The Expendables are back and this time it's personal...
Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren),Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) -- with newest members Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) aboard -- are reunited when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) enlists the Expendables to take on a seemingly simple job.
The task looks like an easy paycheck for Barney and his band of old-school mercenaries. But when things go wrong and one of their own is viciously killed, the Expendables are compelled to seek revenge in hostile territory where the odds are stacked against them.
Hell-bent on payback, the crew cuts a swath of destruction through opposing forces, wreaking havoc and shutting down an unexpected threat in the nick of time -- six pounds of weapons-grade plutonium; enough to change the balance of power in the world.
But that's nothing compared to the justice they serve against the villainous adversary who savagely murdered their brother. That is done the Expendables way....
The Fan Carpet's Marc Jason Ali was excited to be in the presence of action legends Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Jean Claude Van-Damme and newcomer Scott Adkins for the UK press conference of the high octane sequel The Expendables 2.
You absolutely blew us away with the first film, how has the bar been set from The Expendables to The Expendables 2?
Sylvester Stallone: On the sequel you've lost the element of surprise, so you go deeper into the characters on the second one, so as you can't surprise them anymore you have to come up with some weird device to keep the action flowing.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: I was just happy to be asked to be back. To me it was interesting because one day I was making policy, trying to fix the budget problem of the state and the educational issues and the next you are on a film set having a shoot out with Van Damme, Sly, Bruce Willis and all those guys.
And I was really appreciative that Sly asked me again and I think this movie is going to blow everyone away because there is so much great action and there are funny scenes; the movie made me laugh a lot, which is important for an action movie to have some comic relief.
I thought everyone's performance was great and the first one was almost impossible to top but I think you'll all agree that it's bigger and better than the first.
Jason Statham: Well every sequel has to be bigger and better otherwise the challenge isn't there, and the expectation is that for the audience. And if anyone knows how to make action movies; it's Sly, so when he gets this crowd together, you know you are in safe hands.
I think that is very important, and you come across some that don't know how to make action movies and that situation isn't a good one let's put it that way.
So when we are in the company of the greats, we know we are going to do something good.
Sly, this is a physically demanding role, I understand you picked up quite substantial injuries on the first one, does that put you off and is there anyone in your life that asks you not to do these things because you're taking too much of a risk?
Sylvester Stallone: Yes the doctors said after I had my neck fused for the first one, I had two back operations, shoulder operation, achilles operation, the first movie took its toll and the doctor said 'don't take any rough falls, let a stuntman do it.' But sometimes you just have to, common sense goes out the window, I couldn't help myself, it's a fools paradise for me.
A question for Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean Claude Van Damme, in the old days there used to be a lot of competition between you as action legends, how was it working on a project together? Was there competition on the set?
Sylvester Stallone: No one wants to be second, so that's why we pushed so hard, it's why these people have established the reputations they have and they want to be the best and they usually are.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: For me I have to say that it was quite the opposite, everyone was really helpful; I had been out of the movies for eight years, and they actually went a little overboard thinking that I don't know how to hold a gun anymore.
So everyone came together and it was terrific, but at the same time we were very competitive as you said and I think if you grow up trying to be the best then the better it is, when there is someone that challenges you to be better you get a better performance.
Watching them in their action movies, tried to step it up as well, we always went around comparing who had the most defined muscles, who has the better body, who has the less body fat, who has the biggest gun, who kills the most people, who kills in the most unique way.
Jean Claude Van-Damme: No, no, I mean it was a team, when I see those guys it's an inspiration to me, I felt like following their example.
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