Sylvester Stallone feels expendable: The cinema of insecurity

Sylvester Stallone

Watching The Expendables 3 is a surreal movie-going experience. Twenty years ago it would have been a major cinematic event to see Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford in an action film together.

But now after some self-inflicted public relations wounds, father time and more than a few misfires, this collection of ex-A-Listers (with the possible exception of the 72-year-old Ford) can barely muster a blip at the box office.

The entire Expendables series has always been a mixed bag to say the least.

Sure, hipsters can enjoy them with condescending irony but for those of us who grew up idolizing these macho megastars, seeing them age so precipitously is a little disorienting. Still, each film had glimmers of greatness -- like Mickey Rourke's monologue about a girl he failed to save in the first Expendables or Mel Gibson's unexpectedly compelling performance in this new one.

But what were these films really about? Rocky is a story of beating the odds. The Rambo movies are revenge fantasies. The Expendables seemed to be about trying to recreate a past prime -- where narrative was insignificant and the bad guys were always vaguely ethnic. After nearly getting stranded in the direct-to-DVD wilderness, Stallone's career rebounded big time with audiences (and even some snobby film critics) with his terrific capper to the Rocky series (2007's Rocky Balboa) and to a lesser extent with his 2008 reboot of Rambo. And yet Stallone still wanted to prove he could still be plausible as a traditional (read: 1980s) action star.

So for the last four years we've watch a man well into his 60s round up an impressive "who's who" of larger-than-life action stars that we have grown to love despite their acting limitations. That said, the new film unwisely attempts to introduce a newer, younger crew of heroes who lack any charisma whatsoever and bring the movie to a screeching halt whenever they appear onscreen. But I digress.

Unfortunately after the runaway success of the first film and the diminished, yet still solid performance of the second, audiences seem to have tired of the novelty of seeing these old men blow stuff up real good. An early leak of the film online didn't help nor did the PG-13 rating, although I have never seen more people killed in a PG-13 movie in my life.

Why did The Expendables movies lose their charm? Let's start at the beginning. Stallone is an actor, whether he realizes it or not, who is motivated by his own insecurity, manifested by ego. His first major cinematic achievement will likely always be his greatest -- his screenplay and performance in the original Rocky film back in 1976.

The film, despite winning best picture, is often dismissed by highbrow critics as audience-pleasing hooey, but in my opinion, the film holds up as one of the greatest inspirational films ever made, featuring one of the most endearing likable characters of all time. Rocky was such an original, sweet character and while Stallone has never had tremendous range as an actor, his performance in that film was Oscar worthy (he was nominated, but lost for best actor). He is at his best when he's a little self deprecating and vulnerable, like in 1997's excellent Cop Land or the original Rambo film, 1982's First Blood or even 1993's underrated Cliffhanger.

Andy Warhol's take on Stallone

Unlike Schwarzenegger with his one liners, Stallone was never "in on the joke" about his films. He always plays everything earnestly and sincerely, which of course has won him his fair share of Razzies, but also, for me, makes him an admirable survivor in a business that doesn't tend to value age and experience.

Stallone will never earn the respect his contemporaries like De Niro and Pacino did. There's a great line in Rocky where his character says his father told him "you don't have much of a brain so you might as well work on your body."

I later learned, via Inside the Actor's Studio, that Stallone's father actually told him that in real life. And that heartbreaking insult says so much about the trajectory this man's movie career has taken. Despite claiming he was going to step away from bombastic action films over 15 years ago, the industry wouldn't let him. Instead he's been forced to try to keep recapturing his former glory with movies like Grudge Match.

And he looks like an incredible specimen of strength despite what appears to be an enormous amount of plastic surgery and hair dye. That said, the new Expendables end with an awkward, somewhat sad but ultimately honest scene where the "young" stars serenade Stallone with an off-key karaoke version of Neil Young's "Old Man". It's unsubtle Stallone at his worst and yet, perhaps even he understands now that he's beloved by action fans and he doesn't have to keep proving how tough he still is.

There's some hope for the movie Creed, which is still in development. It will resurrect the Rocky character but this time in the older trainer role (think Mickey) opposite Michael B. Jordan as the son of Rocky's former foe and eventual friend, Apollo Creed. Before you cringe, keep in mind that this film will be written and directed by the very talented Ryan Coogler, whose Fruitvale Station was one of the best reviewed films of last year. It would be exciting and interesting to see this unusual movie star (he's relatively short, has that nerve damaged curled lip and often unintelligible speaking voice) be utilized in a fresh and more believable way.

There's fun to be had in The Expendables 3. Like I said before, Gibson could make a whole new career out of playing villains, he's that good at it. Antonio Banderas is hilarious and fun as a motor-mouthed new addition to the squad. And Ford, who is unfairly maligned for having the audacity to finally start aging on screen, seems to be having a ball acting in such lowbrow fare.

But this is Stallone's picture -- with all it's glaring flaws (and there are many) and it's a portrait of a man who's deeply insecure and feels like he's unappreciated and expendable.