Why The Expendables feels expendable

22 December 2010

How does a great film become disappointing? When the cameos are bigger than the plot.

I saw The Expendables in the summer, seduced by the trailer which made a big deal of the fact that it was the first film to feature Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I enjoy a good action pic, and you couldn’t do better than a cast like that. The trailer was bombastic with those three names appearing on screen in massive text, followed by a flurry of all the top-class co-stars.

The problem is that the trailer didn’t reflect the truth of the film. Willis and Arnie are in the film for about three minutes. Bruce Willis doesn’t actually appear on screen with anyone else, creating the impression that his scenes were shot separately and he didn’t even meet his co-stars. The scene itself has one good joke, but is otherwise completely pointless.

Had this scene been unannounced, it might have been a nice surprise. But when it was the whole focus of the marketing, it becomes the reason people are there to see the film, and this mostly unfunny sketch is not good enough to carry the whole film. I ended up feeling a bit ripped off, even though the film itself is a fine tribute to 80s action movies. I notice that Schwarzenegger isn’t credited on the iTunes release and the trailer I saw isn’t available online, but Willis does feature on the DVD packaging and iTunes store banner image.

Apart from the marketing, there are also structural problems with the story caused by these cameos. The film reminded me of some advice for writers I read some time ago: if there is a gun on the mantlepiece in act one, it must have been fired by the end of the final act, otherwise readers or viewers are left feeling unsatisfied. Everything in the story is put there deliberately, so don’t include things that create unfulfilled expectations. You can’t have a story where Arnie is offered a chance to take part in a guns-blazing action fest and he walks away from the opportunity, because it creates the expectation he’ll pop up again later. It’s unthinkable that Arnie’s character would appear in a film for a few minutes just to say he didn’t want to work with Stallone’s character. You can’t put Bruce Willis in an action film, and only use him to deliver a few lines of dialogue, either. Writers need to take care with the expectations they create from the characters, actors, and props that they use. If they’re not handled with care, the end result can end up feeling somewhat expendable.

Labels: fiction, film, plotting, writing

Permanent link for this post | Blog Home | Website Home | Email feedback

Dip into the blog archive

June 2005 | September 2005 | January 2006 | March 2006 | April 2006 | May 2006 | June 2006 | July 2006 | August 2006 | September 2006 | October 2006 | November 2006 | December 2006 | February 2007 | March 2007 | April 2007 | May 2007 | June 2007 | July 2007 | August 2007 | September 2007 | October 2007 | November 2007 | December 2007 | January 2008 | February 2008 | March 2008 | April 2008 | May 2008 | June 2008 | July 2008 | August 2008 | September 2008 | October 2008 | November 2008 | December 2008 | January 2009 | February 2009 | March 2009 | April 2009 | May 2009 | June 2009 | July 2009 | August 2009 | September 2009 | October 2009 | November 2009 | December 2009 | January 2010 | February 2010 | March 2010 | April 2010 | May 2010 | June 2010 | August 2010 | September 2010 | October 2010 | November 2010 | December 2010 | March 2011 | April 2011 | May 2011 | June 2011 | July 2011 | August 2011 | September 2011 | October 2011 | November 2011 | December 2011 | January 2012 | February 2012 | March 2012 | June 2012 | July 2012 | August 2012 | September 2012 | October 2012 | December 2012 | January 2013 | February 2013 | March 2013 | April 2013 | June 2013 | July 2013 | August 2013 | September 2013 | October 2013 | November 2013 | December 2013 | January 2014 | February 2014 | March 2014 | April 2014 | May 2014 | June 2014 | July 2014 | August 2014 | September 2014 | October 2014 | November 2014 | December 2014 | January 2015 | February 2015 | March 2015 | April 2015 | May 2015 | June 2015 | September 2015 | October 2015 | December 2015 | January 2016 | February 2016 | March 2016 | May 2016 | July 2016 | August 2016 | September 2016 | October 2016 | November 2016 | December 2016 | January 2017 | July 2017 | August 2017 | October 2017 | November 2017 | January 2018 | February 2018 | August 2018 | October 2018 | November 2018 | December 2018 | January 2019 | March 2019 | June 2019 | August 2019 | September 2019 | October 2019 | January 2020 | February 2020 | March 2020 | April 2020 | May 2020 | June 2020 | September 2020 | October 2020 | December 2020 | January 2021 | February 2021 | May 2021 | June 2021 | October 2021 | November 2021 | December 2021 | January 2022 | February 2022 | March 2022 | May 2022 | July 2022 | August 2022 | September 2022 | December 2022 | March 2023 | April 2023 | May 2023 | June 2023 | October 2023 | November 2023 | January 2024 | February 2024 | May 2024 | June 2024 | July 2024 | September 2024 | October 2024 | November 2024 | December 2024 | Top of this page |