'The Expendables' Script Review

Sylvester Stallone’s upcoming tough-guy action movie throwback film, "The Expendables," includes some the action genre’s most famous names, including Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Eric Roberts and Arnold Schwarzenegger (in a cameo appearance). There’s now even rumor that Bruce Willis will make an appearance in the film.

Up until now everybody’s been aware of which actors would be in "The Expendables" - but what roles are they going to be playing? Who are the good guys and who are bad guys? Who will be facing off against who? Well, now we have a breakdown of who is who and what is what in the bullet-ridden world of "The Expendables."

The info comes our way courtesy of The Playlist, which snagged a copy of "The Expendables" shooting script and spilled the goods to us, the curious public. Most of what you’re about to read is just character synopsis, but for some it could be considered SPOILERS, so be wary.
YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

Plot: Barney Ross is the head of an international gang of mercenaries who call themselves The Expendables. They exist in the shadow where bureaucratic government agents dare not tread, and they never kill anyone who didn't have it coming. However, they may have bit off more than they can chew when they find themselves tasked with freeing island nation Vilena from the grasp of the evil General Garza.

Keepin' It Topical: "The Expendables" begins with a surprising pirate attack, the mandatory Big Action Opener. The villains, described as Somalians, take control of the ship, and even record events so they may be able to demand a ransom. But no pirate could have anticipated the Expendables! The team comes down hard on the scavengers, a little too hard in one Expendables' sake, and after an action-heavy confrontation, the Expendables vanish, one member less.

The Chain Of Villains: Early on, it appears that the Expendables are tasked with removing the unstable General Garza (David Zayas) from his position of power, as they are are granted a generous offer from a mysterious man named Church who's daughter has been killed by Garza's soldiers during a peacekeeping effort. Turns out, however, all wires are crossed- early on, we find out that Garza is somehow in league with renegade CIA agent Monroe (Eric Roberts), who has his own strongman assistant in aptly-named Paine (Steve Austin). But what's this? We also learn early on that Church is also involved with the CIA, and might be the big bad pulling the strings. Rumors peg Bruce Willis as Church, a role that requires about four brief scenes, which would be excellent casting considering the firepower on board this movie.

The Heroes
Barney Ross: Stallone doesn't write much about him, but his interactions with the other characters explain much without dialogue. Essentially, Ross is by far the oldest of the group, and as such is sort of a mentor to the others. he has individual scenes with each character, where they all end up revealing their insecurities to him through rambling, stop-start macho dialogue. Ross isn't interested in playing armchair psychiatrist, but rather smoothing out the bumps so that the mission could go smoothly.

Lee Christmas (Jason Statham): Second-in-command- takes it upon himself to bust every one's balls, which carries a nice, compensatory weight when we learn he's having terrible relationship problems with the his flaky lady love Lacy (Charisma Carpenter). He's also lethal with knives, and carries the most sour disposition of the group- expect scowling.

Bao Thao (Jet Li): A private sort, the Chinese martial artist uses his feet as often as his guns. He is the most lonely of the Expendables, and clearly doesn't seem to be friends with many of them. He takes quiet moments to speak about his displeasure with their jobs and how he wants a larger cut to sponsor his own charity.

Hale Caesar (Terry Crews): Probably the most comical role of the Expendables. Crewes won't entirely be left in the dark -- he gets to make a speech about how the government has misapplied themselves in worldwide politics, but he also gets to quip wise, and he's the one member of the group with the heaviest artillery.

Toll Road (Randy Couture)- A new character not in previous drafts, he's a slightly amended version of the "gay Expendable" that has now been excised from the script. He's designated muscle, but in his off-time, we get to see him feeding an addiction to crossword puzzles.

Gunnar Hansen (Dolph Lundgren)- Reportedly the role Jean Claude Van Damme was to play before he turned it down. Hansen is in the very first scene deliriously bloodthirsty and ready to take out all the pirates, but Kong puts him down, and he's expelled from the team for his drug use and wanton disrespect for authority. Needless to say, he shows up again, but he's not necessarily part of the main plot.

Levity: Most interestingly, though, are the moments with Tool, the ex-Expendable written into the new script for Mickey Rourke. Tool, now retired and owning a tattoo parlor the group meets at, is a mellow, philosophizing character who gets a number of juicy lines and provides a lot of male camaraderie in his brief scenes. He never goes into battle, but we see he still maintains his skills when he chucks a knife into a wall poster of, you guessed it, Jean Claude Van Damme.

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More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: Screen Rant, The Playlist