The Expendables: The mother of all action movies?

Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Steve Austin, and Eric Roberts all in a movie about a bunch of mercenaries who head to South America to overthrow a dictator? Lundgren and Li face-offs? Sounds to me like the ultimate tribute to a time when action heroes were well nigh invincible (oh hell, what am I saying, they were invincible), killed more people than they talked, and when they did talk, it’s usually one-liners and  puns so bad they killed additional amounts of people in the audience. I love those movies.

While Rambo isn’t quite a masterpiece, I feel that it does round up the whole Rambo narrative and stayed true to the spirit fairly well; the same goes for Rocky Balboa. If those two movies are any indication of Sly’s capabilities as director and screenwriter, The Expendables (written and directed by Stallone) might be worth a look when it hits the screens next year. Semper fight indeed.

Total Recall: A do-over, or a lobotomy?

First Robocop, now Total Recall; are we going all remake-crazy over Verhoeven or what?

The Hollywood Reporter tells us that producer Neal H. Moritz and production company Original Films are closing in on a deal to remake the 1990 mind-job of a film, Total Recall. Based on a Philip K. Dick story and directed by Paul Verhoeven, the sci-fi actioner managed to draw mixed reactions from critics and audiences, much like Verhoeven’s slightly more recent Starship Troopers.

As in the case of  Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming remake of Robocop in 2010, I’m not too sure what to make of this. Right off the bat I’d have to say it doesn’t sound like a good idea; the question of “Why?” just keeps popping up in my head. Are Hollywood film makers seriously running out of ideas, or do Aronofsky and Moritz think they can bring something new to the table? Only time will tell if these films will eventually join the ranks of Batman Begins or The Day the Earth Stood Still.