There isn’t really anything fancy about the new Sylvester Stallone action film “The Expendables,” but that is a good thing.

Here is a film that asks you to accept it for what it is – a mindless, testosterone charged, bloodbath full of explosions and thin on plot. It also happens to be a pretty fun little summer popcorn flick.

Stallone heads a huge cast of past and current action stars playing Barney Ross, the head of a team of mercenaries whose latest mission finds them on a remote island in South America trying to overthrow a ruthless dictator.

The group is aided by the dictator’s daughter Sandra (Giselle Itie), but when she is kidnapped the mission changes – with the focal point centering on a former U.S. government official (Eric Roberts).

If you are looking for a deep film with substance and meaning, this is clearly the wrong film. Still, I enjoyed it on its own level – sort of like watching a famous band make one last tour about 20 years after they were big.

Stallone is the star – he also wrote and directed – but he has loaded the cast with plenty of familiar faces. There’s Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Stone Cold Steve Austin, even small roles for Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger (whose exit delivers one of the film’s best moments).

Stallone wisely lets the young guns do most of the heavy lifting, but he still shows he can stage and perform in an action scene when he is needed.

The 64-year-old filmmaker also deserves credit for keeping the pacing crisp and the humor flowing, even when the violence borders on excessive. Stallone has had a tendency to use these kinds of films to try to deliver some deep and profound message, but he wisely keeps the soap box in the closet this time.

The result is a film that is a lot like recent releases “The Losers” and “The A-Team” – only this one is better.

Also in theaters

While “The Expendables” offers something for the men of the house, “Eat, Pray, Love” (B) proves to be the perfect film for the ladies. With a solid lead performance from Julia Roberts, writer/director Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir is a surprisingly engaging chick flick about one woman’s search for enlightenment.

Roberts plays Liz, a successful writer who seemingly has the perfect marriage and the perfect life until she realizes that perhaps her life is on the wrong path.

Liz sets out on a yearlong round-the-world journey – stopping in Italy, India and Bali – hoping to find the answer to what is missing in her life.

I will admit I entered “Eat, Pray, Love” with low expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised. The film is essentially a travelogue for these three very exotic and gorgeous locations, but Roberts – who still has a megastar aura 20 years after “Pretty Woman” – and the rest of the cast make it much more.

There is plenty of humor and humanity throughout the picture. Some roles, like Billy Crudup, as Liz’s husband, and James Franco, as a young actor she has a brief fling with, don’t quite pack the emotional punch you’d expect.

Javier Bardem, as a love interest in Bali, and Viola Davis, as Liz’s friend and publicist, are both solid, but the standout is the great character actor Richard Jenkins, who gives an Academy Award-worthy performance.

Jenkins shows up in the middle third of the 2 1/2-hour film as a fellow American in India trying to wrestle with his own personal demons. The scene in which his character reveals what is behind his pain and anguish is one of the most emotionally draining of any film I’ve seen this year.

It’s little moments like this that made me appreciate “Eat, Pray, Love” – even if it doesn’t quite reach the lofty goals it aspires to climb to. “Eat, Pray, Love” is rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexual references and male rear nudity, and is now playing at the Great Escape 12 and Highland Cinemas in Glasgow.