Critical Capsule: Sabotage (2014)

Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to movies with a bit part in 2012's The Expendables. Since then he has appeared in that film's sequel as well as starring in The Last Stand and co-starring, with Sylvester Stallone, in Escape Plan. He is back once more in the driver's seat of a new action thriller, and it is probably the best starring role he has had since he left the Governor's mansion. This is not to say it is a great movie, but it is certainly entertaining and almost gleefully violent. It is called Sabotage.



Arnie stars as Breacher, the head of an undercover DEA task force who takes on the nastiest of the nasty drug cartels. His team is filled with barely functional socio and psycho-paths with names like Grinder, Neck, Sugar, and Monster. Sounds like a good and stable group. Anyway, as the movie gets under way, we learn that these guys are not exactly on the up and up. During a raid on a cartel safehouse, the team has devised a plan to steal some of the money stashed there. They successfully stash $10 million, however, when they go to pick it up, it is gone. This is where the fun begins.

Of course, Breacher and his team are investigated, but none crack and they are allowed to go back to work. That they do, but no sooner are they back on the case that members start getting killed. Is it the cartel or somebody else?

It plays out pretty straight forward and does not really hide the true culprit for very long. The first half of the film plays out the search for what is going on with the second half seeing Arnold, sorry, Breacher work with a police detective to stop the killer from finishing the job.

There is nothing particularly special about the movie. The plot is thin, the characters thinner, but it still manages to be entertaining. It helps that the movie is exceptionally violent and the action is handled pretty well, including a car chase towards the end of the movie.

Sabotage is a dark film, there is no light hearted feel to this like The Last Stand had. It is unrelentingly grim, bloody, and does not paint Arnie as any sort of superhero, like back in his heyday. He loosk old here, grizzled and worn, working a job he is good at but has taken a lot from him. He is supported by a pretty good collection of faces including Sam Worthington, Terrence Howard, and Mirelle Enos. It is one to enjoy if not exactly remember.

Mildly Recommended.