Just because you’re a Dream Team doesn’t mean you don’t have to work for your medal. When the US men’s Olympic basketball squad won gold in London earlier this month, there was a fair amount of comment about lessons learned at the ’04 Athens games, when the team never came together, and left with bronze.
Shades of Sylvester Stallone’s “Expendables” franchise. Sure, there’s inherent interest in seeing old-school action icons tossed together in the same sandbox, but imagine what a blast it could be if the movies gave them genuinely inspired material. As it stands, “The Expendables 2” is lazily satisfied with repeating the first movie’s formula, shortcomings and grisly strengths alike, just as the first movie was content to slavishly, ploddingly cover the hits of the ’80s.