In PG-13 We Trust? - Sly: trust me ... this film is LARGE

By now everyone knows it, Sly confirmed EX2 PG-13 rating and defended it. We deliberately wanted to be last to express our point of view on the issue after things have calmed down a little bit more. So far no other news on EX2 had initiated such a massive reaction from fans, so it has become a pretty serious case that EX2 producers better take into consideration or it might back fire.

Before going further, I have to say, we didn't welcome the news but were not overwhelmingly surprised since we kind of knew and had said a few words about the PG-13 rating of EX2 when Norris first openly talked about it.

EX2 was strongly geared towards PG-13 from the very beginning by the producers and the only indication that contradicted  a PG-13 direction came in an interview that was given by Nan's stunt double Megan Nguyen where she stated that Stallone had succeeded in changing the direction of the movie and was filming it towards an R rating. The problem is that fans have naturally expected EX2 to be rated R and never questioned a PG-13 move, while the Nguyen's interview was not taken seriously and did not make a lot noise at the time, it was the first serious indication of EX2 producers real agenda. We simply think that Stallone was not bale to exercise his influence to convince the studios or he would have done it, and Norris doesn't have enough power to change the direction of such an expensive movie and simply took advantage of a given situation to promote his new image of wanna-be-saint. We are certain that this is merely a financially motivated move orchestrated by the studios.

Studios are obviously looking to attract a younger audience as we repeatedly wrote about it, the signing of Hemsworth was a strong indication of that. We just have a problem with their logic, why younger viewers who were born after the 80-90's action movies who have never seen these 65-70 year old actors would pay to see them now. Wasn't the whole essence of EX to offer a generation of fans a dream they have been waiting for almost 30 years. Producers might get disappointed...

Stallone says "the film is fantastic with Van Damme turning in an inspired performance... Our final battle is one for the ages... trust me when I say this film is LARGE in every way and delivers on every level"

In Stallone we partially trust. Yes we are sure the reunion of the action icons in one movie will be exceptional, yes the return of Van Damme and Norris on the big screen will be rewarding, yes the finale at the airport with Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Willis firing guns side by side will be out of this world, but what about the rest and things in between.

We are not too worried about the language to tone down as Norris put it, Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Van Damme never used overly coarse language in their movies, it's not their style any way. The concern is mainly on the action scenes. We have a hard time imagining those action icons in a PG-13 action movie not being able to express the talent they are known for, doing real action movies.

As hardcore supporters of EX2, in Stallone we will cautiously trust and go see the movie in theatres and hope to see the epic movie we've so long waited for. We think it's worth it just for the joy of seeing our action idols on the screen for what might be their final battle. If disappointed and our dream shattered after 30 years of a long wait, this blog will cease after August 17 and belong to the museum of the web, EX3 or not, disappointed we might remain for the remainder of our lives. For now we continue to hope that Sly & Co. won't let us down...