Sabotage

The 389th film I have seen in theaters…

This was a fairly “blah” movie. No real need to ever see it again. The gore was incredibly detailed, almost obscenely so. Wife hated it, called it one of the worst shes ever seen. I cannot go that far. I do fear that the days of Arnold being a box office leader are over.

A group of DEA agents turn bad and try to steal 10 million from a drug cartel. It goes south as the money vanishes. The team all suspect each other of taking the loot. The DEA investigates them, but finds no evidence to prove the crime. One by one, team members start turning up dead. The cartel is after them for the stolen money. As is always the case with these movies, the murders are not what they seem.

Arnold is a living cinematic legend, despite his turn as a politician. This movie would have been far worse without his contributions. He’s still a movie star, but I think he is pretty much done as far as box office goes. His big franchises might do well (especially the new Conan movie) but its the end. I will continue to support his movies though, he was probably the biggest star of my childhood, a modern John Wayne.

Each of the other cast members contributed equally to this, and I cannot fault the performances, all were very good. Then again, its not that tough to be good when you have a team like Sam Worthington (Terminator 4, Clash of the Titans), Olivia Williams (Dollhouse), Terrence Howard (The first Rhodey in Iron Man), Joe Manganiello (True Blood), Harold Perrineau (Lost- “WALT!”), and Josh Holloway (Lost- Sawyer).

The best of this supporting cast is Mireille Enos (The twins on Big Love) who brings the right amount of crazy to the movie. Her character is starting to crack due to the pressure of the heist gone wrong and is turning to drugs. The movie could have used more of her.

In the end, this is not a bad movie, despite what my wife thinks (yes, I am in trouble lol). It is an okay movie that tried to be “training day”. That’s not a bad thing to aim for, especially with the writer of that movie involved, but its incredibly raw. The violence comes so strong, so often, that it actually detracts from the performances. Yes, I cannot believe I wrote that about a Schwarzenegger movie either, but its true. One thing I must say, the ending of the film is about perfect. I have zero doubt that the final scene is the reason Arnold did this movie. I’d wait for red box though.