“Expendables 4” A Rather Lackluster Action Sequel
- Matt Palmer
- Jan 10
- 4 min read
Initial release date: September 22, 2023
If you enjoy over the top action flicks (like myself), I’m sure that the “Expendables” movies - at least the first two - would be right up your alley. These movies delivered nostalgic, over the top, old school 80s/90s action and an ensemble cast of past and present action stars. While they had weak plots, they still are enjoyable “turn your brain off” popcorn flicks.
The third movie is a little bit of a let down but still had some decent action. Once I saw online how bad “The Expendables 4” was, my first thought was I honestly forgot this sequel existed. So, after finally checking out this 2023 action flick, it was a major letdown.
In the fourth “Expendables” movie, a new group of mercenaries joins the “old guard” to help fight an arms dealer with his own private army.
“The Expendables 4” (or marketed as “Expend4bles” for some reason) is most definitely the weakest of the action series and most likely killed the franchise. This fourth entry delivers a very generic plot that has been done countless times in many other action movies and most of the action scenes really lacked any excitement whatsoever.
The only good thing that I can think of that came out of this action sequel is the increased screen time of the Lee Christmas character, who has more of a lead role this time around. Some of the action-packed moments featuring Jason Statham really did what it could to save this movie and if you liked some of his recent action flicks (such as “The Working Man” and “The Beekeeper”) you should like Statham’s action moments. There’s also a few scenes with action star/martial artist Tony Jaa that are pretty fun to watch.
The visual effects that we see throughout “Expendables 4” are shockingly bad and the CGI (which there’s a really good amount of) looks really cheap and low budget. There
are some scenes that I noticed were obvious green screen shots, even when they didn’t need to be. For example, there’s a scene where Statham and Stallone are talking to each other in front of Christmas’ house and it was painfully obvious that the street in front of the house was created in front of a green screen.
The sequel’s main plot of a terrorist getting nuclear detonators feels recycled and the twist of who the real villain is ends up being completely predictable. Even some of the new additions, like Megan Fox and 50 Cent, really didn’t fit in with the franchise and felt out of place.
“The Expendables 4” or “Expend4bles” is widely considered a significant decline for the franchise. Critics and audiences found it dull and bland, with its only redeeming qualities being brief moments of genuine action from martial artists Iko Uwais and Tony Jaa.
MPA: Rated R for strong/bloody violence throughout, language and sexual material (runtime 103 minutes)
You can currently stream “Expendables 4” on Peacock.
While promoting the DVD/Blu-ray release of The Expendables 3 (2014), Sylvester Stallone already commented that if a fourth film were to happen, it would definitely be R-rated, unlike the PG-13 rated The Expendables 3. As he stated on the matter: "Absolutely unequivocally yes. I believe it was a horrible miscalculation on everyone's part in trying to reach a wider audience, but in doing such, diminish the violence that the audience expects. I'm quite certain it won't happen again."
Sylvester Stallone's first choice for the villain was Jack Nicholson.
Sylvester Stallone confirmed this is the first of a new trilogy. (DON'T THINK THIS WILL HAPPEN).
The first and only of any of the sequels to not feature Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crews or Jet Li in their respective roles. Schwarzenegger decided not to return out of his dissatisfaction with The Expendables 3 (2014) and the poorly written role that he was given in it, although he maintains that he still has warm feelings for the franchise. Crews claimed that he was purposely not invited back because he refused to drop a sexual assault lawsuit against a high level Hollywood executive. Li didn't provide a reason for not returning.
Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture are the only actors to have appeared in all four installments of The Expendables.
Back when this film was first announced in 2014, Sylvester Stallone stated that he intended to cast Jack Nicholson in a role, presumably of the villain. It was rumored that Nicholson had heavily considered accepting the role, but these rumors died off as the film entered development hell.
Was originally intended to be a spin-off film from The Expendables, starring Jason Statham as his character Lee Christmas. It was to be titled "A Christmas Story" until it was reworked to become the fourth Expendables film. Other plans to create a spin-off called "The Expendabelles", featuring an all-women cast, were also shelved in favor of adding more actresses to the cast of Expendables 4.
With a 14% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of 2025, this is the worst-reviewed Expendables film.
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