Stallone is good at telling an action movie. He's low on bullshit and unnecessary flashes of style, which I appreciate. Like you said, there are too many quick cuts and vomit cam these days. I like that there is a sense of stability, and I feel like you can tell that a practiced, mature hand is behind the directing. I agree on the confidence of purpose. It didn't try to pretend to be anything than what it is, and I like that.

I flat out didn't like the Statham/Carpenter subplot. That was wholly unnecessarily imo, and as I said, as much as I enjoy Statham beating up assholes, I could live without the whole implication that he's somehow better for her. Relationships don't work that way, jeez.

Interestingly enough, for me, I thought it was pretty clear that there was no romantic attachment between Stallone and Sandra, which is why I liked it so much. Granted, she was essentially an idea to him more than a person, but I was so glad there wasn't romantic overtures. He was motivated by her strength, that she stood for something, while he has always just done bad shit for good money. Ties into Rourke's awesome speech about having had the chance to do something morally right, but didn't care, and how that ate at his soul.