‘Expendables 4’ Review: Jokey, Fight-Filled Last Hurrah Feels Like ‘Meg 2: Part 2’
Sequels, and sequels of sequels, have trouble differentiating themselves from their brethren from time to time. But Expendables 4 (or Expend4bles, as this fourth and final entry in the mercenary-based action series has been marketed), indisputably takes the cake for recycling previously used material in a not exactly fresh context. At least the final third — and maybe more — of this jokey, fight-filled and increasingly effects-driven last hurrah is nearly a twin brother to the climactic stretch of last year’s waterlogged Jason Statham extravaganza Meg 2: The Trench, wherein the rugged Brit takes on — and once again prevails over — a sea monster that makes Moby Dick look like a backyard swimming pool pet. It really is a shameless “borrowing” that’s impossible to ignore if you’ve seen Meg 2, as the tireless former male model with perfectly maintained facial stubble once again earns his status as master of the seven seas.