MovieChat Forums > Expend4bles (2023) Discussion > This was terrible

This was terrible

posted 8 months ago by seagal72 (1865)
12 replies | jump to latest

Love Stallone (and the Franchise) but this was really lazy (even for a supposed 'throwback' action movie)

The CGI was abysmal (and the green-screen even worse) Everything looked computer-game level 'squeaky-clean' with no depth to it's backdrops.

No-one looked happy to be there...and that's the sort of 'vibe' that soon infects it's audience. The lack of 'happy-centre' lingered throughout the whole movie.

There was a brief glimmer of hope with Tony Jay storming the boat near the end (but even the more athletic 'action' was badly shot and edited)

And don't get me started on it's reputed 100m dollar budget (clearly some book-cookery at Millennium films?)

Time to bury the franchise I'm afraid (the last 2 'Escape Plan' movies were better than this...and they were terrible)

[–] blue1981 (6891) 8 months ago

There were no major stars outside of Stallone and Statham. Everyone else was just their for a paycheck and the the CGI was lousy. There won't be anymore Expendables movies and if they do it will be DTV movies.

[–] Porsche911 (2793) 8 months ago

It’s an absolute embarrassment! Fail on all accounts. Terrible filmmaking.

Btw the $100M budget is a lie.
When covid hit Millennium tried sell it to streaming. In the sales contract it was stated $100M as budget however the streamers highly doubted this after the initial screenings and no deal was met.
Ie they wanted a return in investment.

So no streamer deal
No theatrical release
And a piss poor film

When it finally got a release it flopped epically. Bigger fail of 2023!

[–] DoctorThirteen (11291) 8 months ago

'When covid hit Millennium tried sell it to streaming. In the sales contract it was stated $100M as budget however the streamers highly doubted this after the initial screenings and no deal was met.'

Ha! That's interesting!

[–] Porsche911 (2793) 8 months ago

I have a friend at one of the streaming services, who was indirectly part of the procurement process. They did try to have a bidding war over the film but with no luck.

Now that you have seen the film it’s Steven Segal DVD 2007 quality. The budget was probably less than 20M

[–] TandyMan (10622) 8 months ago

Makes Die Hard 5 look like a freaking masterpiece.

[–] TandyMan (10622) 8 months ago

Can't believe how bad this is. It looks like it was shot on cell phones. I'm actually impressed by what they did with CGI. I mean basically every single action scene is CGI or actors with green screens. You can tell it's all fake, but what they actually put together is pretty remarkable. It looked like a 90 minute video game cut scene. If you like that style of animation ya just might think this movie is pretty cool. It's got the same hokey "place holder" dialog all the other movies had. Dude, Megan Fox is WEIRD looking now. I don't know what she did to her face. She doesn't look human anymore.

[–] HarlemEagle42 (16565) 6 months ago

Should had just made the all-female spinoff. Have it directed by Lexi Alexander.

[–] greentimemusic (830) 5 months ago

I agree. It was the worst of the 4. And it's not even close.

All the star power is gone and now it's just leftovers.

[–] Burgershmurger (1306) 2 months ago

The CGI was no worse than in any major movie. Nobody complained about the fake-looking CGI in Lord of the Rings.

[–] moviechatterer (14010) a month ago

The cgi was "noticeable" , must be the same guy who did the blood fx in Rambo 4

The green screen however was horrific . on a particular shot from the bow of the little boat through the windshield where we see Statham and the cool Asian guy . Boat is not bobbing on the water . Boat is clearly parked on a trailer in a studio with rough sea being projected behind it.

[–] Burgershmurger (1306) a month ago

I saw it on a small tablet screen. That's probably why I missed the shoddy CGI.

[–] Enigmaticocean77 (2176) a month ago

Yes, the CGI looked terrible in a lot of the LOTR movies, but it had a good storyline, so people (like me) were able to overlook the crappy CGI. Also, do you have any idea of just how much it would have cost to make those movies using nothing but practical effects?! Yeah, it would have looked amazing, but it would have cost billions to make.