The Expendables is exactly what we were expecting – a great 80s action film. But is that enough?

With The Expendables, Sylvester Stallone focused less on the plot and more on the cast. The film features Stallone himself as the head of the titular mercenary group for hire which include Jason Statham, Jet Li, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Dolph Lundgren, and Mickey Rourke, who has retired from the group. These tough guys are hired (over a similar group led by Arnold Schwarzenegger) by the mysterious Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) to take out a dictator (David Zayas) on the small island of Vilena in the Pacific who is being funded by an American (Eric Roberts) and his thugs (led by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin). Although reluctant to go through with the job, Stallone is lured back by the beautiful Sandra (Giselle Itié).

The Expendables is an action film in the purest sense. Eschewing the recent innovations of the gritty spy genre jump-started by The Bourne Identity, Sylvester Stallone provides a raw, violent film full of guns, knives, and explosions. The visceral action on display here is a rare sight in cinema today, having almost died out in the 90s. It’s odd that such a thriving genre got pushed aside in favor of comic-book and sci-fi flicks (which I also love). Action has remained an integral part of popular entertainment, but the true action film, unfortunately, is a dying breed. Not only does The Expendables bring back this fun genre, it does so with the most impressive ensemble cast in recent memory. Seeing Stallone, Willis, and Schwarzenegger on-screen together is quite a treat, but the rest of the cast is also great.

But has nostalgia blinded us? If you take out the action legends, would it be the same? Of course it wouldn’t. Part of what makes the film so enjoyable is seeing these stars back on the screen. Most of them aren’t retired, per se, but its been a while since we saw Stallone, for example, in a true leading action role. Bruce Willis, who gives the best performance in the film by far, and Arnold are left with mere cameos, but that scene is so fun to watch. In any case, I am judging this film based on my observation of it in the here and now.

Without such a fantastic cast, The Expendables would be a very mediocre film. The plot is nothing new, and the dialog and characterization is shoddy at best. From a writing perspective, Stallone has seen better days. Still, the charisma that these actors bring to their roles and the classic over-the-top action makes up for any shortcomings in the more subtle aspects of filmmaking. Unfortunately however, the film thinks that it should be more than an action film, so we are forced to sit through too much mediocre dialogue and half-hearted character development. I understand some of this, but at times the film’s faults are pushed to the edge and almost, but not quite, mess with the awesome action. The most egregious example of this is the random Jason Statham side-plot that is completely unnecessary. The film needs a villain so I understand setting up the actual job, but anything not related directly to the mission at hand should have been trimmed out completely.

In the present flood of comic-book and superhero films, “The Expendables” are a group of tough, manly heroes that use firepower to achieve their goals. There is the story about redemption and heroism, but that was unfortunately pushed aside. Still, I defy you to come up with another film this year that packs so much true action into one movie.

The Expendables is a film that pushes its flaws to the center, trying to be something it shouldn’t be but still remains an awesome action film that really delivers what it sets out to and the amazing cast is a a must-see.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Twice the iron men, twice the Tony Stark narcissism, twice the villainous rage and even twice the smoking hot red-heads; this film couldn’t be more aptly named.   Jetting into 3000+ movie theatres to kick start the summer movie season, is Iron Man 2.  No doubt this film will open huge – audience polls nationwide rank it as one of the top 3 most anticipated films of Summer 2010 (anybody else miffed that “Tron: Legacy” was pushed to December?)  It has the effects, the action, and the running time (just over 2 hours), to give you exactly what is displayed on that cineplex ticket in your hand – Iron Man 2.

I was a comic book fan in the 80’s and 90’s, and although the Iron Man series  wasn’t on my weekly allowance busting trip to the comic store, I still knew of the character and that stoked my interest in seeing the first Iron Man movie.  The film was smart, witty, had an edge, and made me regret having never committed to reading the series in my youth.  Iron Man 2 doesn’t deliver the same payoff.  The film starts strong and ends with a blast but loses itself in between.  Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.: Chaplin, Weird Science) is just as witty as you’d expect him to be and Downey delivers yet again in the role, but his character gets twisted in the script.  Tony gets a heart (no, not a real one), and even experiences human frailty which you might say is the natural evolution of his character, but it plays on screen as an attempt to fill time and not a natural progression of the psyche of Tony Stark as we know him.

IM2 picks up where IM1 left off, Tony has just revealed he’s Iron Man and his press conference is being beamed about 6000 miles to Moscow where a physicist Ivan Vanko sits in his dark and tattered apartment watching and fuming.  Turns out he has a deep seeded hatred for the Stark family, having knowledge that Tony’s father, Howard, sold out his own father that helped develop that super cool ARC energy source that keeps Tony alive.   Ivan (Mickey Rourke: Angel Heart, The Wrestler), using the original ARC schematic, builds what can only be described as light saber whips wrapped in a an energy ribbon.  He sets his sights on the United States, and finding Tony to enact the revenge his recently penniless dead father deserves.   Ivan’s character is somewhat of a visual misnomer.  He appears within a dreary shanty-town in Moscow, yet his abode contains some pretty high-tech equipment and his wardrobe is straight out of this month’s Vanity Fair.  From his D&G signature glasses, to his retro new century hair (where do you go in the slum streets of Moscow to find a colorist that good?), Vanko seems more like a spin on the real life art and style of Mickey Rourke, and less like a character from the comic series.  With the help of an unscrupulous defense contractor Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell: Galaxy Quest, The Green Mile), Ivan builds an army of Iron Men to help him dispatch of the Stark legacy once and for all.  Secretly placed within Stark Industries is the new red-head on the block Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson: The Horse Whisperer, Vicky Cristina Barcelona).  Unfortunately her character, as both Stark employee and S.H.I.E.L.D. undercover agent, isn’t given enough film time.  Scarlett is an amazing talent and shines in every moment on screen; even her fight sequences leave you wanting to see more of her.  Her playful interactions with Tony evoke that same spark you saw in the original film when Tony and Pepper were close, only this time it looks steamier – more intense.

The supporting cast returns and in the case of Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow: Shakespeare In Love, Shallow Hal), are given more room to grow around Tony’s ever increasing ego.  Screenwriter Justin Theroux (Tropic Thunder) crosses that flirtatious line that you loved so much in the first film.  The chemistry between Tony & Pepper has always been undeniable, but it was kept at bay for the sake of Stark Industries business and to keep the audience wondering when, and if, they would eventually fall into the relationship you so desperately want to see them in.  This time around, you find out.  It’s important to note that even the filmmakers must have questioned this aspect of the story line.  If you’ve seen the early teasers and trailers for IM2, you might remember a bit where Iron Man is diving in to a celebration below.  Just before he leaps, he asks for a kiss, which Pepper is more than happy to lay on the facemask as she tosses it off the plane for Tony to catch.  That scene was pulled from the film just prior to release.  It’s replaced by Tony merely jumping and that was a good decision.  The love side of Tony and Pepper’s relationship is a line that should not be crossed, but inevitably happens in the third act of the film which is the payoff we all wanted, but still feels contrived when it’s delivered.  Tony’s personal driver Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau: Daredevil) is back too.  Not content to be a mere butler, this time Hogan becomes a fist swinging heavyweight.  Favreau should stick with being behind the camera, and away from being an actor.  His role seemed larger because he was the films’ Director, not because his character needed this level of growth. .

The film drags at various points especially as you watch Tony deal with his own mortality.  It wastes solid screen time as Tony prances about as a drunken buffoon in an Iron Man suit at his own birthday party and made worse when watching Justin Hammer whine about how inventive Tony is and how mediocre his company has become as a result.  If the CEO’s of Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are anything like this character, the state of national defense in the United States is in really big trouble.  I can’t get over how this film has twice the iron and twice the action of the original but you leave feeling half as fulfilled as with IM1.  The flight sequences are amazingly imaginative and the digital effects are top notch, but it’s not enough to save the film.

If 2+ hours of high flying action aren’t enough for you, stick around until the credits end – you’ll get a nice sneak peek at the next Marvel comic book/movie franchise.

“Iron Man 2 (2010)” is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action, sci fi action, violence and some language.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Below we have embedded the ever fabulous interactive trailer put out by the fine folks over at Paramount for their upcoming sure fire hit, Iron Man 2.

According to Paramount there are hotspots within the embedded video and will release further content and information on the characters.

With the upcoming release of this film there has been an onslaught of pictures, TV spots and trailers all over the net. Stay tuned to Atomic Popcorn for updates on this upcoming blockbuster.

Iron Man 2 is easily one of the most-anticipated movies of this summer, and there has been a lot of hype around the movie. We’ve waded through dozens of redundant image sets to bring you 50 high-resolution images from the film.

Check them out below and click for full resolution:

Here are some posters for the movie:

Iron Man 2 stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, and Sam Rockwell and hits theaters May 7th.

Images courtesy of FilmOFilia, Collider, ComicBookMovie and CinemaBlend.

And now for a special bonus – a new 2-minute clip from the film:

Twilight’s Kellan Lutz is getting ready to trade up one fantasy world for another. Pulling duty as lesser known Cullen boy, Emmet, in the film adaptations of Stephanie Meyer’s teen vamp books, Lutz has just got something of an upgrade, cinematically speaking.

He’s going from vampire to god.

That’s right, Lutz has just been cast as the trident wielding lord of the ocean, Poseidon, in Relativity Media’s War of the Gods, a big fantasy adventure that was originally on track to compete with the upcoming Clash of the Titans remake. Gods has been bouncing around  in development purgatory for awhile, but in recent months has started to gain steam and pick up cast members.

Tarsem Singh (The Fall) will be helming the picture, so I’m expecting this one to be the more visually lovely of the two big myth (block)busters headed our way.

The plot, in a similar bent to Clash, has a human warrior–Theseus this time instead of Perseus–leading his armies against the Titans, vengeful elder gods who want to overthrow their younger, Greek counterparts and thrust the world back into chaos. Lutz will also be joining Mickey Rourke (the Titan Hyperion) and Henry Cavill (Theseus) when the film starts shooting next month.

Interestingly, by the time Lutz’s take on the fish king reaches audiences, we will have already had Kevin McKidd’s portrayal in Percy Jackson and Danny Huston’s in Clash to compare it to. He’s certainly playing a more youthful variation on the character. I’m guessing the iconic long white beard is gone out the window.

How do you think Lutz will measure up? Do you think this might help serve as a breakout role for him?

And for all you Lutz fans, there will be plenty of chance to catch him onscreen before then. He’s in next month’s Nightmare on Elm Street remake and will be reprising the vamp role in this summer’s Twilight: Eclipse.

There’s no getting around the fact that Ron Perlman has what it takes to play a barbarian. In fact, if you have any doubts just rent Howard McCain’s Outlander where he plays the big burly leader of a Viking clan. Add in the trailers for the upcoming Season of the Witch where he’s spearing wolves and monsters next to Nicolas Cage, and he seems like the perfect person to play the father of Robert E. Howard’s greatest creation, Conan the Barbarian. I prefer Perlman to Mickey Rourke, who was originally slated to take the role.

What happened there is that Tarsem Singh’s Dawn of War (the myth epic formerly known as War of the Gods) pulled in Rourke, and then Perlman signed on for the role of Corin, Conan’s dad. He’ll be playing papa to Jason Momoa, the Hawaiian model who’s stepping into the battle-hungry barbarian’s loincloth. Perlman is the latest addition to Marcus Nispel’s cast that also recently added Stephen Lang as the film’s villain, a sorcerer looking to rouse sleeping demonic forces, and Said Taghmaoui, the leader of a gang of thieves that joins forces with Conan.

Perlman, who currently plays the patriarch of a much different clan (bikers) on FX’s Sons of Anarchy, has made a career out of playing heroes and villians both monstrous and gentle. In fact, Perlman’s gift is the ability to move between the two, sometimes in the same role. Perlman made his biggest mark back in the 80’s, playing the half-human, half-feline Vincent, a subterranean vigilante with the soul of a poet, in television’s 3 season series Beauty and the Beast. He’s handled the tough guy with a warm center many times, including 1995’s City of Lost Children and Guillermo Del Toro’s Hellboy films.

I look forward to seeing what Perlman will do with this role and, in truth, how large the role really is. Previously, Conan’s dad was alive for just about five minutes before he was brutally killed by invading forces. I’m curious to see how it all fits together. Also, I’m wondering when/if we get to hear anymore about Perlman’s involvement in the follow-up to Don Coscarelli’s Bubba Ho-Tep, where he’ll be replacing Bruce Campbell as Elvis.

Following up a celtic warrior with The King would be something else.

What do you think? Is Perlman a better fit than Rourke?

More Robert Downey Jr.! More special effects! More robotic mayhem! And a 100% more Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johannson than the first go-round!

Here it is, kids. The latest and longest Iron Man 2 trailer and it looks like a ton of fun. Well, that is if you were a fan of the first film’s light tone, comic riffing and over-heated action scenes. I was, and as a result I’m quite pleased with this, which looks set in the vein of the first, but with more of everything.

Things I like best about the new trailer: Rourke’s electric whips trailing out and away from him like lightning as he crosses the race track, Sam Rockwell’s industrialist, Sam Jackson as Nick Fury, and that shot of Downey and Cheadle in their respective armors looking up as trouble rains down.

Check out the brand new, ready-for-bear Iron Man 2 trailer below and leave your thoughts!

Is this the movie to beat summer 2010?