“The Expendables 2” features a lot of stars: Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Norris, Statham, Lundgren, and more. And it features some lines which viewers of their movies will recognize. For example, in one scene Schwarzenegger shows up just in time to help his friends who are in a jam and, crashing through a mine wall and, with cigar in his mouth, he says, “I’m back,” a nod to his “Terminator” days. In another scene a character lends him a gun and tells him, “I want this back or you’re terminated.” When Chuck Norris shows up, playing a character named Booker, he is told he was always a “lone wolf” and we hear the theme from that film. Later in the movie when he helps the gang in a bind, he says, “I thought it might be fun to join the pack for a while.” There are a lot of memorable one-liners in the movie as well as enough action sequences for two or three movies let alone one. Sadly, the violence is some of the strongest I have ever witnessed in a movie.

After completing one mission, the gang takes on a second mission to recover plutonium from the Russians as well as seeking revenge for the murder of their young friend, Billy (Liam Hemsworth). Almost constant shooting is the norm with blood flying out of bodies as they are hit. In fact, there are many, many scenes of blood flying in this picture in addition to blood being splattered on windshields and glass. In a couple of scenes a body is riddled with bullets and we see blood sprayed again. In one scene, a character is killed and another character says, “Rest in pieces,” and that is pretty much the condition of the corpse. There are fist fights, martial arts, explosions, missiles fired and one decapitates a man (with flying blood again), stabbings, more shootings, a tank, thrown knives, and on and on. The language is strong too. Therefore, due to language and violence, this picture falls short of receiving our Dove “Family-Approved” Seal.