Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn't exactly had the best of luck
since making his return to feature films. His starring roles in The Last Stand and Escape Plan didn't light up the box office. In fact, Last Stand seemed to disappear from
theaters almost as soon as it arrived. That's a shame because it was a fun,
little action movie, which is more than could be said for Sabotage, an ensemble piece from director David Ayer. Ayer has been
known for shining a gritty spotlight on law enforcement with films like Training Day, Harsh Times, Street Kings,
and End of Watch. This time, he turns
his attention from the LAPD to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Arnold stars as John "Breacher" Wharton, a head of
an elite team of DEA agents. Wharton became known for bringing down the
infamous leader of a Mexican drug cartel. However, in revenge, the cartel had
Breacher's wife and son tortured to death. Breacher's team consists of a bunch
of foul-mouthed, hard-drinking agents with nicknames that make them sound like
G.I. Joes. There's Smoke (Mark Schlegel), Tripod (Kevin Vance), Pyro (Max
Martini), Sugar (Terrence Howard), Grinder (Joe Manganiello), Neck (Josh
Holloway), Monster (Sam Worthington), and his wife Lizzy (Mireille Enos).
During a raid on a cartel safe house, Breacher and his team
steal $10 million and stash it down a sewer pipe. But, when they come back for
it, the cash is gone. The unit spends the next several months on the sidelines
while under investigation. Just as they are reinstated, someone begins murdering
the agents one by one in gruesome manner. Is the cartel looking for revenge or
is the killer someone within?
Arnold should be commended for stepping slightly out of his
comfort zone. He's not the invincible hero we've seen him play countless times
before. There's weariness to his character, one who is burdened by his almost
mythical reputation, which could be seen as a meta-comment on his real life. The
rippling muscles are gone, but the size and bulk are still there as Arnold
resembles a weathered human bulldozer. Breacher is the darkest character Arnold
has played and he's in perfect company. None of the protagonists are very
sympathetic. In fact, they're all scumbags. They drink, curse, and don't seem
to value life. Thus, we're hardly invested in the half-hearted, Agatha Christie
murder mystery at the heart of the film.
The screenplay by Ayer and Skip Woods (who brought us Swordfish and A Good Day To Die Hard) seems more preoccupied with gruesome deaths
than with creating any compelling characters. We see a man nailed to the
ceiling with guts and blood spilled all over the floor, but no logical
explanation as to how the killer got from point A to point B. A climactic car
chase is nothing short of gratuitous when it turns into a scene from Grand Theft Auto as innocent bystanders
are splattered across a windshield. The movie was previously titled Breacher and Ten, but the studio eventually settled on the generic sounding Sabotage, despite there being no
examples of actual sabotage in the story.
Actors like Harold Perrineau and Josh Holloway are in
so few scenes that you wonder why they bothered to show up at all. Sam
Worthington has fallen far from Pandora. Not only is he barely in the movie,
he's also barely recognizable with his shaved head and braided goatee. He and
co-star Joe Manganiello look like they were trying out for Sons of Anarchy and took a wrong turn. The best performance in Sabotage belongs to Mireille Enos whose
Lizzy is a hot mess, drug-addled due to her extensive undercover work. She's
the sole woman on the team and plays it fierce as a way to overcompensate
amidst the ocean of testosterone. She's hardly a glowing example of a strong
female character and neither is Olivia Williams as an FBI agent assigned to the
murders. Her character leaps into bed with Breacher in a wholly superfluous
scene. Williams is a fine British actress, but her attempts at a Southern drawl
yield embarrassing results.
Even the most ardent aficionado of Arnold actioners will
have a hard time finding anything redeeming in Sabotage.
Rating: * (*****)
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