'Expend4bles' review: Excruciating expansion of franchise in need of extermination

It's a good thing I asked for a costume that has an expandable waistline. — Photos: Handout

When the first Expendables movie came out way back in 2010, the gimmick of bringing together iconic action stars like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger into one film was exciting. The end result was far from excellent, but at least it was entertaining.

The only problem was, despite calling themselves the Expendables, Stallone and gang proved to be far from expendable. The franchise expanded instead with two more films – 2012's The Expendables 2, which while forgettable, at least had the saving grace of featuring both Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris; and The Expendables 3 in 2014, which had the likes of Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and Wesley Snipes to brag about.