Sabotage

David Ayer had as bright a future as M. Night Shyamalan once did after Training Day came out in 2001, and he's continued to dominate his genre of gritty, corrupt cops walking the thin blue line, with often tragic (or deserved) endings. His hallmark is realism and bad-assery. Maybe inspired by Vic Mackey and the astounding Shield series created by Shawn Ryan, his passion for law enforcement bleeds through onto the screen. That's exactly why I was disappointed. In his passion and success with Training Day and End of Watch, you would think that he would maintain the fidelity of realism that audiences can't seem to get enough of. That is not at all the case with Sabotage.

It's amateur hour for Ayer and action dud writer Skip Woods as they create a story that goes nowhere, characters that are so unbelievably dull that it's almost cringe-inspiring, and dialogue that is both unnecessary and offensive. The acting becomes so robotic that you forget you're watching a film with some truly excellent players.

Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn't been the same action star since his foray into politics (I'm still scratching my head at the decision that the California voters made). He's too old, and the Austrian accent isn't cute anymore. I hate to say it, but it's time to hang up the cigar and sunglasses. I reached this decision during a gunfight in a seedy bar where it was a laborious task for him to stand up, climb up on the bar, grunt and groan in getting his full weight onto it, and swivel around and plop off on the other side like a sack of potatoes.

The rest of the cast probably jumped at the idea of doing a fun, gritty cop movie; Sam Worthington, Terrence Howard, Joe Manganiello, Josh Holloway, Max Martini, Kevin Vance, and Mireille Enos (World War Z). Great cast on paper, but each one is given a ridiculous call sign, and for a DEA special operations team, they are beyond dysfunctional and inept. They go through training motions as if we're supposed to be impressed at their lack of professionalism and bumbling choices devoid of organization or structure. They banter with each other as if it's canned (which it is), and they disregard any sense of honor or respect for their positions.

The film starts with the back story that haunts their fearless and demigod leader, Breacher (Ahnold). He is forced to watch a video of his wife and son being tortured and killed by a Mexican drug cartel, and for some reason, he returns to watch the video multiple times throughout the film, presumably to give him the strength and resolve to keep up the good fight.

The team conducts a raid on a mansion, and we are given a glimpse at their "skills". I use quotations because there is no semblance of protocol in their movement or chatter. It's almost insulting. They are a bunch of amateurs. Anyhow, they plan the theft of $10 million, and after completing their mission and going back to pick up the money, it has mysteriously vanished. The rest of the film casts suspicion on the crew, as if it really matters who took the money at this point. They are picked off one by one, and their only hope is to find out who took the money, and stop the person orchestrating the assassinations. Sounds like a fun plot, but it's full of holes.

Let me tell you what I didn't like about the film. There is a husband and wife duo on this particular ten person SWAT team. What? In what world would this be acceptable? Additionally, they are all crooked, which worked for The Shield, but at least there would be some group dynamic drama if one of them weren't dirty. Thirdly, they never really seem to be on the job. They sort of do what they want when they want without having to report to any authority higher than Schwarzenegger. And they never do paperwork. And they never have inquiries when they kill dozens of people.

I also didn't like that they made each of the characters extremely shallow and beyond unqualified. Most of them were made to be unstable, which I suppose fits the profile of federal law enforcement special operations teams to some extent (adrenaline junkies), but one had a drug addiction (that everyone knew about), and the cool factor just dropped significantly when this band of cretins ran amok. There's no sympathy when they start falling one by one.

The killings were unnecessarily gruesome. Maybe it was to show realism, but some of them defied logic, and meshed with the laughable dialogue and choices by the characters, it just didn't jive with me. Finally, the story. The outcome was unexpected, but disappointing and without much suspense. While watching the final shootouts, I was just waiting for it to be over.

What did I like about it? I still love the genre. I like many of the actors in the film (although a bit less now). That's really about it. The film itself was awful. I'm not entirely sure how it passed the studio screenings without someone raising their hand and saying "umm, do you guys think maybe..." It had moments of entertaining action, but that was truly it. Worst film of 2014 so far that I've seen. 3/10.