Sabotage

Greedy, greedy, greedy! That's how I would describe Hollywood these days and sadly I think that greed will ultimately lead to it's downfall. Sure they stay afloat with superhero reboot after superhero reboot but eventually we will all get tired of that. And I wont even go into their refusal to adapt to changes in technology and how we prefer to view or get our movies (they are slowly coming around on this btw). But in an effort to corner the market, they changed the face of the action star in order to bring in the female viewer in. So instead of men that are full of steroids and awesome one liners, we are stuck with Shia Ladouche (Labeouf) and Ben Affleck trying to sell us on what's manly. Maybe I'm stuck in the good old days when Arnold and Charles Bronson taught us how to talk shit and look cool while beating a man senseless but dammit at least I can recognize a good action flick when I see one. And that's the issue, when we are finally done with retread superhero movies, we at some point have to recognize and enjoy normal action flicks when they come around. And that's why I was so disappointed when Sabotage bombed at the box office this weekend.

This movie had a good writer and director in Street King's David Ayer, a great cast that included Sam Worthington, Terrence Howard, Rushmore's Olivia Williams, and everyone's favorite chimpanzee Mireille Enos, and it even had Arnold trying to act again (he succeeded btw). So there was absolutely no reason for this movie to fail.

If you have ever seen an Ayer flick then you know it's going to come complete with brutally violent action scenes, an intricate plot, and morally questionable characters that drive the story. What I love best about his films however is the great banter that takes place between the cops. And from everything I have read and seen, Ayer for the most part nails the dialogue and joke cracking that takes place between what is essentially a family of action junkies. Whenever things start to slow down a bit in the movie, someone says something so off the wall that it has you shamefully laughing at a quip that would normally make your mother blush. But that's what's so great about this film, it feels like you are watching something that's real and not some over the top fabrication where you see people coming out of a burning building without any smoke inhalation or singed clothing. Kind of like those Pierce Brosnan Bond movies where he's water skiing in a tux and it never gets wet. If only  I could afford those water resistant Armani threads!  But I digress.

In Sabotage, Arnold and his special unit DEA team take down a ruthless cartel and in the process confiscate their money. But before they let the supporting units in, they steal 10 million of it for themselves and stash it somewhere underground for safe keeping. They get away with the heist at the time but when they return the next day to retrieve their money, someone has already beaten them to it. The higher ups at the DEA somehow know that they more than likely stole money, they just cant prove anything. So they shut down Arnold and his team to do a lengthy investigation. When they eventually clear him and his team of any wrongdoing due to a lack of evidence, Arnold returns only to find his team both unruly and undisciplined due to the amount of downtime they had.  And more importantly he discovers that the lack of a payday from their heist has led to distrust amongst the group. It's not too long after they are allowed to work together again that someone, presumably the cartels, starts knocking them off one by one.

I can see why the critics weren't too high on this movie, it's mainly due to the fact that its kind of a downer and that Ayer goes a little too over the top with the gore. But that doesn't take away from the fact that it's a darn good movie. I can honestly say that I had no clue how the movie was going to end and I was completely dumbfounded by the multiple plot twists. All of the typical Ayer elements that I described earlier are in this movie and the acting (including Arnolds) is spot on. Howard might have been a bit of a miscast but it he honestly wasn't asked to do much in this film.

I rate this movie as FRESH and suggest that you check it out. If for nothing else, do yourself a favor and go see what real men look like. If you want to see dudes in skinny jeans sweat, just come to Austin in June.