JRC Cat Column, Dan Grobstein File
Political Briefs

The Expendables 2

3 stars out of 5.
My daughter liked this film, and I did too. It was extremely noisy, and will, no doubt be nomiated for the Academy Awards for "Best Artistic Use of Blood Splatter" and "Most Blood Splatter." As she put it, "What's not to like? This film is exactly what it was promised to be." Like Campaign last week. The violence is so over-the-top as to be funny and cartoonish. The cast list is enough to make hearts of a certain age go pitter-pat (which can be dangerous for hearts of that age): Sylvester Stallon, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Note: Norris and Willis are cameos. I'd also have to agree with my daughter that Schwarzenegger looked substantially more appropriate pulling the door off a car than he ever did as governor, but that's just us. Blood, bullets and explosions. Mercifully brief exposition. Take it or leave it.