Welcome to Madame Trudeau’s new interactive wax (or maybe plastic) action figures show. See them get up out of their seats, shoot a gun, light up a cigar and even say the wildest things; it will blow your mind. Can you count how many stunt doubles are in this movie? I was not expecting much when I went to see this action film. Not only was there an abundance of testosterone on the movie screen, there was a strong presence of it spread among the theater seats. In this sequel Barney Ross, played by Sylvester Stallone (Cop Land, Demolition Man) returns with his Botoxed band of buddies, along with a few extra surprises. At the start of the film, we see the group battling their way out of their latest job, with explosions and blazing gunfire. There was a constant stream of things blowing up and bullets flying throughout the adventures in the film. I noticed every bullet that struck a person created a spray of blood; it was almost cartoonish to me. The story centered on a job that went wrong. A member of the gang was needlessly killed by the sinister Vilain, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme (Universal Soldier, Double Impact). Yes, Jean-Claude was the bad guy in this film. And to his credit, it appeared he did his own leg kicks. Barney and his band were determined to get revenge. No matter how outnumbered they were or how unlikely the scenario, nothing would stop them. Adding extra muscle, Barney received help from Trench, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger (True Lies, Last Action Hero). There was such campiness with Arnold on the scene. The script took liberties with some of the former action heroes’ famous lines, giving the viewer a smug, tongue-in-cheek pattering of dialog. This is the type of movie you would see if you just want total action, little plot and character development. A straight forward, simple story with aging movie stars trying to remain tough and young. It ain’t pretty. Scenes of blood and violence.

1 3/4 stars