The Expendables 2

The first Expendables was pretty much a stable of one-trick ponies, a loose collection of faded action stars trotted out for their own creaky asskicking scene, tied together with rudimentary narrative. The main problem (aside from the embarrassment of watching grandpas pretend to pull moves that would send men half their age to the hospital) was the tone was all off, like it didn’t quite get the genre it was self-parodying. The homage to ’80s action flicks was too rooted in the 21st century to properly convey the giddy excess of your typical cannon fodder. And the use of CGI to fill in for the practical FX that were a trademark of the productions was unforgivable. But for a second trip to a dry well, Expendables 2 at least gets the tone right this time. Here, Simon West, director of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, picks up the reins of this masturbatory tribute to badass dudeness and delivers 100 minutes of nonstop Hooah. It’s a gawdawful script wrapped in an amber and teal patina of sociopathic excess. Which is all it aspires to, so it is what it is, dwelling comfortably in that gray area between intentional and unintentional camp. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated R.