SABOTAGE (review)

Review by Benn Robbins

This may be one of the best Arnold Schwarzenegger films I have seen in a very long time.

This is, in some way Arnie’s Unforgiven.

I know. This is a very bold statement. But I am going to explain why I feel this way.

Is this film as good as Unforgiven?

Not in the least bit.

Written and directed by David Ayer, the writer of Training Day and the writer/director of End of Watch, Sabotage is a very gritty and dark action film.

It pushes the boundaries of the genre.

The over the top violence and I will go so far to say gory imagery are both used to shock but also to sober the viewer to a world where it is the norm to see heads explode and people being riddled with bullets on prime time TV nowadays. The violence is not done in a way that it becomes almost comical, such as in Stallone’s Rambo (2008) or Snyder’s 300 (2006) it is more visceral and stark. Almost hyperrealistic.

Sabotage follows John “Breacher” Wharton, played by Schwarzenegger, an elite DEA team leader who’s team are made up of, what looks like, a very jacked and tattooed version of half the cast of Duck Dynasty and Pawn Stars.

Sam Worthington (Avatar, Clash of the Titans, Terminator Salvation), Joe Manganiello (Magic Mike, True Blood), Terrence Howard (Crash, Iron Man, Hustle & Flow), Mireille Enos (World War Z, The Killing, Big Love) and Harold Perrineau (Zero Dark Thirty, 28 Weeks Later, Lost) are perfectly cast and believable as a team of misfits who are not only terrible to each other but would take a hundred rounds for one another in the heat of battle.

The film begins with a bust on a very large and dangerous drug cartel where the “score” is a HUGE pile of money in the hundreds of millions. The elite team take out the bad guys and then proceed to steal 10 million dollars and destroy the rest before the FBI can enter the building. All goes “south” when the money disappears and the team is investigated for corruption. When the investigation is dropped by the Feds, then the “real” problems begin as one by one each member of the team is brutally killed off.

Now back to my original statement of this being Arnie’s Unforgiven. This film is not, from my memory, like any film he has done. I have to say that I have seen every Arnie film with the exception of his previous two, post-Governator” films, Escape Plan and Last Stand, so I may be wrong.

Sabotage is about morality and the slow degradation of mental well being of a, once upstanding, man pushed beyond his limits due to a horrific experience and loss. His choices seen like the right ones but in the end, they are not the decisions of a well-balanced individual.

Torture, rape and dismemberment of loved ones can do that to the best people out there. These are shown in graphic, if obscured and blurry, video footage that he watches over and over again, showing his slow degradation over the course of the film. As this, once honored and decorated, officer investigates and goes after the men responsible for killing off his team members the lines of right and wrong get more and more blurred.

Breacher is unwillingly joined in his investigation by an Atlanta Police Homicide Detective, played by Olivia Williams, who is slowly unravelling what is happening to Breacher’s team along with uncovering the mystery of the “lost” 10 million dollars. It seems that the closer they get the further away from the truth they get.

The story, though somewhat formulaic, is well-directed and beautifully shot by cinematographer and J.J. Abraham alum, Bruce McCleery. The editing and sound design are gorgeous and well paced.

As balls-to-the-wall action films go this is a great ride and though there are a lot of “red herring” and “Macguffins” thrown at you it never loses track or focus. I highly recommend this film for anyone who is looking for an ultra-violent date movie for the strong stomached and iron constitutioned. This film is NOT for people who don’t like torture, evisceration, drug use, funny dialogue and bad-assery.

Oh and look for The director and Arnie’s “nod” to to the old “Man with No Name” films near the end. It is pretty amazing.