Why Scott Adkins Expendables 2 Fight Was So Disappointing

The Expendables 2 teased an epic brawl between Scott Adkins and Jason Statham’s characters. While the first film was an entertaining – if flawed – action ensemble, The Expendables 2 promised to be bigger and better. In addition to bringing back most of the original cast, it gave expanded roles to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis and added even more icons like Jean-Claude Van Damme. Also added to the ensemble was Scott Adkins, who at that time was an up-and-coming action star thanks to his roles in the Undisputed sequels and Ninja.

The Expendables 2 cast him as Hector, the right-hand man of Van Damme’s Vilain. Hector forms a rivalry with Jason Statham’s Christmas, but unfortunately, Adkins doesn’t get much to do in the overstuffed cast. That said, he does manage to chew the scenery whenever the camera is pointed at him. Actions fans were anticipating a mighty battle between Scott Adkins and Jason Statham at some point, but while Hector and Christmas do eventually trade

blows in The Expendables 2 finale, it’s underwhelming. It’s not terrible, but between the choppy edits and graceless choreography, it doesn’t make the best use of the abilities of either performer. Adkins himself wasn’t all that happy with the fight, and later explained to Screen Crush why it felt rushed, and it had to do with a deleted cameo by tennis player Novak Djokovic.

“But at the end of the day, what the hell are you doing giving me and Jason Statham two days for a fight scene, and then taking away half a day so you can film some sequence with [tennis star Novak] Djokovic hitting tennis balls at bad guys, which we knew would never be in the movie? People deserved to have a nice showdown at the end of that movie. If I was making it, it would have been different.”

The Expendables 2 finale is set in an airport, and the production took time out to film a brief cameo where Novak Djokovic picks up his racket to wack terrorists. Said terrorists – despite wielding automatic weapons – obligingly walk right up to Djokovic so he can smack them in the face. It’s a goofy little scene that was cut from the sequel, but Adkins revealed that the half-day it took to shoot this silly cameo came out of the two days allotted to the fight between Hector and Christmas.