Rated
R (Strong Bloody Violence, Pervasive Language, Some Sexuality/Nudity and Drug Use)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 49 Minutes
Cast-
Arnold
Schwarzenegger-John 'Breacher' Wharton
Sam
Worthington-James 'Monster' Murray
Mireille
Enos-Lizzy Murray
Joe
Manganiello-Joe 'Grinder' Phillips
Terrence
Howard-Julius 'Sugar' Edmonds
Josh
Holloway-Eddie 'Neck' Jordan
Max
Martini-Tom 'Pyro' Roberts
Kevin
Vance-Bryce 'Tripod' McNeely
Mark
Schlegel-'Smoke' Jennings
Olivia
Williams-FBI Agent Caroline Brentwood
Harold
Perrineau-FBI Agent Darius Jackson
Martin
Donovan-Floyd Demel
Troy
Garity-Agent Spolcheck
Tim
Ware-Stan Morris/DEA Interrogator #1
Gary
Grubbs-Lou Cantrell/DEA Interrogator #2
Catherine
Dyer-Karen Wharton
Patrick
Johnson-Jacob Wharton
Directed
by David Ayer
 |
| Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest film may have flopped but he'll always have Chevrolet. |
Note: Screened on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at AMC Loews 34th Street 14.
One
of the many underrated films of 2012 was David Ayer's "End of Watch"
starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña. Utilizing the same found-footage aesthetics
that have become all the rage in horror, Ayer's visceral cop drama was, and I quote
from my own review, 'a surprisingly poignant tribute to every law-enforcement
officer working the beat, serving as a reminder that these people are just normal
folks who put their lives on the line day after day to protect their fellow man.'
Other critics similarly praised the film (it has an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes) and
it was a modest box office success, grossing $48.1 million worldwide against a
micro-budget of $7 million. Primarily known for writing 2001's "Training Day"
and directing the forgettable crime dramas "Harsh Times" and "Street
Kings," "End of Watch" was Ayer's best work by far but all the goodwill
he amassed is flushed down the toilet with the ill-conceived action/crime
thriller "Sabotage." Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the picture is
loosely inspired by Agatha Christie's famous 1939 mystery novel And Then There Were None. Since leaving
office, Schwarzenegger's post-gubernatorial film career has sadly been met with
one box office flop after another. Although I enjoyed last year's "The Last
Stand" and "Escape Plan," it seems the moviegoers that made him such
a huge success during the 1980s have long since moved on while younger audiences
just don't care (or know) about him anymore. I've always enjoyed watching Schwarzenegger
on the big-screen and it's nice to see him tackle a more morally ambiguous role
but "Sabotage" is a complete mess, with a mystery that fails to engage
and a foul-mouthed script that's buried by unlikable characters and ugly, snuff
film-like violence.
John
'Breacher' Wharton (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a veteran DEA agent who leads an
elite task force based in Atlanta, Georgia. This task force consists of eight
other members: James 'Monster' Murray (Sam Worthington) and his wife Lizzy (Mireille
Enos), Joe 'Grinder' Phillips (Joe Manganiello), Julius 'Sugar' Edmonds (Terrence
Howard), Eddie 'Neck' Jordan (Josh Holloway), Tom 'Pyro' Roberts (Max Martini),
Bryce 'Tripod' McNeely (Kevin Vance), and 'Smoke' Jennings (Mark Schlegel). During
a daylight raid on a cartel safe house, Breacher and his team steal $10 million
in drug money from a massive stash, with the cash hidden away in a drain pipe underneath
a toilet. Although they manage to cover their tracks by blowing up the cartel's
leftover money, the heist unfortunately doesn't go as smooth as they had initially
planned, with Smoke taking a fatal bullet to the neck. Later that night, Breacher
and his team travel down to the sewers to retrieve the money but discover to
their shock that it is now gone. To make matters worse, the DEA learns of the
missing loot and suspects they took it. Breacher's superior Floyd Demel (Martin
Donovan) suspends the squad and opens an investigation but everyone denies
their involvement and refuses to give up any information. Tripod even ends up quitting
while he is interrogated. With no concrete evidence of their participation,
Demel is forced to call off the probe and reinstate Breacher and his team.
However, he reminds him that they are more or less blacklisted due to their alleged
illegal activities. Growing restless from their suspension, the team is
overjoyed to hear they're back in action but their celebration is cut short
when someone begins taking them down one by one, drawing the attention of a local
FBI investigator named Caroline Brentwood (Olivia Williams).
There's
a scene in "Sabotage" where Brentwood goes to Breacher's house while
his team is gathered there, mourning the loss of one of their own—if you can
even call it mourning considering the trashy way they behave. She tries to ask Eddie
'Neck' Jordan (what is up with these asinine codenames?) a couple of questions but
when he acts in a rude and sleazy manner, Breacher yells at him for his disrespect
and pulls Brentwood aside. While explaining that Neck has been dodging her for
the past three days, she notices a number of photographs showing Breacher's—and
by extension, Arnold's—illustrious career. It's one of two humorously self-aware
moments, with the other involving the former Governator angrily excusing
himself from a pair of hapless interrogators with the line, 'Look at you, with your
forty-eight percent body fat, and you, you scrawny f*ck!' That scene drew laughs
from the entire audience but that's pretty much all the enjoyment you'll get out
of David Ayer's latest effort as the rest of "Sabotage" is an unpleasant,
repugnant mess. During Brentwood's brief visit to Breacher's house, it's not
only Neck that's behaving in a sleazy, vulgar manner, it's the entire team! What's
worse is that these people are supposedly 'grieving.' I'm not sure what stage
of the grieving process involves hiring a stripper; maybe it hasn't been classified
yet by psychiatrists…or maybe these people are just scumbags.
Neck's
conduct toward Brentwood is an example of one of the film's many problems—its open
contempt and misogyny toward women—but what really sinks the picture is the grotesque
violence, which buries whatever point Ayer is trying to make, not that it matters
much anyway considering the shoddy plotting from co-writer Skip Woods. The camera
seems to linger with fetishistic glee on all the multiated body parts and hanging
entrails, to the point where it feels like you're watching a snuff film. Apparently,
Ayer is attempting to show how the people who fight in the so-called 'War on Drugs'
have become psychologically indistinguishable from the cartels themselves (Monster
even likens Breacher's team to a gang) but the director goes too far and offers
absolutely no redeeming qualities to the characters. At one point, Breacher
tries to rally his squad during a tense practice session by remarking that he
trusts all of them with his life yet it comes off as an incredibly hollow
sentiment. Uniformly abusive, repellant, and mean-spirited, the men (and woman)
of Breacher's team are the kinds of people that honor a fallen comrade by getting
drunk and going to a strip club. Since they're all so despicable, we don't care
about what happens to them and it reduces the central mystery to a mild curiosity
at best. The sole character that manages to earn some sympathy is Breacher
himself, with the film slowly revealing a tragic backstory involving his wife and
son. Unfortunately, Ayer constantly cuts to Breacher watching a video (sent by
the cartel) of his wife being tortured and shot to death. It's just too much and
wholly unnecessary.
As
if torture-porn violence and reprehensible characters aren't enough, "Sabotage"
is also poorly directed. It's as if Ayer thought he did too good a job in
"End of Watch" and decided to not even bother trying here. Midway
through the film, Breacher and Brentwood attempt to warn Bryce 'Tripod' McNeely
that someone is picking off their team one by one. Their approach to Tripod's cabin
is intercut with scenes of him fighting off four cartel assassins. Since
they're edited together, you would think that both events are occurring at the
same time but they're actually not as the scenes involving Tripod are flashbacks.
Look, I'm all for experimentation. In fact, it's something directors should do but not at the expense of clarity. At least the action scenes (what
little there are) escape relatively unscathed and I do admire the way Ayer goes
to great lengths to accurately portray the DEA's squad tactics. He's always been
a stickler for such details. I just wish he paid a little more attention to Woods'
questionable credentials and hired another co-writer who could've reined him in
and had the courage to say 'No.'
Arnold
Schwarzenegger is not a great thespian by any stretch of the word but the
former California governor actually delivers a quiet and dare I say, dignified performance
as DEA squad leader Breacher. This is definitely one of his more complex roles,
with Schwarzenegger dialing down his movie-star charisma in order to
effectively convey his character's long-simmering rage and grief. Although Breacher
is far from being a good guy, you at least understand where his actions are
coming from. It's just a shame that Schwarzenegger's efforts are wasted on such
a terrible film. Another bright spot is Olivia Williams, who displays a wry
sense of humor and lends the picture some much-needed integrity as FBI investigator
Caroline Brentwood. However, the script saddles her with an out-of-nowhere
romance with Breacher that goes, well, nowhere. It's a minor misstep, one that fortunately
doesn't detract from her solid performance. I wish I could say the same for the
rest of the cast, which includes Sam Worthington, Mireille Enos, Joe Manganiello,
Terrence Howard, Josh Holloway, and Max Martini. These are no doubt talented performers
yet they're given almost nothing to work with here. Hell, besides their ridiculous
codenames, their characters' only distinguishing features are their crazy
hairstyles, with Worthington going bald with a goatee and Manganiello sporting
cornrows. Enos actually proves to be quite memorable but for all the wrong
reasons. The actress goes so over-the-top with the 'tough bad-chick' routine
that it becomes a parody. Even Michelle Rodriguez would be embarrassed.
Released
on March 28, 2014, "Sabotage" has received overwhelmingly negative
reviews with 22% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that it 'boasts one of Arnold
Schwarzenegger's finer post-political performances, but it's wasted in a movie driven
by grueling violence that punishes seemingly without purpose.' Although Schwarzenegger
went out of his way to promote the film by making surprise appearances at advance
screenings, "Sabotage" completely tanked at the domestic box office with
a pitiful opening weekend gross of $5.2 million. That is the worse debut for a Schwarzenegger film since 1985's "Red
Sonja" and is his third straight flop since his return to leading-man
status. Still, that hasn't stopped the actor from forging ahead with a slate of
projects, with a fifth "Terminator" film set to go into production in
a matter of weeks. Look, I'm a big fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger. I've even enjoyed his lesser films from the early 2000s and am glad that he's decided to make movies again but I think we can all agree that "Sabotage" is not the type of picture we want to see him in a second time. I will reiterate that his performance is not the problem; it's everything around him that's bad. David Ayer's latest is a schlocky piece of direct-to-video garbage that just happens to boast some star-power.
Final
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
"In
what we do, there is only trust."
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