point, and indeed some of the best shots in the movie, like when Li and Statham take out one guy together, its excellent.

As for what you expected the movie to be, you seriously need to stop that. We got some great action sequences, some interesting character bits that apparently you missed, and you wanted a Dirty Dozen remake? That’s way too high an expection, and massively unrealistic. When going into movies, you should have two expectations: that you’ll enjoy it, and that it’ll be a film of a certain genre. This film was marketed as an action movie and an homage to action flicks of the past. It was not marketed as being some brilliant film that would be worthy of potential major awards. I’m wondering how the heck you even got the impression.

I will agree with the name comment. The naming idea really didn’t work, but it didn’t help that Crews and Couture sadly didn’t get much screentime in favor of the main three. I would like to point something out that bugged me the entire movie: Stallone’s the quick-draw guy, Li’s the martial artist, Statham’s the knife guy, Crews has the big gun, but what the heck are Couture and Lundgren specialists in?

So yeah, Strike Commando’s a better movie? Screw you. Seriously. I mean, that seriously pissed me off. I can forgive people not liking Boondock Saints even though I like it. I totally understand the hate. I can understand the hate for this movie based on the camera work, though I still can think of movies that were worse, including just off the top of my head Quantum of Solace. But going into this movie with massive expectations and not being able to pick up on the movie’s theme? That annoyed me, especially since you normally are good at this sort of thing. You did pick up on the Rambo similarities after all. I blame the migraine. Take some pills and come back when you’re feeling better.

Oh yeah, and I did hate War and I can see why you’d make the comparaison, though that was a bad idea.

I didn’t catch The Expendables but I say if you love video games, definitely watch Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

I might be able to offer a definition of “hipster” as it applies today. They’re basically counter-culture douches for the sake of it, ranting and raving against the mainstream purely for its own sake; inversely they’ll loooove anything indie far beyond any merit the indie things might have. A particularly sinister aspect is how there’s really no such thing as a parody of hipsterism; that would imply some kind of humility, which is far and away from a hipster’s elitism and love of others “not getting it”. Hipsters love irony, so the more “parody” thrown their way the more hipster it gets, resulting in a never-ending cycle of hipster douchebaggery that can only satisfyingly end in gunfire.

It doesn’t help that Cera is more or less a beacon of hipsterity. Casting him as anything approaching badass, in light of his other roles, feels really, really, REALLY unearned. Just him being the main character kind of ruins the appeal of the movie for me. But then again, I don’t terribly mind Zach Braff and there’s definitely some bile his way, so I guess there’s no accounting for taste. Hollywood, please start casting likable teenagers. I know it’s an oxymoron, but still. Make the effort.

Spoony, you should make sure to either squeeze in a frame, or be making a silly face at the middle of the video so that’s what appears on the flash viewer when someone is ready to click. It really puts people in the best mood for the review; I know from other videos where that’s been the case and my fiancee’s said “Oh God, poor Spoony.” Much laughter follows. Then we watch the review and even more laughter follows.

I hope your not done with Deadly Premonition. It’s your best LP so far in my opinion.

Go see Scott Pilgrim, it’ll make up for Expendables

I disagree. Cinema Snob has a better idea on the movie than Spoony this time around, in my humble opinion. This is also cliche, but I daresay you guys don’t get it.

I disagree. A-Team was more a shadow of Eighties retrauxes than the Expendables was.

“Also Robert Rodriguez didn’t do Predators. He just produced it. The director was some foreign dude whose name is hard to spell.” Yeah, lately, Spoony hasn’t been doing his research all that well. Or maybe it was the headache? Meh.

Wow Dawson…wow. Ummm…Noah’s still cool in my book, lol!!! But…Yeah dude, Strike Commando’s garbage and Expendables is epic. I mean everyone is entitled to opinions and Spoony is, was, and will always be the best at comedy based reviews. I still respect him but…oof, yeah, can’t back you up ths time Spoony, sorry. But I do agree “Boondock Saints” is horrendously bad.

Oh and Peter, lol, lay off the coffee man, I think you just ripped Spoony one to many new assholes.

Eh, I thought the movie was decent. Not really good, but I would still recommend it to fans of cheesy action flicks.

Scott Pilgrim was unbearable to me though. Though that’s probably because of the whole “hipster” vibe

Ok, so you expected from a movie that is supposed to be throuwback to silly 80s action films, being a drama? What’s wrong with you?

You talk about how this movie could do things better and how the dialouge could be better, and I don’t think you get it. This movie only wanted to be a revival of the big dumb 80s action movie, nothing more. I came out of the theater very satisfied.

Also, I love your idea for all the actors using their real names, I’d suggest Stallone do that for the sequel. The characters were named stupid names because except for franchises like Rambo or Rocky, you don’t know the names of the characters. A movie like Commando, Running Man, Over the Top, Cliff Hanger, you just say “Stallone did this” It makes sense for the film.

Im sorry, Spoony. While I respect your opinoin I think you over thought this movie way to much. While I respect your opinoin always, I dont think you saw this movie in the proper light. You put a heavy emphasis on character and such and I just dont see that as being why I love dumb 80s action movies. Ya alot of them had pretty decent stories but more so then that they had well put together action sequences and villians you despised. That was enough for me, and thats why I love them.

I havent this one yet, but even though you dont recommend it I still want and intend to go see it. If it does what I think its going to do (throwback/revival of 80s action flicks) then I dont think I will be as disappointed as you were. Its only my opinoin, as I havent seen it yet, but I cant pass up a movie with all my favorite action stars together. That’d be ludicrous haha

I got so used to your air conditioner that when it turned off I honestly thought one of the fans in my compuer had died :P

I do disagree with you, but then look at what you liked. Those portions were interesting, and that was what was pursued during the non-action parts. I actually saw most of the action, except the car chase. I remember most of the people in the audience in my theater would cringe during that last part, when that one soldier got his hands cut off. I really only thought the car chase was poorly shot. that was MUCH too shaky. I kind of get what you’re saying, but try seeing the movie again, expecting more of a “manly” action movie than a deep, good, Rambo-esque movie. And without a migrane. You probably will have the same idea of the movie, but maybe you can get the feeling that it’s more meant to be a good “80′s” popcorn flick.

I’m going to see this today. I actually didn’t like the last Rambo all that much, or at least I didn’t like the ultra vicious bloodbath violence in it that really wasn’t in the initial 80s movies (or at least was cooler there, like Rambo using the exploding arrow on the Vietnamese officer that killed the girl). In Rambo: FBII he actually did care about the guys he was rescuing to some extent since they were fellow Nam vets.

Disappointed to hear about the shaky cam crap though. If I want motion sickness I’ll watch a Bourne sequel.

Yes, but “Matrix” has a certain sound to it, I can’t explain, that makes it kind of badass.

Yea, I’m with you there. Certainly better then Yin Yang or Toll Road

Go see Scott Pilgrim!

I was fully expecting the “team” to be just like the A Team or like The Losers. Just with a bunch of action movie actors.

I mean, plot wise and dialogue, I really think it wasn’t as good as The Losers or even the remake A-Team. Really, this movie is just showing all these characters their prime. Jet Li didn’t get enough screen time no any of the others. Sly and Statham got the most screen time and it was all about those 2 than the rest.

And damn, you’re right, this movie is Rambo but with “This time, Rambo is not alone.” or “This time, he’s bringing friends.” – spoken in the Snob’s voice.

The church scene with the cameos was good. Short and simple.

The Mickey Rourke scene was integral in inspiring Stallone’s character to go back for the girl at all, wouldn’t say it was pointless. I could add rebuttal to a lot of the remarks in the review but I don’t wanna stir shit up. It’s fine that you didn’t like it. I would assume maybe your headache gave you some bias against it. I get migraines too and if I’d had one during this, or any movie, I’d probably be in too bad a mood to give a damn. I’d agree more with the Cinema Snob’s review in the long haul.

Rambo. The 2009 version was awful. It was a disgusting, vile movie. Not the blood but the fact that the movie push upon you the hate that you should be feeling for for the enemy. I grinds it into you. The movie made me sick.

Spoony, i dont want to be a douche, but seriously……do you ever wash your hair?

That movie portayed violence perfect ^^

I haven’t seen this yet but I fear Spoony is right. I told my friends I thought it was gonna be shit, now I have no friends. If, when i watch it, it’s really bad i will no doubt be very smug and then probably die alone. Small price to pay for being right though.

Seriously?!Just because Spoony said its bad you are not going to see it?Anyway I think that just the chance of seeing all these guys together in one film is good enough reason to go watch it.

Thanks, Jordan. But I’m wondering. The comic and movie itself are rather mainstream themselves. Would that make anyone who hates on them with no real reason given come off as “hipster” themselves? It all seems contradictory to me.

Brad did a review on this too, cool I’ll go check that out now! [comes back from brad review] thanks a lot guys, now i am not sure if i should spend money on this movie! [walks off] think alike my ass…

I liked the movie but the fast editing and camera work was too kinetic.
Best action movie along with Kick-Ass this year.

You got to lay off the soda and junk food. It’s catching up with you.

Yea, I say if people are on the fence, watch it in the morning when the ticket prices are 6 dollars.

Sorry Antwiler, you went to a (deliberately) schlock movie expecting deep characters and good dialogue. Plus I think you’re confusing Brad with his Snob character. He might know cheesy and obscure movies but that’s because he enjoys them. I think you honestly just enjoy those sorts of movies ironically.

I don’t even plan to see it. I’ve been disappointed by movies a LOT lately, ever since seeing Avatar and realizing the story was shit, it was just glorified CGI. War movies are unnecessarily repetitive: There’s people over there, let’s go kill them. Sure, I love explosions n’ shit just as much as the next guy, but not having a good story just KILLS my appreciation for a movie almost instantly.

You have Said you can name several better actions movies than Boondock Saints that have that same style. Please enlighten me because I doubt it. Also The Journey man project was a great game and it doent fall into mediocrity like you said. That game was one of the first games that really made you feel there.

This movie seems like one of those fun films critics are going to rag on for ages about.

Wow, dude, I could’ve turned off your review after you compared it to “War” and walked away with zero motivation to ever see this film. Sounds like an excellent comparison…which is friggin’ tragic. “War” was probably the most disappointing (not necessarily bad, just incredibly disappointing) film I’ve ever seen.

I live in this shithole you talked about, it is called Brazil..

I may seem a bit overly pissed but that’s because I’ve often praised Spoony for having great interpretations of stuff. I mean, I agreed with the Dr Insano analysis of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which is a movie which I find okay but I REALLY don’t think it holds up well compared to other 80′s classics like Die Hard and Back to the Future. Seriously, Ferris as a supervillain? What a great interpretation! Then I get crap like this where the subtext to me could only have been more blatant if they flat out claimed their motivations and actually showed some creative writing not seen by Stallone in some time and he called it worse than freaking Strike Commando. That did NOT compute.

I should point out also I’m willing to give him a lot, like the name thing and definitely the camera thing, but yeah, expecting Dirty Dozen and not getting the plot, that kind of stuff is something I’d expect from a film snob (not the Cinema Snob mind you).

I will add that Scott Pilgrim, the other movie that came out this weekend worth seeing, is still the better movie. Since I’ve ranted against Spoony’s overly harsh headache-induced review (I should mention I too suffer from bad migraines so I do know the pain) I’ll point out that Expendables is, in essense, a ‘fun’ movie. Movies can generally be called good, fun or bad in my books, with fun movies not necessarily having epic writing, acting or camera angles but there’s enough content to keep you hooked, like the giant robots and Megan Fox of the Transformers movies that allow us to wade through a plot of absolute BS, or even Boondock Saints where the idiocies of the plot can be ignored if you enjoy some of the sheer creative film-making done as well as the sheer rediculousness of it all. I do think Expendables has some decent writing for a fun movie, though granted the villains and non-Expendables are pretty much phoned in. Rourke’s scenes are a good example of the writing, no question. The perfromances aren’t bad, Li and Statham actually seeming to have some inner turmoil though we don’t see enough of Crews or Couture to really get their deal. Lundgren as some insane junkie was also enjoyable, partially because while his acting is normally pretty bland in this case his manic style aided it. The action sequences are pretty solid too though as repeatedly stated the camera work doesn’t help. Maybe if Emmerich had shot it we’d of had some better shots since while Emmerich (I know he had nothing to do with the movie, I’m just name-dropping) doesn’t exactly write epic character stories he does know how to make cinematic beauty with his camera. It’s an hour an a half of action stars turning in decent performances while mixing drama with explosive action. A few creative action scenes too, a favorite of mine being Crews using his shotgun to save the day.

Pilgrim, meanwhile, is a good movie. Everything in that film just works.

Even on twitter, Angry Joe is disagreeing with Spoony. As per usual with his cutting, “Been there, done that” attitude, Spoony waves off Joe as a Michael Bay fan, insinuating that Expendibles might as well been a Michael Bay film. Huh. Well, whether I agree with Spoony’s opinion or don’t, if he’s able to “troll” another fandom with his cantankerous rants, then so be it; this should be entertaining.

P.S., IMO Angry Joe and Cinema Snob “gets it”, I daresay, while Spoony doesn’t. Watch their video reviews of the Expendables instead of cranky-old Spoony’s (I keed, I keed…).

I didn’t bother with The Expendables. Knew from the get go that it wouldn’t be worth the price of a ticket. I wasn’t in love with the Scott Pilgrim movie, and it is a movie with a few problems (mainly that Ramona is pretty much a one dimensional love interest who main personality trait is that she’s that girl). But it was still a fun movie with a lot of visual flair. And Micheal Cera really surprised me. I usually find him slightly less annoying then Shia Labeouf, but he pulls off the Scott Pilgrim character really well.

I had a feeling that this movie was going to be a really fun but dumb action homage to the 80′s (the 80′s is self being a very fun but dumb time to be living). The type of movie that you go in and check your brain out for two hours and enjoy explosions, gun fights, and a overall silly movie. I would be interesting if it was like a Dirty Dozen type movie, but then “if my aunt had a yam bag she would be my uncle”.-Taz TNA

I don’t know… why do many people DON’T like something because everyone else does?… or at least many many people do.

As much as I like Spoony’s reviews, he has issues with thinking way, way, way too deeply about the movies sometime but to be fair it works sometime with Twilight and other garbages. We’re talking about a man who admitted to be anti-establishment which may easily cause strong bias. (Yeah right, I’m talking about bias when I can be extremely biased myself about certain medias.)

It was rather boring review too mainly because its length was way, way, way too overkill but because there was a lot of moments where it was redundant so it could have been easily cut to a shorter amount of time. The part where Rambo is mentioned really is seriously way too deep. There’s tons of good movies where you go and don’t know the characters but you grow to like them. Well, its just a review and these things are simply meant to know the opinion of others or to have a general idea so eh, to each their opinion, har har. I hope you’ll feel better soon Spoony, take it easy.

angry joe and cinema snob LOVE the Expendables, looks like you’re becoming a old man Spoony LoL

If you have to ask…

My friends and I were not expecting it to be anything more than what it was. I knew it was going to be basic. My friend Steve predicted when we went in that we would get 30 minutes of plot and 90 of explosions. And for the most part he was right.

It was good to see once, but that’s as far as I would give it.

Now Scott Pilgrim, that movie was awesome. Lot’s of fun, and worth seeing it, especially if you play video games.

CHEAP PLUG TIME: BE SURE TO CHECK OUT “MAGWORLD” KID MAGNUMS YOUTUBE CHANNEL AT http://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/KIDMAGNUM

Just added my review of “TNA: The Whole F’n Show” and I think I asskiss Spoony like…six times in part 4. Good times!

Fifth time: Spoony, I love you like a sister!

Hmmm, disappointing by the sounds of it. I actually got my hopes up about this when I heard the list of names.

Instead of going to see it I’ll probably just watch Commando, First Blood Part II, Die Hard, and Masters of the Universe… wait?

I think I’ll pick up Expendables on DVD cheap, it might pass some time in the brain-off big explosions department.

Should have seen Scott Pilgrim like I did today. Bad move, Spoony.

Seriously! I believe he killed like what… 140 people onscreen or something? The guy’s like Brock Samson!

It REALLY doesn’t. Nor can it. It’s far too popular, and the characters and creator, not to mention the actors and director for the movie, all honestly love video games, comics, music, etc. Not saying this applies to Dante007 or anyone else here, but I think alot of people accuse this movie, as well as other things, of being hipster because they don’t want to admit that they’re incapable of being able to be both geeks AND have a lively social life. It’s like a scapegoat to say “Well… they can’t be REAL geeks if they’re going to parties and hanging out with people that I can’t. They must be posers pretending they are!”

It’s something you’ll see very often when celebrities talk about liking comics and reading them when they have a comic movie role, like Ryan Reynolds, Brandon Routh, or Seth Rogen. People just say, “Oh they’re just pretending to like the comics because they got the role.” This is especially true for female stars like Olivia Munn or Megan Fox, who when they talk about geeky things, all of a sudden you see bitch fits across the internet. It’s like people can’t like the same niche things you like AND be attractive and successful or something.

Or maybe it might be another kind of jealousy. Scott Pilgrim has been one of, if not the, most successful comic series of the last half a dozen years. For example, every volume is on Amazon’s Top 100 Books. Not just comic books. Not just teen books. But books in general. It’s also the only comic on the list. The fact that it’s so easily accessible and friendly for non-comic readers (along with several other indie titles), make other fans mad that it isn’t THEIR favorite series that people are reading, or is getting a movie, or a video game, or a bunch of awesome music about it. Case and point: Scott Pilgrim has had a movie come out before Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, or The Flash. And while I both love superhero comics AND am totally cool with it, alot of people aren’t. They say “How come this comic is getting so much positive attention, a movie, game, etc. when all these characters who’ve been famous for decades aren’t?!?!?”

I dunno. It’s complicated. As a geek, I can say quite comfortably that geek psychology is incredibly weird and hard to figure out.

yes, finally someone agrees…..Boondock Saints sucks! and no it wasn’t your migraine, that movie was really hard to follow during the action scenes

Can the word “hipster” be removed from any conversation, ever? It’s the equivalent of calling someone “gay” in middle school — in that it’s just a synonym for “anything I don’t like.” Scott Pilgrim was an awesome movie experience, incredibly unpretentious, and far more nerdy and video game reference-y than “hipster.” You make it sound like all they do in the movie is sit around and talk about how Arcade Fire have sold out, or some shit. If you had any argument against the film aside from, “hipsters, LAWL,” I’d at least respectfully disagree with you, but you’re just being lazy! In conclusion, FUCK OFF.

See, I would say it can’t be “hipster,” because that word doesn’t MEAN anything! When did this obsession with hipsters begin? When even people who are generally considered hipsters start talking about how much they hate hipsters, you know that the word means NOTHING.

I can MAYBE understand liking Boondock Saints if you’ve never seen a Tarantino movie, or even a decent knockoff like Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. Still, that movie is so atrocious that Willem Dafoe hamming it up can’t even save it. The dude that made it (Troy Duffy) is a total jackass, too.

I had laugh at Spoony thinking that The Cinema Snob would agree with him, dude seriously Brad like most of us is actually a huge fan of 80′s action flicks and isn’t going to be turned off because he wasn’t sure what tone the movie was going for, no in fact he’s going to geek out and enjoy it, which he did.

But then if you weren’t a grumbly old curmudgeon you wouldn’t be Spoony.

Worse than Strike Commando? Damn! Harsh!

Now I almost have to see it just to find out if that is true.

Spoony isn’t always a curmudgeon, Just most of the time, I know for a fact that he likes David Cronenberg films, Persona 3 and Firefly. When it comes to everything else though he is the king of nitpicks.

According to IMDb Rambo killed 236 people in that movie. That being the highest body count of any other Rambo movie.

Do a rifftrax of The Boondock Saints

Dolph Lundgren is 6’6″ and has a third degree blackbelt. Jet Li won’t win that easily.

nitpick much?seriously…i kinda saw your point through out 2/3 of this review…well…i was still gonna watch it anyway… but at least i saw your point…till the last 8 minutes.thats the point where it just got incredibly irrational.comparing completely fictional action movie characters to real life persons?are u serious?…really no offence.but i got the strong feeling u kinda got on the wrong foot with this movie.

maybe u should rewatch it without a pounding migraine. ;-)

Does spoony have mind control over you or something? Watch it yourself and judge it for yourself. Spoony isnt God.
If you are a fan of action like commando and first blood II you’ll love this film. Trust me.

So I’m not allowed to bait the trolls either?
Spoony gets all the fun these days…
(Also, I like how you can’t even respond to my post; you have to question my ability to POSSESS an argument.)

Just like Avatar.

your just getting annoying foodlespane.

“People who get butthurt over his opinions and pull the “fanboy” card do not know how to control their emotions in a mature manner and therefore, if it were possible, shouldn’t be allowed to post at all (Hence the bans).”

So any criticism directed on him equals banning? You honestly support this?

“your just getting annoying foodlespane.”

Hey, if “criticism” equals “ban” is okay to you, more power to you. The sign of a good reviewer, to me, is someone who can dish it out and take it.

oh god yes. that deadliest warrior one may very well be the nexus of “rude stupidity” of the whole universe. i think that one was the record breaker too. like over 2000 comments the last time i looked (and prob. still growing) and virtually all of them were part of one, excrutiatingly long f bomb laden WAR. it’s simutaneously both the funniest shit you’ve ever seen, and the saddest shit you’ve ever seen.

“No you just have to comment on every single damn little thing.”

Hello, Mr. Hypocrite.

lmao ive only commented on maybe 3 comments people have made. From what I’ve seen you’ve commented on every fucking thing on this page.

So yes you have fun questioning people, im gonna go do something useful. Have fun! ^_^

Except for the fact I haven’t been doing any flagging on this site…yeah, you got me alllllllllll figgered out.

“Except for the fact I haven’t been doing any flagging on this site…yeah, you got me alllllllllll figgered out.”

Oh, you haven’t? Then my apologies. You were just acting like a sycophant, chiming in here and there, instead of flagging.

So much hating going on in the comments. Seriously, to me, the previews of this movie shouted “This movie sucks, but come watch it anyway cuz it’s got big name actors!!!” Really it just looks like they’re trying to cash in on any fan base these action stars have or used to have. I’ve not seen the movie, and I probably won’t; I need substance in movies, not just “ooooh pretty ‘splosion”. Please, flame away at me if you like, I really couldn’t care less about what some faceless jagoff sitting behind his monitor says about me.

If you, or anyone else care to read it, I may be able to break it down with my nerd insights. It could all be bullshit, so you know.

When people get down on SPvtW, the people who are “up” respond “Dude, it’s celebratory of nerd culture. How can you not like it for that?” The response, said or implied, tends to be “Yeah, to the point of masturbation. I don’t need movies to like stuff for me, especially when it’s that sickeningly indulgent.”

Geekery is kind of hard to laud anyway, with it giving you juvenile space marine power fantasies on the one hand and pathetic swords n’ sorcery escapism on the other. To even bring that into the mainstream would suggest a kind of legitimacy, which its “true” adherents have properly never attributed to it. Hand in hand with nerd appreciation is the requisite, silent shame, kind of like how Americans aren’t allowed to be patriotic ’cause, you know, that country sucks.

But, to further my simile, there is one way you could celebrate America and not get any flak for it. Irony. Pounds and pounds of it. Same goes for nerd culture. And what could be more hipster than an overdeveloped sense of irony?

I admit that bit of speculation may have been…wild. I might have to go lie down.

Assuming this isn’t the only time people’s opinions may contradict with spoony’s, I just don’t see how this specific incident turned out to be an opportunity to form a lynch squad to get him.

If he said he had a migraine I would. Migraines are incredibly severe, some people can barely move during an episode. For goodness sake, the defining characteristics are hypersensitivity to sound and light, keep aspects of action movies.

Two reasons: Spoony called it worse than Strike Commando, and he complained about stuff that he clearly didn’t get from the movie. I can respect a person not liking a movie when they get what’s going on, which is why I understand all the hate on Boondock Saints in spite of how much I myself enjoyed it, but see, Spoony hate here didn’t really make sense. I recommend watching Angry Joe’s review of the movie as he points out some of the idiocies behind the hate.

Oh yeah, and Spoony does matter. I know people who’ve avoided or gone for stuff based on his reviews. So him making this bizzarely inaccurate review and predicting people who praised it would hate it really makes him look like a bit of a moron, or one of those elitist film snobs that bash movies for being homages to the genres of yesteryears. I’m not about to call him something worse than ‘a bit of a moron’ because he did still make a couple of valid points. I do still like the idea of them just calling each other by their real names, that would of been hilarious. I also feel confident in the mild insult because I rarely pick up on subtext and I still completely understood the movie’s point plot-wise.

This is really one of those movies that seems to really be polarizing people. I don’t see people thinking this movie is mediocre, I mainly see people either hating it or loving it. I haven’t seen it myself, I want to, and even more-so now just because the critiques are polarizing.

There are some movies that I feel you go see for intellectual stimulation or to maybe help you open your mind more… Like Inception. I greatly appreciate seeing these types of movies. At the same time, a movie like “The Expendables” seems to be just good fun with a simple plot. Maybe Spoony was expecting too much, something different, maybe he didn’t have the right mindset… Maybe he forgot that much like 2012, you can still have fun watching a bad movie (I’d disagree on 2012 personally. I had fun for about the first 20 minutes then got very frustrated watching that movie completely fall apart. I never watched the last half hour of that movie and don’t care to do so).

Whatever the case, I still value that he looked deep within this movie and provided points on why he didn’t like it. I don’t see any drop in quality from his earlier Vlog reviews, personally. Does he even strive for a certain quality when doing these, anyway? It’s just him in front of a camera giving his points for not liking a movie. You either agree or you don’t, no need to get a heart attack over it, just express your own agreement or disagreement. It’s a shame how people in these comment sections are REALLY jumping down each other’s throats. Name calling and false accusations only makes everyone lose in the end anyway. If someone starts to get that way, just ignore them, your pride doesn’t mean shit to anyone else, no need to feel like you have to defend yourself. The only person who feels like he’s won is the guy who was getting a rise out of you anyway.

It’s bad regardless of what site you go to with a large enough community and Spoony’s is no exception. People get too involved and feel the need to keep going over something so trivial. It’s why I don’t get very involved with large community bases, nor do I really care to get into long arguments with people online.

It doesn’t matter what you say, 99% of the time you will not get someone to change their mind through the internet depending on how strongly they feel about the subject. I’ve stopped caring personally long ago and I feel I’m a better person because of it.

It’s a glitch in logic that most of us – as in humans – seem to have. We internalize our own viewpoints to the point where attacking something we like feels like an attack against us. :/

Even sensible folks get hit with it now and again. It can be hard to remain detached from your own viewpoint.

I don’t mind that Spoony doesn’t like the movie, that’s called taste. I did find it interesting though that Brad loved it and from what he said I guess I might like it as well since we seem to have a somewhat similar taste in movies. And I adore the 80s action flicks, I have a collection of Schwarzenegger, Seagal and Lundgren movies from that era.
From what Spoony said in his review, I guess he either expected a different movie or wanted to see a different movie (with more Mickey Rourke in it).

Ahlalala, to be honest, even with your review, i WILL watch this movie.

For those who like movies that aren’t made for intelligent peoples, i think they’ll will have a boner only because they NOW that we’ll have Statham, Stallone, some Jet lee fights and all awesome things in the movie. I think you should see this movie as a crossover, an action crossover where everyone only want to see those actors they like perform the moves they are used to in action exploitation ^^.

I don’t know much yet, but for the only goods of ‘crossovers’, i think, for those who grew with that kind of movies, that we must all go and see it ;) ! Sorry Spoony, but it is not that kind of movie which your opinion can really have a big influence on us, because we will always have a nonsense attraction to these kinds of movies ^^ !

I’m not sure i’m clear :P !

For now, Spoony, just rest : we need you to do a lot of extraordinary reviews ;) !

Don’t go into it expecting anything BUT a cheesy 80s style action movie and you’ll like it just fine. I think Spoony heavily over analyzed this.

A cash in? What the hell. Stallone wrote and directed this movie. Its like his baby. This is not some studio that said “Hey lets have STALLONE write and direct a movie for a quick buck” bullshit. If it really was a cash in it wouldnt have been this violent. They’d go for a PG-13 or something. Thats just one point of many. Stallone made this movie because they wanted to make an cheesy 80′s style movie. He wasnt going for a new Citizen Kane. Jesus.. -.-
But its okay if you dont care about such a thing. Thats fine. I on the other hand LOVED the Expendables it was everything I expected.

“Obviously attempting to get people to flame, troll.”

Wow. Claiming a person that doesn’t share your opinion as a troll. I haven’t seen that before.

You’re right, Spoony- Scott Pilgrim IS better. And more people need to see it, because it’s getting massacred at the box office. So if there’s anyone reading this comment who hasn’t seen Scott Pilgrim yet, GO! GO SEE IT NOW! Support quality cinema!

I steer clear of Twitter. Never saw the point in it. Again, it’s just all exacerbating a very trivial matter. You’re right… so fucking what? He gave his opinion. I happen to like watching his opinion regardless of whether I agree with it or not. If I feel he’s getting too whiny or I feel his points suck, I just stop watching it. If his site is going to hell (hypothetically speaking), I just stop visiting. Not hard. People like to make matters worse than they really are. Whether you want to express your opinion or not, at least just think before you speak. You’ll be better off in the long run.

“God only knows what it was like on the forums.”

…further reason why I never get involved there anymore, either. I hate half the people there so it’s not worth my time.

Not necessarily, it can still hold that appeal.

It pretty much is, yeah,

Curse you shaky cam!

i think spoony is obligated to do a review on scott pilgrim, or at least the game (dont know if its on xbox tho)… i mean come on man, i dont even wanna waste my time with the expendables, the movie was gonna suck the second it was thought up. at least with scott pilgrim the story is good, the effects were great and the acting was believable for the movie, not to mention the game, for $10 is worth more than 1000 copys of “the deadliest warrior”

Not talking about the comments here, but literally anywhere else where they discuss movies. Not hard to figure out.

Wow really, one of my comments got removed? And I wasn’t even the least bit insulting. So fine… fuck whoever decided to delete it. I’m not even going to bother to comment in these sections anymore. People can be really fucking childish sometimes. Grow the fuck up.

It’s just an action movie, Spoony. Not a “supercomplex-drama-thriller-action-whatever-the-fuck.” Just like Rambo.

I think that AngryJoe’s and Spoony’s reviews were so different because AngryJoe based his review on how movie could have failed but didn’t (and vice versa with Spoony).

True, but Jet’s power and technique is insane, especially back when he was doing movies in ’91. I’m not trying to be a Jet Li fan boy though, I’ve been a fan of Dolph Lungdren since the The Punisher. Yes, I HAPPILY own the dvd.

I agree with Spoony on this one. When I went to see this movie, I wasn’t expecting any Oscar winning performances, I was in it for the classic cheesy 80s action movie cliches. I wanted to see bad acting, and senseless violence. I felt like I was rewarded in that department. I’m not sure if it was the bad hamburgers I had earlier or not, but I agree with you that the camera work was very disorienting. During those action scenes, I was closing my eyes for fear of vomiting and embarrassing myself in front of my friends and in front of the movie theater. Even after the movie was over, I’m pretty sure I had a touch of Vertigo. So, once again, I agree with Spoony, this movie was bush league at best. Nothing special, just senseless violence.

Citizen Kane? Spoony didn’t suggest that in the slightest. No, you don’t compare movies like this to Citizen Kane, and no one goes into these movies expecting Citizen Kane (the mere fact that you entertain this idea is hilarious). You compare it to action movies that are actually good movies, (and not just cheesy bullshit) like Die Hard. Die Hard was a balls-to-wall action movie, and it had a GREAT story, and the acting was AWESOME. So what’s this movie’s excuse?

I saw the Expendables today and I got what I wanted. A mindless action movie that has left me satisfied. It’s been quite some time the last time I saw an action movie on the big screen that left me in awe, the Expendables did a great job doing that. If Spoony didn’t like doesn’t mean you shouldn’t like it, you should just watch this movie for yourself and then say what you think.

(I have not seen this movie yet.)
This sounds like a case of Space Cowboys..
Clint Eastwood!
Tommy Lee Jones!
Donald Sutherland!
James Garner!
…IN SPACE!
You think right away, with all those big names, ‘this is going to be like..super awesome’. It’s Dirty Harry in space! No…they are just wise-cracking astronauts..lame..

This movie sounds kinda cool, but you are holding the Main Star names too high. Yes, if they had embraced the rule of gore for awesome, this movie might have been something else.

JAAA~KOOO~DAAA~~!!

“On an aside, I really feel sorry for you Spoony. Leave it to trolls to take what might have turned into an intelligent conversation into endless flaming. Just keep the ban-hammer polished and continue to smite bitches”

WHAT?! Seeing you edited your post after my reply to you. So you want him to ban people who have a different opinion like myself? HA! Hillarious. basicly you want him to ban people that liked a movie he hated. (unless they are outright insulting spoony for it. then i’d understand. Havent read all the comments)

While I agree with some if the comments that The Expendables is by no means a great movie (An 8.0 average on IMDB, really?), I’d take it over the pretentious hipster-fest that is Scot Pilgrim any day of the week.

Aw bless your heart for still bravely using terms like “hipster”.

Maybe he meant “most organized” in the sense that they are the most efficient and take the best minutes at the meetings.

If you’re like 12, you look silly referencing Citizen Kane as if you know what it is.

Why is it every person who uses the term “hipster” seems infinitely more pretentious than anyone branded as such by that person?

I don’t get what you’re saying. It’s an other-izing term that allows you to claim intellectual superiority over others by making them out to be mindless, trend-follow– Oh my Gawd, you’re completely correct.

“i have NEVER seen this many heated, uncalled for, “fuck your mother” kind of arguments on anyone’s site (outside of youtube anyway) and they just keep coming. I dunno, maybe TGWTG is just faster and less forgiving about banning or something, but i really don’t see this kind of stuff on there or the AVGN or anything. spoony actually said once that his friends at TGWTG really don’t want him posting links to their work on his page because his fans are so out of control and so unable to be civil and even more so, take a joke.”

I totally believe this. Spoony’s character and personality can attract much less civil folk than many other That Guy contributors. Certain types of people see his wild, tactless, and very convincing rage and think “Fuck yeah! This is my kind a guy!” without realizing Spoony, while likely an exaggeration of Noah, is a character and an entertainer.

Unfortunately, it’s not something that can really be helped.

I got the feeling that cuthalion04 meant with his editin his post that I am the troll. So I assumed that he actually thought that i was trolling.
“pissant amateur”-.-; Thanks.

Nice to see how offensive you are. I’d almost get the feeling that I’m in a chatroom here.

I’m with spoony on this one , movie wasn’t very good even though i love 80′s action flics everyone would agree that this movie is bad if there would not be stallone statham li starring in this movie.

Yes i saw it when it came out and not many people walked out with a smiley face when they came out of the theater.

I just wanted to post to say thankyou for saying this. It’s absolutely damn true and I’m actually surprised that Spoony has as much tolerance as he does (for fuck’s sake he has people insulting his friends and family… how do people EXPECT him to take it?). I mean the legendary trolling and fan spitfire that originates from this site is pretty damn… well, legendary (I’m not going to say ‘epic’ because senseless squabbling spewing out from trolling idiots doesn’t deserve even that internet meme).

I have a growing suspicion that the trolling and flame wars may be spilling out from the darker sub-basements of the internet, and the denizens of, shall we say, 4chan *shudders in horror* are clawing their way out of hell and into the limelight. Or there may even be some sliders drifting out from under their blog pages on myspace. I don’t know, but I swear that something evil is creeping up from somewhere.

Or I could just be ridiculously paranoid. Well, we shall see (insert ominous orchestra sting here).

Just thanks for saying what should be said and what everyone should keep in mind.

So you’re basically saying that it is just like AVATAR.

no, thank you for being smart enough to understand that too. people act like spoony is just waking up in the morning, and flipping coins about who he’s gonna start a flame war with and ban today. people act like this isn’t…ya know…a SHOW. you’re probably right…4chan’s evil sausagy fingers are probably all over this hahaha

First up, this is a social thing. We live in a society where misinformation doesn’t stop people from forming opinions and a lot of people become sheep to certain people who’s opinions they respect. Thus when a person makes a statement about something that doesn’t seem to do what is being talked about justice, people get mad. Even worse is when someone hates on something because they didn’t get it when it is easily possible to get it, as many others have demonstrated in this case.

And the Strike Commando claim was an giant insult. People who go to this site like this movie and saying that C-movie hilariously bad shlock is better than a solid if sometimes visually blurry and fairly simplistic A-movie is quite frankly a massive amount of flame bait, borderline on calling Dragonball Evolution the best film of 2008.

Oh, and I’ve noticed my comment was removed. If it was about the moron thing, I would like to point out I tried to justify that but in any event I appologize.

Despite it’s shortcomings, I enjoyed this movie. I left feeling entertained, but yeah, it doesn’t stand up to the movies it’s trying to fit in with. Really, they could’ve streamlined the movie alot more if they had dropped some of the lesser characters, like Couture and… what’shisname… the other Old Spice Guy and just had it be the three, formerly four, man squad of Stallone, Statham, and Li with Rourke as whatever he was. Whistler to their Blade, I guess, for lack of a better comparison. With the extra baggage gone, they could’ve had room for some better characterization. Maybe hear the Characters’ names more than like once. Jet Li wasn’t as awesome as he coulda been either. He was shown as struggling at best with every fight he was in and then whining “I want more money because I’m short.” har har har.
Willis and Schwarzenegger were also disappointingly wasted, though I’m a little upset with Spoony for not mentioning the best line in the movie:
“What’s his problem, anyway”
“He wants to be President.”
C’mon! That was funny stuff right there. Now, yes, Scott Pilgrim was a much more memorable, funny, and entertaining movie, but I still felt like I got my money’s worth out of both films. Only difference is, I’d see Scott Pilgrim again.
I’m just gonna say this. I hope RED is better.

Taste in movies: 0.00. Have a fun day.

Fail less at making non-boring posts.

You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.

For the last time, it isn’t pretentious or hipster. It’s just a wacky metaphor for a teenage loser’s struggles. The only thing remotely hipster about it is the garage bands bits and even then that’s pretty weak. I mean, anime is pretty mainstream right now and that’s exactly what a hipster is against. As for pretentious, compare it to the usual young adult romantic comedies we get. At least it has a wild and crazy background. Pretentious would be nothing that stands out and still thinking its highly important, like Eragon. if anything, the movie is too zany and embedded in geek culture. And geek culture does not equal hipster, please don’t make that argument.

I’m still pulling for ya Noah. I loved Boondock Saints (The sequel bites the big one though.), no accounting for taste, right? You presented a very cogent reason why I will not like The Expendables either. Hooah.

I read a report regarding headache and migraine medication. It basically said the drug suppresses the migraine and when it comes back, it’s stronger. It creates a dependency. My sister had the same problem, I told her the same she stopped taking them and now she’s fine. “Fight through the pain” Marcus from Gears of War. Don’t take things so serious as well. I’m not just talking about this movie.

Hells yes, Scott Pilgrim is what every damn video game movie should have been. Resident Evil comes to mind, even though it isn’t 8-bit I’m sure the director of Scott would have done so much better.

It is certainly NOT hipster, nor is it pretentious. In fact Scott Pilgrim satirizes all of the hipster/indie/pseudo-cool stereotypes. There is an amazing jab at Vegan culture, and the only “hipster” characters are actually quite antagonistic.

Hahahah exaclty what I was thinking. It’s like calling the kettle black.

I guess, it’s your opinion and your hate for “hipsters” has ruined your judgement. Don’t be so easily misguided by “them” as you seem to be. I for one hate tight jeans on people but not one moment did I think about that while watching the movie. It’s just chock full of throwbacks to old school gaming so I could care less about all that. It’s a damn comic book based in an 8-bit world. There’s always going to be trendy people just accept the fact and enjoy life. You know as you get older it’s only going to get worse.

Which is why I mentioned that in my first comment. I won’t deny that I am bitter at the whole “hipster” thing and i find it hard to enjoy anything to do with the trend, whether it portrays it positively or not. I also do not like Nintendo games (or console games, period) or anime or most of the other things that were referenced so even without the whole garage band thing, there would be little for me to enjoy. The only positive was the reference Budgie’s Breadfan during one of the “duels”, though even that was quickly ruined by the Muse song.

That’s darling. But in the future, try watching movies without immediately feeling the need to marry them to cliques. It’s high school thinking.

(*sigh* As if the bird avatar wasn’t a big enough indication, it’s like you’re not even trying.)

I find his pointless angst charming in a hipster-y way. He clearly hates anyone whose only defining characteristic is not hatred for some nebulous kiddie clique.

I thought the movie was thoroughly enjoyable. Scott Pilgrim on the other hand… ugh… I’ll be disappointed if Spoony loves SP after hating on Expendables so much.

The bird avatar is the default twitter thing. I can’t be arsed to make an account here.

“That’s darling. But in the future, try watching movies without immediately feeling the need to marry them to cliques. It’s high school thinking.”

Seeing that the movie is targeted at high school kids, it’s hard to think otherwise.

Finally a comment that makes sense.

I’m aware of what the bird avatar is, dear. That’s the point I was making.
Nonetheless, if it’s now aimed at “high school kids” (an even broader group), you should go check it out. Good to see kids have taste nowadays, eh? I was worried.
(The way you frame it, I take it hipsters are the “cool” kids in school now? Weird. But I approve.)

You’re the one who seems butthurt that I don’t like your precious Scott Pilgrim.

Why is it that hipsters like denying that they’re hipsters?

Okay so you admit to liking Juno. I don’t think I need to continue this any further.

The point is me not enjoying something for being made to appeal to hipsters, is no different from me disliking something for being made to appeal at preteen girls or trailer trash rednecks. It’s just not appealing to me. I don’t like the style. It’s that not clear enough for you?

Right, so anyone who disagrees with you is a troll.

Notice I didn’t. I pointed out the fact that grownups like Juno.
But by all means, don’t continue this.

You seem kinda stupid, kid. Are you a remedial? I didn’t know they had separate cliques.

“magnificient comedy action flick” It’s funny when you leave the context of “action” out of the open as some would slip in “Scott Pilgrim” of that title. :)

Yeah, oddly *electronicgrablewithblackbar* attractive in that kind of meani fashion. Kim’s hair makes you want to snuggle her despite the most likely outcome of her kicking you in the balls…speaking of Flowers, Jack Flowers (This “season finale” of Boondocks…which Spoony mentioned the movie of said title) kick suspected terrorists in the nuts…..WTF!? @_@

I’m sorry that I don’t keep up with your internet 4chan meme crap.

You think “meme” comes from 4chan. And yet you know enough about 4chan to think of that?
Oh Lord, amateur, you’re honestly so precious, I think I’m getting a cavity in one of my crowns. That’s no small feat, either. It’s like porcelain or whatever crowns are nowadays.

YES I would. A good movie is a good movie, regardless of its’ genre or style. Two things make a good movie: A well written script and believable acting. Scott Pilgrim had both. And judging by Spoony’s review, and most of the comments here, Expendables had neither.

The very fact that you say “this movie wasn’t about the story” is absolute, 100% proof that it is a bad movie. A movie that “isn’t about story” really has no reason to exist except milk a cash cow and get butts into seats. Like I’ve said before, you don’t have to compare movies like this to The Departed (hardly an action movie), but you CAN compare it to Die Hard, which to me (and just about everybody) is the perfect action movie. And from what I’m reading, in both negative reviews and positive, it ain’t Die Hard. Hell, it ain’t even Die Hard 2.

Goddamn. Not about story? Jesus, stop proving George Lucas is right.

I was given the impression that Tool and Ross were, in a way, the same person. Like brothers-in-arms who knew exactly what the other would think or do.

I’ll give you a second to pretend I’m fooled that that isn’t the desperate sputterings of a greenhorn troll who really has nothing left so he’s just contradicting himself and making pretty desperate attempts to ape my own successful attacks on him:

…

Second over. “I loled” as the kids say. Go back to playing DW, amateur. People are talking.

Well, unless he goes back to playing more stereotypical emotionally shut-in roles, yeah, Keep It Up. ^_^

Language, amateur. The secret to continuing to troll despite being in a spitting rage is being good at hiding it. The cracks have been showing for a while. That’s why your… lack of skill is obvious.

Actually using code names based on real life action stars (The same real life actions stars they’re playing) would have been just as clever.

I honestly do not care about being banned. I’ll probably never comment on another video here again, unless Spoony posts a vlog about SP vs TW and actually likes it.

I don’t even get why you find so ‘hipster’ about Scott Pilgrim. At best, its the indie music bits, but there are so many garage bands now that’s pretty weak. Scott Pilgrim’s more for anime and gamer geeks than hipsters, and while granted the former can include the latter that doesn’t make it entirely so.

I really enjoyed the movie. Fast cut/ shaky camera was annoying, but didn’t detract too much imo. But yea, seeing it with a migraine may have not been the best idea, for obvious reasons. Still love ya though, Spoonalicious.

And DAMN Sly’s juiced up forearms were crazy. Like a pipe of veins.

Thank you, that was a random non sequitur.
(Get it, amateur? I’m being redundant and making a post when the best thing I could do is not do that. Hint, hint.)

Those two + Expendalbes, Iron Man and Kick-Ass, which weren’t great but entertaining. I’ve also watched Robin Hood and Shutter Island, so maybe “worst I’ve seen this year” was a slight exaggeration.

Why should I stop posting? I’m getting enough replies and SP fans riled up and that’s good enough for me to carry on.

It’s because he thinks acting like a prick makes him look intelligent.

to be honest, both of you two are just assholes

Expendables text review from the AVGN

Tough guys. Always going on suicidal missions. Threatened by bullets and blades. Running from explosions. Best friends waging wars. Nearly killing each other, then going to the bar later to laugh about it. Director and star, Sylvester Stallone, gets all his best men together to kick as much ass as humanly possible, allowing himself a severe beating from Steve Austin. Sly took a serious neck injury. Then he goes in front of a Comic Con audience and jokes about it. A man whose Double-”R” franchises, Rocky and Rambo have both been highly successful. But he keeps coming back for more pain and putting his body on the line for the sake of entertainment. There’s nothing tougher than that!

The Expendables is a movie that lifts you up out of your seat, pats you on the head, gives you a lollipop then smashes you in the fucking face! With a cast like Jason Stathum, Randy Couture, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, Dolph “I Must Break You” Lundgren, and cameos from Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, you’d think it would be one crazy mess. Surprisingly, it’s more focused then you may think. Just a straight-forward action movie with a reasonable run time that sustains itself and never has a chance to feel dull. It doesn’t try to be anything more than what it is.

The only negative: Some of the blood and explosions looked digital. Wish it could have been just a bit more authentic. Sometimes, there was a tad too many closeups during the fight scenes. With so many people fighting at the same time, sometimes I couldn’t tell who was punching who. It didn’t happen very often, but how cool would it be just for one moment to see three simultaneous fights from a super wide master shot? Never, but I can’t blame them. At least let the cameras pull back and allow the choreography to do the work.

It feels nice to get my ass kicked by something I haven’t seen yet. It’s not Rambo. It’s not Rocky. Nor is it another Die Hard or Terminator sequel. It’s something fresh, yet feels like it came out of the 80’s. It has the perfect blend of humor, blood, sweat, smart-ass comebacks, witty one-liners, and an overabundance of testosterone! Don’t expect anything more than action, exposition, action, exposition, all with a nice cherry on top… with sprinkles… and grenades. And some real tough guys. We all wish we could be tough guys. But no, let’s just watch’em instead.

Thats what a fair review of a movie looks like.

You don’t seem to get that movies don’t fit a specific mold. Some movies make you think, some are just an action packed ride. Sorry you don’t want to understand that. Also, Angry Joe, Cinema Snob, and AVGN all enjoyed the movie and said so in reviews, while still listing flaws. Spoony just bashed the movie like you, but at least he actually saw the movie. You just get your opinions from Spoony, way to be a sheep.

Actually, I added that right after I posted. No, I’m not suggesting Spoony ban people who disagree with him; I disagree with him sometimes, it’s to be expected that opinions are going to be different. I am suggesting that he ban people who are insulting to him and others who post on the site.

I wouldn’t edit my post after you replied, I would have done what I’m doing now, replying to you directly. But I didn’t feel I had anything constructive to say to your last post; you’re allowed to state your opinion. The only thing I could have done is perhaps make my point clearer, but I’m sure people would have disagreed with that. I’ve not read all the comments either, but judging from the climate around here lately, I think there have been people around who deserve banning.

Further aside, like I said, I edited my post two seconds after I posted it, well before you commented. If I thought you were trolling, I would have said it flat out.

Actually I just got back from seeing it just so I could put my money where my mouth is. My honest opinion about the movie is that while the novelty itself of uniting action stars together for a fun popcorn movie is exciting and somewhat entertaining, I still felt like it was missing something. I agree with Spoony concerning Rourke. He was the film’s saving grace. The man can deliver dialogue in such a natural way, it really feels like another movie whenever he’s on-screen. Dolph Lundgren’s character was the most interesting, mainly because he actually had a struggle to overcome, while everyone else was just so undeniably awesome with zero flaws. The action was cool, but I’m a little surprised at the route Stallone took with the shaky cam – surely you’d want to keep the camera still when Jet Li’s doing his thing, right? I think Terry Crews was also underused. The guy has great comedic timing, I think he would’ve made for an awesome comic relief, but I guess Stallone’s not really known for his sense of humor when it comes to writing. Eric Roberts is undeniably cool, I give this film credit for having at least a cool, bad-ass and slick villain that really is right out of the 80′s. He definitely would’ve voted for Reagan and sniffed coke out of a gold cigarette case, so I totally bought him.

My biggest gripe is that there was a better story in there. I would’ve liked to have seen more of a struggle between Garza and Monroe. I actually felt sorry for the cannon fodder being mowed down by Stallone and crew because Garza really was just being manipulated by Monroe, I think it would’ve been interesting to see a more fleshed out struggle in that, and I don’t think it would’ve taken away from the popcorn factor or the enjoyment from the film.

I think the script suffered from too much going on, and it probably would’ve been better to focus the story and characters a little more. For example, Sly could’ve easily trimmed down the characters to just him, Rourke and Lundgren. Focus a bit more on Stallone and his character, and give a more active role to Rourke and give Lundgren an actual character arc (he’s good, then he’s bad, then he’s redeemed). Add to that a more tense struggle between Garza and Munroe, make Garza out to be a more tragic character that’s just looking out for his country but is betrayed by Munroe. That’s just spitballing, but I think if it were as tight as that it would’ve made for a more memorable movie, and not just something ranked with the more ho-hum action films of the 80′s.

So there’s my honest opinion. Take it for what it’s worth. I didn’t hate it as much as Spoony, but I don’t like it as much as others did. I think there were better action movies that have come out in the past 10 years, and I would bet my hard earned cash that the upcoming Red and Machete will be more enjoyable.

Seeing any movie with a migraine isn’t a good idea actually, I thought The Expendables was fuckin awesome, but if I went with a migraine I wouldn’t have liked it either. It did have a lot of shaky cam and that never helps I think, a lot of the action was sometimes really hard to keep track of and I wish they’d cut that out, especially since Stallone directed, and he did Rambo 4 which was a lot more clear and easy to watch visually, it had shaky cam but a lot less.

Still, loved the movie, loved the action, loved all the guys and explodey ass kickings. I think you gotta give the movie another try another time.

Thats a kill shot.

well, I enjoyed the movie well enough, although I do agree with some of your points. However, it is really disappointing to watch some of your review when you seem to be so thick on certain aspects. I’m unclear whether you are purposely misdiagnosing some things as part of your persona, if you’ve just forgotten or confused things since absorbing the material, or if you just can’t understand it… curious, to be sure.

For instance, your comments about not buying how these hardened mercenaries would suddenly find a conscience… Well, if you were paying attention then you know that’s not it at all. These aren’t hardened people who have no heart and don’t care about life or morality. Actually, you already did mention the motivation for going back to help the woman. Everyone’s worried about all the action and killing they’ve seen, and they’re worried about “saving their souls.” Rourke talks about that time he could have saved that woman in the past, along with what was left of his soul. He has regretted letting her die for the rest of his life, and the rest of the gang wants to prevent themselves from going down that same path. The group used to stand for something, and they don’t want to let themselves become meaningless killers-for-hire.
So, they go on this crusade to free a country from brutality. Makes perfect sense to me…

That’s the only complaint I have with this review. It’s one thing to have your own opinion about what they did with the storyline of movies and games, but it’s a little annoying when you either purposefully or accidentally confuse or downright reverse the plot points and complain about them.

Oh and P.S. The names were mostly pseudonyms, according to when they first were talking about the job with Willis. Not they ever flat-out said “these aren’t our real names,” but still. Hard to tell if those are real names, or code names or what. Not that it is really important, I kinda like the idea of them going by actor names :-)

I disagree. I loved Expendables. You’re overthinking something that doesn’t need to be overthought, IMO.

yeah, it has a place….in the recycling bin

If you want good video game movies check out x-strike studios. I own all their films and they all are fun and true to the source material.

I’m one to agree with your opinions on many many things, but… I have to disagree with on this one. I liked every moment of this shit! I was like Jagged Alliance on steroids turned into a movie… Man I loved this movie!

If I had a migraine(which I do have sometimes and I feel for you man), I would not have liked it either.

I cheerfully disagree to say that a movie shouldn’t be given standards just because you don’t care about anything else except for action. ^_^

Holy crap, I have never walked out of the theater and then watched one of your reviews having said everything you did to a tee, but this review. The lack of decision on what kind of movie it wants to be, the bad dialog, the way too close with too many quick cuts hard to follow action. Damn, this movie could’ve been so much better than it is. Just about the only redeeming part is where Terry Crews takes the AA12 and goes to town on that hallway full of badies.

I don’t think one can talk about “getting” something and be respectful to different opinions at the same time. Also I’m not sure if I can relate your hypothetical scenario to what happened here. This whole “common sense” talk is too intolerant and aggressive.

This movie was indeed a big letdown. One scene I’m shocked you didn’t mention was the one with Stalone meeting up with Bruce Willis and Arnold. As much as it was hyped in the previews, it really fell flat. The dialog between Sly and Arnold was so bad, it may have been the worst seen in the movie. The big dream team up of 3 of the biggest 80s action stars was completely wasted!

I….am confused. I went to see The Expendables today and I dunno what Spoony is talking about the things they never did.

They did do great, they DID have a Dirty Dozen thing, it was the finale of the movie! Hell they even broke a few clichés in the finale. I honestly don’t know where Spoony is coming from on this, it’s a lot less stupid than most action movies I’ve seen. I think you should go back and watch the movie again WITHOUT the migraine because you can’t possibly not remember some of the most awesome stuff that you said you were expecting the movie to do.

It was a balls-to-the-wall 80s-style action movie. It was 110 minutes long but didn’t feel like it, it had a simple plot, it had a wide cast of ass-kicking characters, most of whom who do kick some brutal ass, and it had a very satisfying ending filled with bullets, explosions and gore.

Seriously, please Spoony, watch the movie again when you’re better, because all the stuff you wanted was in there, unless you were expecting an incredibly intelligent action movie with a really really twisting plot and what you got instead was an insanely crazy action movie that was about 40% dialogue and 60% action which made up PLENTY for the dialogue that covered what little plot there was.

Wouldn’t this movie be a lot cooler if instead of all these added characters we don’t know about, each action star portrayed a role they are most known for?
Like imagine Rambo, The Terminator, John McClane, Chev Chelios, villain from Lethal Weapon 4, He-Man (… >_>) Marv from Sin City and Randy Couture (as Randy Couture) going around just shooting anything that moves!!!

Epic

I was siding with Spoony for awhile, but a friend wanted to watch it today and I couldn’t back down.

After watching the movie, I disagree with the review.

That movie was so ridiculous it made it awesome. Once I saw Cheeseburger Eddie mowing fools down with his automatic shotgun I was sold on its greatness. Then he shoots a guard tower and it explodes hahah. Even though he had that detonator round, that shit had some crazy ass range. MW2 mounted shotgun status. That shit is good times.

I hoped to have a really violent fun movie ,but it was just a meh to me :P. I have seen many action movies that are better then this , die hard , rambo , commandos , mad max (nr 2) and the list goes on :P . Yes this movie had a good humoures side to it , but that isn’t enought. The acion scene’s in this movie where bad to be hones’t, everything went to fast in the fight scenes , the camera angles were bad and etc ….. I really wanted to like this movie but it didn’t delivere to me at all:P

I liked it.

I had one problem with the expendables… That the entire last action scene when they fuck shit up was shot entirely in the dark. The action was actually well framed/shot but not well lit wich pretty much killed the movie for me. 

I actually loved The Expendables.  It is one of my favorite action movies of all time.  Tons of ass kicking, explosions, guns, etc.  I have watched it a dozen times or so already.

However, I agree with you on War – that movie did nothing for me.  Probably had to do with the fact that the last few minutes of the movie totally negated the first 90 minutes.

“The more I think about it the less I like this film.”

Cos you are thinking about it.
It’s not meant to be “thought” about, it’s a dumb action flick.

It put me in mind of the old Cannon straight to VHS action films of the 80′s…but with added gloss.
I do think the cast was a slight let down. I mean you have Sly, Arnie and Bruce together at last after decades of waiting…and they just stand around for a couple o’ mins talking. Pointless.
This should have been the Heat of the action genre.

I do like this film for what it is and what it is, is a dumb action picture. What it does it does well enough.
But yes, it could have been “better” with the cast there.

I do hope the sequel does ramp up the action between the titans…cos that is what we want to see. I want to see Arnie and Sly throw down in a one on one bare knuckle fight.