Update: Watch the just released ‘Roll Call’ Trailer below.

I was going to put the new character posters for “The Expendables 3” in a quick post. But I wanted to share my thoughts regarding the -slow- marketing campaign so far. First of all let me repeat that I am a big action fan, I really enjoyed the first two movies and I like almost all of the actors involved.

The first film captured the gritty and and reallistic spirit of the 80’s action flicks. The second one was a big and ludicrous ride. It missed grounding moments like Mickey Rourke’s emotional scene as ‘Tool,’ but having Bruce Willis, Arnie, and Chuck Norris made even the lazy humor funny. In doing that, number 2 exhausted all the one-liners, the internal jokes, and the “We are too old for this.” The novelty of having the stars from the past together -with a couple of today’s- parodying their careers is gone.

Paraphrasing Morpheus from “The Matrix”, I want the Expendables to stop trying to be about movies and BE a movie. Let’s focus on a story where danger feels real and characters -not just archetypes- make tough decisions, succeed or die. Maybe “The Expandables 3” is that, but that surely isn’t what the first teaser trailer and the new batch of posters is promising.

When I see this I can hear The Muppets singing “We are doing a sequel!” Why are the actors breaking the fourth wall walking, smiling and posing for the camera like if this was a spoof?
We can see rich people playing and patting themselves on the back on red carpets, magazines and so called “reality shows”. For a franchise that waves the flag of the dirty, sweaty and CGI-free old good days, it could show more glower and less winks.

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The Posters premiered on IGN, Joblo, Collider, and Coming Soon. “The Expendables 3” is in theaters Aug. 15.

“In THE EXPENDABLES 3, Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. In order to defeat Stonebanks, Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet.”