For all the bluster that this movie puts out there (it is a fairly decent actioner), it’s the quick-cuts and the CG blood that ruin it for me. It’s a throwback to 70s action films (as opposed to Expendables which was a throwback to 80s action films) so there is a lot of setup, plot, and things happen for reasons. People do things because they need to and because they’re meant to. And you feel that these people are genuinely thinking these things out in advance, as opposed to just showing up, shooting a bunch of people, and striding out the door.

But the quick-cuts. Jesus Christ. If anything could be learned from Japanese and Chinese action films and from the Wachowskis (who obviously stole from that), move the camera back. Move it way the hell back and show us what’s happening. I’m so sick to death of being in there watching a guy get punched in the jaw.
 

Here’s the problem with quick cuts and close-ups. We never know who it is getting punched. If you take the camera back about 5-10 steps, we see everything, and we’re happy. If our hero gets punched, we know it. You don’t have to tell us about it later. We’ve seen it. We get it. Move on. Take those throwback moments from the old 70s movies. Yeah maybe the choreography of the fights sucked. But at least you could see what the hell was going on.

Oh, and CG Blood. Please, no more. I am so sick of it being in every action movie. It’s fake. It looks awful. It looks like cartoon flourishes popping out of various body parts and it never looks realistic. Ever. Put some squibs in there and make your viewing public happy. Again, combine that with your throwback attitude when things were real and we’ll be happy. CG Blood is the worst thing since 3D.

As for the rest of the movie, yes things are thought out in advance, but things just happen at a really quick pace. Accept job, plan job, finish job. Everything happens smoothly and there’s no big boss battle or anything. It’s just point A to point B and roll credits.