Expendables 2 opening scene analysis

The opening scene does not reveal very much about the characters, other than they are all well trained, expert fighters. This is because it is a sequel, so the creators are expecting the audience to have watched the first one. Any large character traits will have already been given in the first film. The opening scene reveals very little about the plot as is starts with an action scene of the expendables rescuing a hostage. We are thrown straight into this without any context. Music plays a minor part of the sound used. Diegetic sound such as the engines of the vehicles or gunfire is much louder and can completely drown out the background music. This is because the sounds of guns and loud vehicle engines are attractive to the male demographic, the main audience for the film. Close ups of the main characters are used in the beginning of the scene. This is to show the audience that their favorite characters from the first film are in this film. Many of the actors such as Sylvester Stallone are known to be mostly in action films, so the audience immediately knows that this is a very masculine and violent action film. Most of the editing it fast paced. this is because they director of the film wanted it it to exciting and pumped full of adrenaline. It is set in a town in the middle east, controlled by a terrorist/extremist group. This is conforming to the convention that the antagonist is always foreign. They are all dressed in black body Armour and clothing, that is normally associated with special forces soldiers. This is to show that they are elite.