Back in January the hearts of action movie fans everywhere were broken at word that The Expendables 2 looked like it was going to be slapped with a PG-13 rating…and that it was due to the fact that Chuck Norris had gone soft and wouldn’t do the movie unless the “vulgar dialogue” was toned down so that younger moviegoers could see it. This, of course, angered the adult masses.
The news was hoped to be a misunderstanding at first, but when Sylvester Stallone confirmed it, fears became reality. Now Stallone is making everyone happy by retracting said previous confirmation and now claiming that the movie will in fact be given the medal of honor R-rating. And all is right in the world.
It seems probable that Stallone saw how negative the reaction was to word that the sequel would be watered down for the viewing safety of pre-teens, though he strangely made it sound like he himself hadn’t originally confirmed the PG-13 when confirming this new R, saying “After taking in all the odd rumors and hearsay, EXPENDABLES II is an R.”
If the first Expendables had been PG-13 then this would never have been a problem, but it was not, and so fans of that movie wanted that high-intensity homage to the many great R-rated action flicks of the ’80s to be re-embraced for the sequel. Not to mention the fact that Norris is toting around a big f’n gun in the teaser trailer, and he in all likelihood mows down a few bad guys with it Because, you know, shooting folks is way better than saying naughty words (don’t ever listen to your Uncle Chuck).
Whether this change of heart is going over well with Norris or not is not yet known. And to be honest, I’d be lying if I said I thought this was the last we heard of it. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see another change of heart or two.
