Statham, De Niro and Owen oh my!

What do you get when Jason Statham, Robert De Niro and Clive Owen are cast in the same action picture? Enough testosterone to power a planet that's what!

Even Matt Bellamy agrees Killer Elite looks like an action fan's wet dream. The film, due out in September, features Statham as a former special-ops agent lured out of retirement to save his mentor (De Niro) from an evil Brit (Owen). Cue mayhem.

I'm a huge Statham fan and seeing De Niro kick ass puts a big ole smile on my face. Owen seems perfectly cast. Throw in some 80s power metal and we're good to G-O. But enough jibber jabber, check out the fun trailer below and judge for yourself.

Expendables 2 has its director

And he is Simon West. The same Simon West who directed the early 90s action flick Con Air and the recent and decent Jason Statham remake of The Mechanic. At least the man knows his action.

To be honest, we all know Sly Stallone is the driving force behind this sequel to his 2010 hit. And does it really matter who directs with him writing and returning along with fellow cast members Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews and Mickey Rourke? No. It doesn't. The awesome has already been brought.

The film begins shooting this summer. The plot, as we've reported before, is as follows: The Expendables are back and this time it's personal! After Tool (Mickey Rourke), the heart and soul of the Expendables, is brutally murdered on a mission, his comrades swear to avenge him. They're not the only ones who want blood. Tool’s beautiful young and wild daughter Fiona embarks on her own revenge mission, complicating matters when she is captured and ransomed by a ruthless dictator plotting to destroy a resistance movement. Now Barney and the Expendables must risk everything to save her and humanity.

Micro Review: The Mechanic

Jason Statham is the man. He's the only actor working today who is a true action star. Unlike Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Vin Diesel, or Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger before them, he's never made a comedy or played a role that's made light of his image. He's just made movies where he's kicked ass. Movies like The Mechanic. Yes this has more substance than most of Statham's movies, and gives him a chance to use his acting chops, but it's a straight-up action picture and a really good one. Ben Foster is also decent as Statham's hitman in training, and the last 20 minutes really deliver. A Good for me!

Plot details for The Expendables 2

That's right, The Expendables 2 might not have a director yet but some of the plot details have leaked at Cannes and we've got 'em for you. And it sounds like Sly Stallone's follow up is going to be just as mantastic as the first film.

But first . . . SPOILER ALERT! Don't say we didn't warn you:

The Expendables are back and this time it's personal! After Tool (Mickey Rourke), the heart and soul of the Expendables, is brutally murdered on a mission, his comrades swear to avenge him. They're not the only ones who want blood. Tool’s beautiful young and wild daughter Fiona embarks on her own revenge mission, complicating matters when she is captured and ransomed by a ruthless dictator plotting to destroy a resistance movement. Now Barney and the Expendables must risk everything to save her and humanity.

So what do yah think? Sound decent? Rumour has it Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back. As the villains perhaps? We'll find out some time between now and movie's release next summer. Stick with us!

Statham guaranteed to kick ass at least one more time

It's no secret we in The Basement are big fans of Jason Statham. Along with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Statham is one of the few actors working today who embodies 80s action cool. Sure, the likes of Matt Damon and Brad Pitt dabble in the genre, but Statham and Johnson are the real deal.

Which is why it's always good news when a new Statham flick is announced. The Transporter/Expendables star is set to be the lead in Parker, which is based on the hero from 24 novels written by Donald Westlake. The books are about a thief with a code of honour who isn't afraid to put foot to ass from time to time.Sounds like an ideal role for Statham.

No word yet on the plot, but Statham follows Lee Marvin, Mel Gibson, Robert Duvall and Jim Brown as actors who've played the character before, although none have carried the moniker of Parker.

Ray director Taylor Hackford directs the film, which is shopping for a distributor.

A good mechanic is hard to find . . .

. . . but I think Jason Statham is up for the job, at least as far as this exciting trailer for his upcoming film The Mechanic is concerned.

Yes, this is a remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson film of the same name. But, seeing as that Mechanic is as old as I am, it makes sense to give it a little polish. And, as we've stated before on this blog, no one kicks ass Statham!

The trailer look great, but we've been sucker punched in the back of the head by trailers before. That said, as long as Statham is kicking ass and taking names, I'm pretty happy.

The Mechanic is due out in January. Until then, check out the trailer below.

Statham puts foot to ass in Blitz

No one kicks ass like Jason Statham. No one! So when a trailer appears promising the star of  The Transporter and Crank doing what he does best, we here in The Basement applaud.

While he's played a variety of ass-kicking criminals in The Italian Job, Snatch and Death Race, he puts on a badge and packs a gun as a British cop in Blitz. The film has Stathan tracking down a serial killer who's murdering London 5-0. Suffice to say he kicks a lot of ass along the way.

Blitz is from U.K. director Elliot Lester, and was written by Nathan Parker, who also penned the screenplay for Duncan Jones' Moon.

From Moon to ass kicking? Awesome!

Blitz is due out some time next year. Until then, we've got the ass-kicking trailer below.


Blitz trailer
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Micro Review: The Expendables

Remember films like Commando, Missing In Action, Cobra, and Rambo? That's The Expendables in a nutshell. Plot? Who cares. Character development? Minimal. Pathos? Fuck off! This is man's movie. There's so much testosterone in this thing that I think my biceps will explode like the villains dispatched by Terry Crews' beautiful automatic shotgun. The action scenes in this thing are so awesome, well, I'm awesomed out by how awesome they are. The cameos by Willis and Schwarzenegger? Perfect. Did I mention the action scenes are awesome? Hollywood, take note: this is how you make an action movie. A pure action movie. A balls-to-the-wall, knife-in-the-throat, fist-to-the-face action film for people who grew up on them during the 80s. A Good review from The Basement on this one. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go eat a steak.

The Expendables Theme

Watched the trailer? Heard that cool tune from Shinedown? Well, we've got the song in all its rockin' glory for you right here in The Basement! Just click on the link below on enjoy. The song is called Diamond Eyes.

The Expendables, with Stallone, Willis, Statham, Li, Lundgren and Schwarzenegger opens August 13 at a theatre near you.