The Expendables

If you want a crime drama that treats its mystery as more than a puzzle, The Expendables is available in Australia on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and in the US on fuboTV and Paramount+ Amazon Channel right now. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. 8,355 people have weighed in on TMDB, and the verdict leans heavily positive. Sylvester Stallone sets the tone, and the ensemble matches it scene for scene. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Netflix.

The Expendables is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. The Expendables treats its mystery as a means, not an end in itself. Barney Ross leads a band of highly skilled mercenaries including knife enthusiast Lee Christmas, a martial arts expert Yin Yang, heavy weapons specialist Hale Caesar, demolitionist Toll Road, and a loose-cannon sniper Gunner Jensen. When the group is commissioned by the mysterious Mr. Church to assassinate the dictator of a small South American island, Barney and Lee visit the remote locale to scout out their opposition and discover the true nature of the conflict engulfing the city. Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham lead a cast that gives the tension real weight. It hit screens in 2010. The Expendables is at its best in the quiet scenes between the plot beats, where the character work actually happens. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

If you cannot walk away from a good mystery, The Expendables will keep you hooked. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Sylvester Stallone carries scenes that would sink a lesser production. The resolution feels inevitable rather than arbitrary, which is rarer than it sounds.