Sabotage

A film as ridiculous as Schwarzenegger's acting and feigned toughness. Otherwise, nothing against Arnold, I like him in his older and time-tested films where he isn't limited by his narrow acting range, but he doesn't have the acting chops for a complex character haunted by demons and the frustration of his beloved wife's death. Moreover, with his fading physiognomy, he looks like a fist in the eye among those young, horny wolves (and one very wild "bitch" played by – unusual for her – Mireille Enos). The B-movie script, which makes less and less sense as it goes on, doesn't help things either. The result is a kind of sweaty play on a raw thriller, with a lot of plot filler and deaf spots, where even the wannabe badass lines feel forced and the violence is gratuitous. (07/11/2014)

Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to shoot some interesting movies after returning from his Governor office. And I must admit that he’s doing pretty well. Because Ayer is a very interesting director who can make him stand out in his movies. Sabotage doesn’t really have a difficult story. Arnie’s in charge of a band of queers, where one is more idiotic than the next guy. Let’s say they’re all complete idiots. And this unit is apparently one of the best anti-drug unit in America. But what happens if all of them start dying in a strange way? Being the “big guy”, Arnie immediately starts investigating it and amidst all those torn-apart bodies, he also finds a way to make the movie likeable for me. For once, I didn’t really have a problem with this level of realism, because from that point on, it turns into a solid crime investigation movie where Arnold’s enjoying himself to the fullest and it made me wonder whether I started to like this movie. The action scenes aren’t bad at all. What’s worse are the actors; the only one I liked at all was Arnold. It was only thanks to him that it turned into a solid four-star affair. I like him a lot and this movie outright depends on him, which was great. (09/01/2014)

Woods, you old bungler... Sabotage has potential. A story inspired by Ten Little Niggers by Agatha Christie grafted onto a smart DEA unit holds in store a long, meaty final twist, but that’s where (and I’m surprised at Ayer for not spotting it) failed totally. It shows too much. It’s so over-combined that it becomes a parody of a B-action movie. Shortening and cutting (or maybe even expanding...) it could turn this into a decent detective movie with a proper ending. Wasted words. Arnold tries to go against the tides and his traditional position. It works too, he hasn’t put on such a “concentrated" performance for a long time. The team is excellently cast. Manganiello is a mountain of a man and with any luck will get a chance somewhere else. After Killing, Mireille Enos in a very untraditional role. Naturalist action, not sparing the viewer the bloody details, but is it worth it if it leaves behind such an unpleasant aftertaste? The feeblest of Ayer’s movies and a bungled chance. (07/11/2014)

Michael Mann loves tough guys, hardcore action, and raw military feeling, just like David Ayer. Both of them have seen, studied and experienced and know how to create a realistic atmosphere, but they approach it from opposite ends. Mann comes from the upper echelons of society (drug barons, professional thieves, undercover cops in Ferraris), while Ayer comes from the lower ones (losers, aimless goons), and handles action brilliantly, no doubt about it. We haven't seen raw shootouts full of bullets and destruction for a while, but we have seen all the rest in his other movies, so it’s not impressive, and his groundbreaking steady cam and FPS shots are nothing new either. It would still be a decent ride if it weren't for the dumb screenplay. Arnold is alright. The nerve is there, it's just shooting, so okay. (08/14/2014)

An above average film, albeit by the skin of its teeth. Its plot is reminiscent of any of Steven Seagal's new scary movies, but the execution is infinitely better in every aspect, Arnold Schwarzenegger still knows how to give those tough looks, and the ending is especially good. The only thing that spoiled my experience was the terrible Czech dubbing (the DVD didn't come out and I had to record Sabotage from TV like in the good old days of VHS), whose actors didn't even try to put the right words in their mouths. Three and a half. (08/02/2015)

Ayer is once again digging into the nastiness of the guardians of the American dream in a way no one wants to see, except with more stones in his path than he's used to. The fact that Schwarzenegger hits his acting limits just by saying hello is simply a problem with a character who is basically unparalleled in his career to date due to his character layering, and it's not helped by the writing hand of Skip Woods, whose B-movie mentality occasionally kicks the ball well out of reality and we have to wait quite a while before it lands where it's supposed to again. An interesting aspect of Ayer is his high and unforced emancipated attitudes, which few would expect from a specialist in police themes. The women here are not the parents and bearers of liberal values in a humdrum world of drug cartels and rotten cops, but the movers of the plot, equivalent to the men, and sources of moments of surprise. As a result, the wider audience suffers too, unable to come to terms with the fact that there’s no instant sex symbol, just the insane butch Mireille Enos and the ironic investigator Olivia Williams, both excellently played. (02/02/2015)

This movie has a simple plot, there are inconsistencies at times that are noticeable, but I have a feeling that it's quite normal in the case of action movies. What I liked about it is the fact that the violence is incredibly realistic, which was maybe missing in the last "Expendables", but I also like that the team functions and doesn't function at the same time. Here, you really get the feeling that they are people. Well, and then there's Arnold, who still has it, even though he looks rather funny in some scenes. But the ending is properly cool. (08/22/2014)