Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.
Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.
The film implicitly endorses a worldview where decisive, violent action by extrajudicial forces is necessary for global stability, valorizing militarism, vigilantism, and U.S.-centric interventionism, which aligns with right-leaning, hawkish perspectives despite avoiding overt partisan politics.
The movie incorporates visible diversity in its cast, including various ethnicities and genders, marking a broader representation compared to earlier franchise entries. However, its narrative maintains a traditional focus on American patriotism and masculine action hero archetypes, without critically engaging with or challenging traditional identities or deeply exploring equity themes.
Expend4bles (2023) does not feature any identifiable LGBTQ+ characters, storylines, or thematic elements. The film's content, including relationships and sexual references, remains strictly within heteronormative boundaries, with no engagement with LGBTQ+ identities or issues.
The film features female characters who participate in action sequences, primarily utilizing firearms. While one female character engages in a physical confrontation with a male opponent, she is ultimately defeated. No instances were identified where a female character achieves victory over one or more male opponents in direct, close-quarters physical combat using hand-to-hand or melee weapons.
The film introduces new female characters not based on prior material, and established male characters from the franchise maintain their gender. No characters are portrayed with a gender different from their established source or historical record.
The film features original characters without pre-existing source material establishing their race outside the franchise. Returning characters maintain their established racial portrayals, and new characters do not have a prior canon to be swapped from, aligning with the definition's exclusions.
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources