The Expendables 4 (stylized as Expend4bles) is a 2023 American action comedy film, the sequel to The Expendables 3 and the third sequel to The Expendables.
The plot has the titular group of mercenaries facing off against a group of terrorists who are planning a conspiracy to start World War III between the United States and Russia with the use of nuclear weapons.
Jason Statham, who plays Lee Christmas, is now the new leader of the titular team, while Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture reprise their roles as Gunnar Jensen and Toll Road respectively. 50 Cent, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, and Andy García also star while Iko Uwais plays the villain and Sylvester Stallone also returns as Barney Ross, though in a smaller role.
The film was released on September 22, 2023. It retains an R rating much like the first two films, after the third movie received fan backlash for its PG-13 rating.
Previews: Official Trailer
, Red Band Trailer
This film provides examples of:
- 10-Minute Retirement: Christmas is kicked off the team's current mission by Marsh after he chooses saving Barney over stopping Rahmat escaping with nuclear detonators. After a stint bodyguarding a social media influencer goes very poorly, he decides to track down the team to help stop World War 3.
- Action Girl: Gina and Lash.
- And This Is for...: Upon killing Rahmat, Christmas says, "That's for Barney". An odd variant in that Barney turns up alive about 10 minutes later.
- Asshole Victim: Jumbo Shrimp, when he gets used as Barney's body double, and the Bad Influencer Christmas beats up.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: During the final battle, Christmas and Decha against Rahmat's mercenaries as well as Decha and Lash against The Dragon.
- Bad Guy Bar: This was where Barney lost his prized lucky ring.
- Bad Influencer: Christmas' Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job after getting fired from the Expendables has him working as a bodyguard for one of these. It ends with Christmas giving him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown in the middle of a livestream for his awful behavior.
- Bait-and-Switch: The opening has exactly the type of setup for a thrilling pre-title sequence the other films had; an isolated base with tons of disposable goons and what looks like a major villain. But as soon as the bullets start flying it becomes obvious that this is the bad guys attacking, not Barney's crew.
- Bar Brawl: Christmas and Barney get into one of these with Jumbo Shrimp after Barney lost his lucky ring in a thumb wrestling match.
- Big Damn Heroes: In the final battle, Decha teaming up with Christmas and taking on Rahmat's mercenaries.
- Bloodier and Gorier: After the previous movie went for Bloodless Carnage with its PG-13 rating, this one retains the violence of the first two movies.
- Call-Back:
- The final battle is set on a cargo ship, similar to the ship where the first movie started.
- After Barney blows away the Big Bad, Christmas yells at Barney that he almost killed him, with Barney responding with, "You're welcome!", mirroring a similar exchange they had in the first film.
- Celebrity Paradox: During the final battle, "P.I.M.P." by 50 Cent plays as a distraction for the enemies. Guess who Easy Day is portrayed by?
- Continuity Nod: When the captured Expendables start accusing each other of being the leak, Toll Road reminds Gunner of his betrayal in the first film.
- Cue the Sun: During the climax, the sun begins to rise after Christmas takes out Marsh's escape helicopter with an RPG during the prisoner exchange and when the Expendables take the wounded Toll Road to safety on Decha's boat.
- Custom Uniform of Sexy: As if the unnecessarily low necklines and form-fitting spandex (only on the female soldiers) weren't enough, Gina and Lash wear tactical vests that expose their belly buttons, practicality be damned.
- Demoted to Extra: Barney has a smaller role after being The Protagonist of the first three films due to being presumed dead for most of the film.
- "Die Hard" on an X: The third act of the movie is pretty much Die Hard on a ship.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Throughout the film, we learn that Rahmat is merely The Heavy to his unseen and mysterious employer who simply goes by the name of "Ocelot". After Christmas kills him following a brutal fight, Marsh steps in and reveals himself to be Ocelot, ultimately becoming the Big Bad.
- Disney Death: Barney seemingly dies at the end of the first half when Suarto takes out his plane with a well-aimed shot. The ending reveals he was Faking the Dead and used Jumbo Shrimp as a body double while he parachuted to safety.
- Disney Villain Death: During the final battle, Decha and Lash knock The Dragon off a ledge to his death. The results aren't pretty.
- Disproportionate Retribution: As much of a jerk "Jumbo Shrimp" is about winning Barney's ring from him, his being used as the body that Barney leaves to make it look like he died when the plane crashed—and still being alive while the plane went down too— is a very over-the-top and insanely unnecessary way to punish him.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: While it's been mentioned in the spin-off media, Christmas confirms here he's ex-SAS. Decha is mentioned as being formerly of Task Force 90, an elite special ops unit in the Royal Thai Army.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Played for laughs. Three of Rahmat's mercenaries are shown watching the video of Christmas pasting the asshole influencer, commenting how he's a hero for it and that they'd like to meet him. Seconds later they do, as he shows up and kills them.
- Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job: Christmas is reduced to working as the security detail for a Bad Influencer after getting fired from the Expendables. The job ends with him beating the living crap out of the kid for his awful behavior.
- Faking the Dead: Barney does this for most of the film, in order to draw out Ocelot.
- Foreshadowing
- In the briefing scene Gina chides Marsh when he unthinkingly refers to Ocelot as "he", pointing out it could be a woman. He uses "he" is because he is Ocelot and forgot to cover for just a moment.
- When Christmas tracks down Decha, he disappointedly snarks "there's a lot of that going around" when he's told Decha is dead - only for it to be revealed moments later the man he's talking to is Decha, pulling a That Man Is Dead. It turns out in the climax that Barney isn't dead either.
- Gunship Rescue: Near the end of the final battle, Christmas engages in a shootout with Marsh and his men, and eventually runs out of ammunition and is overwhelmed and cornered by the sheer amount of mercenaries. Just then, a helicopter arrives and shoots and kills all the mercenaries, leaving Marsh the only survivor.
- Grand Finale: This is the last film to feature Barney Ross, with the intention of Passing the Torch to Christmas. He seemingly goes down near the end of the first half, only to reveal he was Faking the Dead.
- He's Back!: Recovering alcoholic Gunner's falling Off the Wagon is treated this way, as it somehow restores his aim.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Christmas tries; thinking of how he caused their current predicament by choosing to save Barney over getting the nuclear detonators back, he chooses to stay behind to turn the ship around and avoid a nuclear incident wth Russia, he tells the others "make my sacrifice count". When he lives, all the others make fun of him for this afterwards.
- In the Back: During the final battle, The Dragon manages to sneak up on Toll Road and stab him in the back, severely wounding him. He then needs medical attention.
- It's Personal with the Dragon: While Ocelot is undoubtedly the mastermind behind the scheme, it's Rahmat who does all the heavy lifting and it becomes more personal for Christmas when Rahmat seemingly kills Barney by shooting down his plane.
- It's Quiet… Too Quiet: When the team infiltrates Rahmat's ship moments before they walk into a trap and are promptly captured.
- Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: Subverted with Marsh. After Marsh is the only one left of the villains remaining, he demands that he challenges Christmas to a final showdown, complete with Christmas equipping himself with brass knuckles, when suddenly Marsh is blown away by helicopter gunfire when he pulls his gun out.
- Ludicrous Gibs: Marsh's fate after a Not Quite Dead Barney blasts him with a helicopter's machine gun.
- Macross Missile Massacre: Barney destroys Rahmat's boat with helicopter missiles so the nuke would detonate underwater.
- Ms. Fanservice: Gina and Lash. They do have the ass kicking abilities to back up their own beauty.
- Off the Wagon: Gunner is an alcoholic in recovery, but going dry has apparently messed with his aim. When he finally chugs a hip flask of alcohol, his aim becomes perfect.
- Outrun the Fireball: The end of the climax has Barney and Christmas outrunning a nuclear explosion in a helicopter after it goes off after they destroy Rahmat's ship.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: On top of having Christmas start a bar fight to get back a ring he admits he lost 100% fairly (and lying about having a bad back so Christmas would do all the legwork), Barney kidnaps Jumbo Shrimp and leaves him to die in the plane as a body double for faking his own death, just for being a Jerkass to him earlier. Barney and Christmas even laugh about it later.
- Running Gag: New characters asking Toll Road about his cauliflower ear, and getting an overly-long and complex explanation as a result.
- Sadistic Choice: During the mission in Libya, Christmas has a choice between saving Barney or getting the detonators. Christmas ends up trying to save Barney, only for Rahmat to shoot down Barney's plane anyway, allowing him to escape with the detonators.
- Senseless Sacrifice: Easy Day comments that Barney's death was essentially this, as Christmas ignoring his orders to try and save his friend lets Rahmat get away with the nuclear detonators, and allowed him to stop and shoot down Barney regardless.
- Storming the Castle: The Expendables infiltrate the Jintara, a Thai ship stolen by Rahmat, only to find they have been led into a trap after there was an information leak. Christmas then has to go in alone to rescue the Expendables and stop Rahmat and the nuke.
- Team Power Walk: Done twice. First before the Expendables board their plane to storm Rahmat's ship, and later done by Christmas and the team in the final battle.
- Tempting Fate: Rahmat's goons express interest in meeting Christmas when they view his video of him beating up the obnoxious influencer. Their wish is granted moments later when he shows up and stabs them to death.
- Wham Line: After Christmas defeats Rahmat:Christmas: Where's the kill switch?
Rahmat: You fucking idiot. I don't have the kill switch. My boss has it.- Also, when Marsh reveals himself as Ocelot:
- Wham Shot:
- After Christmas defeats Rahmat, he demands that he gives him the kill switch, only to reveal he never had it. The camera then pans to Marsh, revealing him to be the Big Bad all along.
- When Christmas and Marsh come face-to-face, the two are about to fight until Marsh pulls his gun out, only to be blown away by helicopter gunfire. We then see in the cockpit of the helicopter a very much alive Barney Ross.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- After Rahmat executes General Fezzan's wife and son even after he surrenders the nuke, it's unknown if he was Killed Offscreen or Rahmat spared him in an act of Cruel Mercy.
- Russo disappears from the movie after negotiating a prisoner exchange with Rahmat in the climax.
- Villain Opening Scene: Rahmat opens the movie attacking a Libyan general's home.
