The Expendables Is Mid — Here's Why

Old action heroes promise practical carnage but deliver cash-grab spectacle instead.

July 25, 2026 About The Expendables

Just bodies and explosions with biceps bigger than the script.

The Take

The Expendables scores 52 slop. It is aging meatheads blowing shit up for two hours with nothing else to offer.

The first entry keeps some practical stunts. Everything after leans on reshoots, CGI, and zero consequence.

Skip the whole franchise after the first film. The Expendables is pure goyslop for biceps envy and brain fog.

No. Graphic violence and language make it unsuitable for children.

No. It is pure fictional mercenary action.

Star power of Stallone and crew plus old-school action nostalgia.

Slop Facts

Grading signals · BASED clears · SLOP means avoid

Franchise / committeeSLOPReshoots and committee scripts turn sequels into cash grabs.
Ideology vs storyMIDPure spectacle over any coherent story or message.
Moral thesisSLOPNo moral weight — just bodies and explosions.
Sexual framingBASEDBarely any sexual framing, all business on the action.
Masculinity patternBASEDOld-school competent tough guys get to be heroes.
Violence framingSLOPGraphic violence staged as pure cathartic spectacle.
Craft & voiceSLOPCGI bloat and reshoots dilute later entries.