Sabotage

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Joe Manganiello, Josh Holloway, Terrence Howard, Max Martini, Kevin Vance, Mireille Enos, Martin Donovan, Olivia Williams, Harold Perrineau
Directed by: David Ayer
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Drama
2014

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After a group of elite DEA agents robs a drug cartel, someone begins killing them one-by-one.

Review:

Tim: David Ayer seems to be a overrated as a Director. I thought Street Kings was only decent, and End of Watch was good, but not great. Here, he delivers another gritty crime drama, and Sabotage is less effective than either of those previously mentioned films. Ayer might have some talent, but I wouldn't spend too much time looking for it here.

The story is fairly straightforward- an elite group of DEA agents pulls off a dangerous heist during a sanctioned raid. No one in their department knows that they robbed a drug cartel of millions of dollars. When they go back to get the money later, it mysteriously vanished. This creates an interesting mystery- did one of them steal the money? If so, who? If it wasn't them, who stole it and how did they know where it was? The mystery becomes even more intense when each member of the group begins to die in extremely gruesome ways. Ayer never really capitalizes on this mystery. I was certainly interested to see who it was, but I never felt any kind of real passion or suspense around it. It was just another element of the film.

The cast is really good on paper, but they're just underutilized in the film. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the headliner and he has the most screen time. I thought he gave an okay performance, but it's a far cry from glory years. I'm not sure how the long break away from acting impacted his ability so much, but even a few years after returning, he still hasn't found it. That is discouraging to see on screen. Olivia Williams was a nice addition to the cast and was one of the more effective members. Sam Worthington was nearly unrecognizable. He does have a few powerful scenes, but I couldn't help but feel like he needed more screen time and better character development. Joe Manganiello's performance felt a little forced- he was obviously out of his element with better actors around him. Josh Holloway was a fun addition to the cast, but he has too little to do. Terrence Howard is likewise wasted in a small, thankless role. Mireille Enos had far too much screen time- I never bought her performance, which is a shame, because she's on screen a lot. She was trying too hard. I liked seeing Harold Perrineau, and he actually added a good deal in a small role. As a whole, the cast is quite good, but Ayer never uses them to their full potential.

The story is a bit of a mess. You have a big cast and many characters to get to know. Ayer goes out of his way to show how tough and elite the group is, but you never really develop any kind of bond with any of them. They're not characters that are fun to watch on screen. They are either unlikeable or underdeveloped. That means that I never really cared about any of them, so I was ambivalent when they started dying. The movie tries to throw a few twists and turns into the plot, but it never felt very surprising or all that interesting. It was fine, but the script needed some work. Ayer co-wrote the screenplay, so he's partially to blame for it. When the film finally ended and all was revealed, I just kind of shrugged. I felt very 'eh' about the entire movie.

I really believe David Ayer is a director with a lot of promise. It's maddening to see his inability to elevate a film like this above the standard level for the genre. This film doesn't even meet the standard- it wasn't terrible, but it really offered nothing new or exciting. It just felt like another generic crime movie. The best directors can take any genre and make it something special. Ayer is certainly focused on this gritty, real life crime movies. I'm all for that, but he has to give us great movies. What we get with Sabotage is just more of the same.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Street Kings, End of Watch, The Last Stand