"THE EXPENDABLES FOUR" (2023)(*** OUT OF ****)

"Act of Valor" director Scott Waugh's "Expendables 4" qualifies not only as the most violent, 'splatterific' entry in the mercenary franchise, but also as the sequel with the shoddiest CGI wizardry which sabotages its authenticity. "Law Abiding Citizen" scenarist Kurt Wimmer, "Black Lotus" scribe Tad Daggerhart, and "Heist" writer Max Adams have recycled all the standard cliches for this outlandish actioneer, but they've put Dave Callaham's original characters through a wringer. Mind you, there is no shortage of bullet-blasting firefights. Whether on the ground in Libya or aboard a booby-trapped supertanker at sea equipped with a doomsday bomb, the body count tops out at 284! Predictably, the stakes are far higher than the original "Expendables" (2010) and our invincible heroes cheat death repeatedly with their fists, feet, wits, and weapons. Worse, heroic Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone of "Rocky") vanishes early after a harrowing fracas with trigger-happy hostiles who have stolen nuclear denotators from one of Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan ordinance depots. The villains are as savage as they are resourceful. The chief villain, Suarto Rahmat (Iko Uwais), shoots an innocent child off-screen in the head while his father watches in one scene. These dastards are scheming to foment a war between Russia and America. Mercifully, Waugh and his writers never let the action bog down in boilerplate exposition. They paint our heroes into a corner early and put their survival skills on the line. Predictably, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham of "Crank") vows to avenge the demise of his best friend.

The stakes in "Expendables 4" loom larger than ever before, and the consequences are devastating. Waugh and his writers provide the characters with some amusing, hardboiled banter, especially the verbal sparring between Barney and Lee as they rib each other with gleeful abandon. Andy Garica storms into the action as an exasperating, upper-echelon, CIA spook named Marsh. Barney Ross and Marsh have a history together. The filmmakers withhold this crucial material until later when it makes more sense. Marsh briefs the Expendables about a critical mission in Libya. They must thwart a nefarious mercenary, Rahmat (Iko Uwais), who wants to hijack nuclear denotators for an enigmatic terrorist known only as Ocelot. Incredibly, not only do the Expendables botch the mission, but also the aircraft Barney flew them in on is blown out of the blue and crashes. Again, a well-aimed shot by Rahmat on a .50 caliber is the coup de grace that sends Barney plummeting to the ground. Approximately, 28 minutes into this escapade, Lee finds Barney's incinerated remains buckled into the pilot's seat. Marsh chews out Christmas for his failure to carry out Barney's orders and prevent the theft of the detonators. Christmas had broken off his pursuit of the warheads to rescue Barney.

Ultimately, Christmas is booted off the team. Lee's curvaceous babe of a girlfriend, Gina (Megan Fox), supervises the second attempt to defeat Rahmat and retrieve the denotators, but now the stakes are soared. These villains have hijacked a cargo ship and stashed a nuclear warhead aboard the vessel cruising into Russian waters. These fiends want to incite World War III. Our heroes 'halo' down from high altitudes, open their parachutes, and touch down on the cargo ship. No sooner have our heroes assembled for the mission than the villains disarm and imprison! Meantime, Lee has been lurking on the periphery. Although no longer an official Expendable, he tracks his former comrades by means of an electronic homing device hidden in a watch. Along the way, he encounters another of Barney's many friends, Decha (Tony Jaa), who is wrestling with a Jekyll & Hyde split-personality. He is a born fighter of great tenacity. However, all those years of unrelenting combat have taken a toll on him. When he meets Christmas, Decha refuses to let him steal the Expendables boat. Christmas enlightens him about Barney's disappearance, and Decha abandons his non-violent vows.

The tenacious villains aren't easily subdued. Meantime, franchise stalwarts will chuckle at Toll Road's blather about his cauliflower ear. Dolph Lundgren's hulking sniper Gunner still wrestles with alcohol and tries to wean himself off the bottle. The volatile Christmas & Gina relationship boils down to a back-and-forth scrap. She proves herself no damsel-in-distress during a display of her agility in close-quarters combat with Christmas. Latino recruit Galan (Jacob Scipio) brags about being the son of the Antoino Banderas character Galgo in "Expendables 3." Galan is just as loquacious as Galgo and as impetuous. Waugh orchestrates two over the top combat sequences. The first takes place in Libya, while the second commences aboard the cargo ship at night. One of the best scenes depicts Christmas hauling butt on a bike with twin machine guns mounted on the handle bars. Careening recklessly around the ship, Lee strafes the villains pursuing him without mercy.

Several new faces crop up for this high-octane thriller about mercenaries on a classified Black Ops mission. Like "Expendables 3," several new faces flesh out the familiar old ones. Asian marital arts legend Tony Jaa of "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior" trilogy, Indonesian martial artist Iko Uwais of "The Raid: Redemption," "Transformers" actress Megan Fox, HipHop vocalist 50 Cent, aka Curtis James Jackson, "Bad Boys for Life" actor Jacob Scipio, "Female Fight Squad's" Levy Tran, and "Godfather III" actor Andy Garcia join Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lungren, and Randy Couture. For the record, previous "Expendable" characters that Jet Li and Terry Crews portrayed were AWOL in this installment.

Although it suffers from some obvious second-rate CGI, "Expendables 4" delivers more than enough trials by combat to gratify fans. After Barney exits the fireworks in a spectacular plane crash, a reluctant Lee Christmas (Statham) steps into his shoes. Megan Fox manages to look both seductive and pugnacious as Lee's girlfriend Gina. Clocking in at an energetic 104 minutes, the R-rated, fourth installment of "The Expendables" franchise moves swiftly to its explosive finale.

NAPOLEON (2023) (**1/2 OUT OF ****) The Theatrical Cut

 Arguably, Oscar-winning British director Ridley Scott of "Gladiator" fame will be remembered as a cinematic wizard whose films boasted stellar production values, robust casts, and colossal budgets. Sadly, the dramatic content in some of his movies leaves something to be desired. Chiefly, Scott displays his considerable flair for choreography in staging the sprawling battle scenes in "Napoleon." Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, and Rupert Everett headline a cast of thousands. Unfortunately, the blood, guts, and thunder of combat overshadow the quieter moments of the Corsican-born tactician's life. Whereas the battlefield scenes bristle with excitement, suspense, and bravado, Napoleon's life off the field of valor proves far less volatile. Scott creates several 19th century combat scenes that rival Steven Spielberg's 20th century World War II epic "Saving Private Ryan." For example, the horse the eponymous hero rides in his first foray against the British at Toulon has its chest torn open by a cannonball! The chief problem with "Napoleon" (**1/2 OUT OF ****) is Scott himself. He treats Napoleon with nothing but contempt. Since Scott is British, this should come as no surprise.

Now, add the bizarre casting of Joaquin "The Joker" Phoenix as Bonaparte. Although a gifted thespian in his own right, Phoenix generates little magnetism. The way Scott skewers Napoleon in "Napoleon" would be enough to make the 'Little Corporal' spin in his Parisian tomb. Mostly, the impeccably clad Phoenix neither strikes a sufficiently heroic stance nor endears himself to us as a human being with social skills. As his wife and life-long confidante Josephine, Vanessa Kirby of "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" savors every second of screen time as she taunts and belittles Napoleon. The actress reminded me of the late Leslie Caron of "Gigi" because she has such a mischievous personality. Anyway, Kirby dominates every scene with Phoenix in private. Meantime, Phoenix never rises from the ashes of an inscrutable performance as one of history's greatest legends. He remains a cold, aloof figure and little about him would incline us to regard him with a shred of sympathy. Comparably, Rod Steiger looked more believable as Bonaparte in Sergei Bondarchuk's "Waterloo" (1970), a far better film whose scope and spectacle has never been surpassed. If you haven't seen "Waterloo," you must see it!

Scenarist David Scarpa, who penned the abysmal Keanu Reeves "Day the Earth Stood Still" remake as well as Scott's own comatose "All the Money in the World," focuses primarily on Napolean's military successes and failures. Of course, time doesn't stand still long in this 158-minute epic because Scott and Scarpa have so much ground to cover. Presumably, Scott must have worried about not only audience ennui but also story momentum. Since "Napoleon" doesn't lionize Bonaparte, he emerges as an unsavory figure who behaves petulantly at times. Certainly, Scott and Scarpa don't present a balanced portrait of Napoleon. They refuse to highlight some of his enduring culture endeavors, such as the Napoleonic Code that continues today. Furthermore, Napoleon's medical history has been white washed, otherwise we might feel a shred of sympathy for the tyrant. Indeed, characterization is held to a minimum in "Napoleon." The only other actor who stands out  here is Rupert Everett of "My Best Friend's Wedding" as the snobbish Duke of Wellington, and he remains a vague figure with one decent line of dialogue. According to eminent Bonaparte biographer Andrew Roberts, when a sniper at Waterloo had Napoleon in his crosshairs sought permission to shoot him, the Duke snapped brusquely, "No! I'll not allow it. It is not the business of commanders to be firing upon one another!"

The battle of Austerlitz provides the most memorable fireworks. As the combined cavalries of Russia and Austria burst across a frozen river toward the French, Napoleon's artillery pulverizes the ice into slush with barrages of molten cannon balls. Comparatively, the battle of Waterloo lacks the spectacle of Austerlitz. Everybody behind the scenes who toiled on the production design, costume design, and set decoration deserve to win Oscars in all categories. Lenser Dariusz Wolski's widescreen cinematography captures the color and pageantry of 19th warfare. Previously, he shot several Scott notable epics, including "The Martian," "Prometheus," and "The Counselor." Ultimately, Scott glosses over two things about Napoleon which remain inseparable in anybody's mind who has admired the Emperor's portraits. First, never once does Napoleon slip his hand into his tunic to suppress a spell of indigestion. Second, Scott never depicts Napoleon's health issues. Despite a little tampering here and there with history, "Napoleon" qualifies as a better than average military extravaganza. Now, the question remains whether the extended four hour plus  version of "Napoleon" slated for Apple TV+ will make amends for any of these shortcomings.