Featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the most prominent action movie stars of all time, Sabotage follows the time-honored plot of money being stolen and people being killed. But, with a movie like this, the plot is not what people go to see. What matters is a high body count and lots of gunfire, and on this front Sabotage delivers. Sadly, that is just about all Sabotage has going for it—no unique plot and certainly no emotional investment into any of the characters.
Schwarzenegger leads team of elite DEA agents, featuring such stars as Sam Worthington, Joe Manganiello, and Terrence Howard. The movie begins with a drug bust in Mexico, where Breacher’s (Schwarzenegger) team steals ten million dollars of cartel money. However, when they go to retrieve their stash, the money is missing. Somehow, the DEA believes that Breach and his team stole the money, and the team is put on suspension during the investigation. After six months and no evidence against them, the team is back together and ready to fight crime.
Immediately after Breacher’s return to command, people on the team begin to get killed. Suspecting the cartel they stole from to be behind the crime, the police and DEA race to ensure no more people are killed. What ensues is exactly what should be expected after watching the first ten minutes of the movie alone: a lot of shooting and a lot of blood. Interspersed with the shooting is some forced dialogue and backstory that almost raise more questions than they answer. Clearly, the movie was written for the action, with words being added to the script as an afterthought.
Perhaps the most memorable part of the movie was the cinematography and special effects. Numerous scenes in the movie were created in a way such that previous events and current events were being played out at the same time. There was also so much blood and death that the special effects crew really had their work cut out for them. Somehow, they were able to succeed in style by being subtle enough not to recreate scenes more fitting in a Quentin Tarantino blood bath, yet graphic enough to fit the mood of the film.
Sabotage is a movie that does exactly what it sets out to do, shoot just about everyone. There is no underlying message, no elaborate character development, and there is certainly an expectation of suspension of disbelief. What the film does do is provide almost two hours of suspense, shooting, and the occasional unimpressive plot twist. If you need to burn a couple hours, and enjoy gratuitous violence in your movies go ahead and see it. Otherwise, save your time and money and wait for anything else.
Photo: IMDB
