The Expendables Movie Trailer: Giving Up The Cameos Right Off The Bat

Lionsgate has just released what I might call an outrageously confident trailer for Sylvester Stallone's new film The Expendables.

Why confident? Because one of the selling points for the film has been that it unites not just all the guys in the primary cast — Stallone, Statham, Li, Rourke, and many more — but that it finally puts the '80s action movie trifecta of Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger in the same film. And there's their scene, right in the trailer. Which means the rest of the movie must be much more awesome, right? Because otherwise all the fans could just watch this clip and be done.

Decide for yourself after the break.

Or, is it that the movie really isn't very good, and that Lionsgate is hoping that seeing Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger in this scene (their one scene together in the film, by the way) will put enough asses in seats based on the promise of more testosterone togetherness?

I'm hoping the movie is better than it looks. Outside a few moments, there's a lot of really bland b-roll here. Few characters or jokes stick out, and the action looks all too routine. And this is coming from someone who loved the last Rambo film as a splattery action throwback. I'd see another film like that in a second, and was hoping for this movie to be invested with a little zing. But it's looking a lot like product. Too bad.

(Or perhaps I was just hoping for too much; Peter liked the trailer a lot when he saw it at ShoWest.)

Here's the synopsis / cast breakdown:

THE EXPENDABLES is a hard-hitting action/thriller about a group of mercenaries hired to infiltrate a South American country and overthrow its ruthless dictator. Once the mission begins, the men realize things aren't quite as they appear, finding themselves caught in a dangerous web of deceit and betrayal. With their mission thwarted and an innocent life in danger, the men struggle with an even tougher challenge – one that threatens to destroy this band of brothers.

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) is a man with nothing to lose. Fearless and void of emotion, he is the leader, the sage and the strategist of this tight-knit band of men who live on the fringe. His only attachment is to his pickup truck, his seaplane and his team of loyal modern-day warriors. His is a true cynic who describes what he does as "removing those hard to get at stains." The team behind him is made up of Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), former SAS and a savant with anything that has a blade; Yin Yang (Jet Li), a master at close-quarter combat; Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), who has known Barney for ten years and is a long-barrel weapons specialist; Toll Road (Randy Couture), a skilled demolitions expert and considered the intellect of the group; and Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), a combat veteran and an expert in precision sniping who struggles with his own demons.