Listen, I didn’t go into “The Expendables 3” expecting a cinematic masterpiece. Neither will anyone else who wants to see it.

All anyone wants out of this is a competent, brainless action movie with an ensemble cast of action stars from the past few decades, and that’s basically what it is.

The problem with “The Expendables 3” is that this is the third time they’ve done this, and without the novelty of Rambo and the Terminator being on-screen together, we’re left with an action film that’s just amusing enough to not be totally condemnable.

As you’d expect, Sylvester Stallone’s elite mercenary group is again tasked with taking down an evil warlord, this time played by real life villain Mel Gibson, who is appropriately shouty and wild-eyed.

Among the new faces in this one are Kelsey Grammer, Harrison Ford and a few interchangeable younger dudes who might unfortunately star in a sequel down the line. There’s also a girl this time (mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey), meaning “The Expendables 3” is more inclusive than the others by the slimmest of margins.

The story basically just exists to set up several explosive action sequences, and that’s fine. The films of the ’80s and ’90s, that this is clearly trying to emulate, worked that way, too. The whole thing is just a workman-like action film with a bunch of recognizable faces, and that’s the main problem.

The first movie was able to get away with that and be enjoyable simply by virtue of its cast, and I thought the second was a much better action movie overall. But by now, the novelty has definitely worn off, and the script doesn’t make up for it. None of the one-liners are particularly funny, save for the last one Stallone delivers, which made me spit-laugh because of how bad it was.

“The Expendables 3” is one of those movies you’ll eventually watch on Netflix on a Saturday afternoon and, in that context, it’ll be entertaining enough. The action scenes (especially the last 20 minutes or so) are entirely decent, and every now and then you’ll recognize some action star of old and say, “Hey, it’s that guy!”

However, I ultimately found it to be a little forgettable and lacking whatever charm the first two had. At this point, the “Fast & Furious” movies have assembled a better ensemble cast, and those are several orders of magnitude better as action films. There’s nothing to love or hate about “The Expendables 3.”

It just exists.