The Expendables 2: More Expendabler
Of the three ’80s-inspired war/action films of 2010 — The Expendables, The Losers and The A-Team (yes, I know The Losers was based on a comic, but it’s stil an homage to ’80s action shows/movies) — my favorite by far was The Expendables. Possibly because it remembered that ’80s action movies weren’t just goofy, they were also terribly violent and incredibly awesome. Sure, The Expendables probably checked off more boxes on the ’80s action movie plot checklist than the other films combined, but it did it while providing almost nonstop balls-to-the-wall shooting and fighting and car chases, along with the best assortment of action stars that had even been imagined. Until the sequel.
About The Author
Robert Bricken is one of the original co-founders of the site formerly known as Topless Robot, and its first editor-in-chief, serving from 2008-12. He brought the site to prominence with “nerd news, humor and self-loathing” as its motto, raising it from total internet obscurity to a readership in the millions, with help from his savage “FAQ” movie reviews and Fan Fiction Fridays. Under his tenure Topless Robot was covered by Gawker, Wired, Defamer, New York magazine, ABC News, and others, and his articles have been praised by Roger Ebert, Avengers actor Clark Gregg, comedian and The Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax, and others. He is currently the managing editor of io9.com. Despite decades as both an amateur and professional nerd, he continues to be completely unprepared for either the zombie apocalypse or the robot uprising.