Sabotage (2014)
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Critics Consensus: Sabotage 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.
Critics Consensus: Sabotage 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.
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Movie Info
In "Sabotage", Arnold Schwarzenegger leads an elite DEA task force that takes on the world's deadliest drug cartels. When the team successfully executes a high-stakes raid on a cartel safe house, they think their work is done - until, one-by-one, the team members mysteriously start to be eliminated. As the body count rises, everyone is a suspect. (c) Open Road- Rating:
- R (for strong bloody violence, pervasive language, some sexuality/nudity and drug use)
- Genre:
- Mystery & Suspense , Action & Adventure
- Directed By:
- David Ayer
- Written By:
- Skip Woods
- In Theaters:
- Mar 28, 2014 Wide
- On DVD:
- Jul 22, 2014
- US Box Office:
- $10.5M
Cast
-
Sam Worthington
as James "Monster" Murr... -
Arnold Schwarzenegge...
as Breacher -
Terrence Howard
as Julius "Sugar" Edmon... -
Josh Holloway
as Eddie "Neck" Jordan
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Critic Reviews for Sabotage
All Critics (103) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (20) | Rotten (83)
I don't know what Ayer is trying to prove by dunking the camera in spilled guts and having it linger over charred and frozen corpses.
What redeems all this, to some extent, is Ayer's bleak but honest vision... he understands how law-enforcement people witnessing the depths of humanity might lack the necessary character to climb back up.
For most of its running length, Sabotage is a gritty, compelling motion picture with twists to make a pretzel envious. Unfortunately, it overstays its welcome.
Sabotage starts off as a fun, nasty, occasionally surprising little piece of genre filmmaking. But it gradually loses the thread.
Director David Ayer has made two of the best films about the tough lives of cops -- Training Day and End of Watch -- but his streak ends with the very violent and ultimately forgettable Sabotage.
[an] ugly, abrasive and thoroughly charm-resistant bag of slop
Arnie's macho crew are such an obnoxious bunch of meatheads - and that goes, too, for Mireille Enos, its lone women member - that you will struggle to care.
Part heist film, part action thriller, part murder mystery, the movie is punishingly violent (in one scene, the camera lingers over squashed body parts after a drug agent is hit by a train). The ugliness is so pervasive it becomes perversely fascinating.
...it becomes more and more clear that virtually all of the movie's protagonists are unlikable...
Writer-director David Ayer is hoping to unleash that bad guy action-noir vibe he successfully unhatched in "Training Day" and to a lesser extent in "End of Watch." This time, he lays an egg.
Scenes of people kicking doors down and shooting each other in the head are efficiently handled - it's everything else that's a problem.
It is worth remembering that John Wayne, an actor almost as inexpressive as he is, did much of his finest work at the tail end of his career. Sadly, post-gubernator Arnie hasn't yet found his equivalents to True Grit or El Dorado.
Arnie does his best but, as so often, turns out to be limited in scope: when called upon to look upset, his inner cyborg punctures the mood; when he sighs, we snigger.
There won't be any awards but, for the first time, Arnie is actually acting here.
The so-called Governator has returned to what he does best, or maybe not best, but certainly most lucratively, making films high on action and low on credibility. Sabotage scores impressively on both counts.
Despite some decent moments the film struggles to realise its potential.
Arnold Schwarzenegger gets one of his most complex roles yet in this messy, violent thriller, another trip to the dark side for filmmaker David Ayer.
The film around them is too, too much: too gruesome, too locker-room, too busy, too populated, and too daft.
It doesn't really work. It's a bit like finding Mary Berry serving at your local kebab shop - it just doesn't feel right.
Did Arnie have some decent motive for taking the money?
This is an ugly, brutal beast of a picture that plays like a video nasty from the Eighties.
While Sabotage boasts the best of post-hiatus Arnie, Training Day writer and End of Watch director David Ayer fails to deliver.
There's plenty to guiltily savour - most of it unintentional - in a revenge yarn that unspools like End of Watch played for laughs.
Straight to DVD would be a kindness; straight to the waste bin would be a justice.
If you relish outbursts of weird Arnold pronunciation, the moment where he exclaims, "Time to do the Looward's work" is another minor classic.
Feels like a cheap action flick and not the serious drama it is presented as, and plays like an unintentional call to end drugs prohibition and the idiotic war between cartels and law enforcement.
Audience Reviews for Sabotage
"Sabotage" is a through back to good R rated cop action/drama movies. A DEA task force led by Schwarzenegger completes a big raid. When they do they try to still 10 million dollars from the cartel. However, the money goes missing and someone begins to take out the team one by one. Sam Worthington, Terrance Howard, and Mireille Enos round out the very eclectic cast. Schwarzenegger is definitely showing his age, but of all the movies he has done since he left office, I think this is his best work. This is a pretty hard R movie, which surprised me. I wasn't really expecting it to be as bloody as it is. But it was a good surprise because this is much better than I had heard or thought. It's at 20 percent on rotten tomatoes, which is insane. David Ayer directed this along with "Training Day" and "End of Watch", both of which are amazing. This isn't as good as those, but it is right up there. Ayer is a fantastic director, and anytime I see him name on something I'll be lining right up to watch. Very entertaining movie, but not for the weak at heart.
MoreSuper Reviewer
I don't understand all the hate. I really enjoyed this flick. If you're a Schwarzenegger fan, chances are you're going to enjoy this. He delivers a fun powerhouse performance. This is a film that does what it sets out to do: entertain.
MoreSuper Reviewer
Leave no loose ends.
Good Action Movie! The whole cast was great don't get me wrong, and i enjoyed the plot of the whole film, as much as it could have been a little longer with a few more, twists and turns, it still got the point with lots of gun fire, lots of "breaching" and lots of cussing for no reason. Arnold himself being team leader, did a great job, and finished his mission no matter what, i enjoyed the hell out of this film and i think it was a come back for Arnold, it wasn't a flop. This movie had everything going for it, action packed, lots of good actors, lots of crazy gun fights, lots of cussing and dirty jokes, i saw a review that said this is a "guilty pleasure for manly men".....honestly its just a guilty pleasure for anyone who likes action movies and Arnold surrounded by a group of good actors, i hope to see him doing more movies like this, this movie was more about him and less about the other actors, i think anyone who is an action movie fan, and an Arnold fan....would enjoy this....so give it a shot.
In "Sabotage", Arnold Schwarzenegger leads an elite DEA task force that takes on the world's deadliest drug cartels. When the team successfully executes a high-stakes raid on a cartel safe house, they think their work is done - until, one-by-one, the team members mysteriously start to be eliminated. As the body count rises, everyone is a suspect.
Super Reviewer
An powerhouse and adrenaline-charged edge of your seat action-packed thriller. An explosive knockout from start to finish. A hard-core story that's filled with action, mystery and great character development. It's Director, David Ayer's toughest and most brutal film to date. A powerfully engaging and full-throttle action-packed thrill-machine that will keep you guessing right to the very finish. A shot-gun blast of mind-blowing suspense and fire-power all the way to the end and with some explosive star power added to the mix as well. I loved this movie. A wickedly entertaining and electrifying movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger gives one of his best, grittiest and strongest performances ever. Schwarzenegger just gets better and better as the years go on and shows he is more than just a nostalgic action star but a strong actor and leading man. Sam Worthington is excellent. Olivia Williams is terrific. Terrence Howard, Joe Manganiello and Mireille Enos are fantastic. The entire cast is great together and turn in solid performances. This movie just rocks, trust me pulses will pound.
MoreSuper Reviewer
Sabotage Quotes
- Caroline Brentwood:
- Ahh, help me up!
- Breacher:
- Well, we found him...
- Breacher:
- If you like the movie, send in your face!
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