Anarchy Journal Constitutional

by @anarchyroll
4/25/2014

Arnold Schwarzenegger in a ‘R’ rated action movie, if that doesn’t sell you on Sabotage then it’s not the movie for you.

If you remember Arnold’s prime and know what renting VHS tapes means, then you want to see this movie whether you will admit it or not.

If you are younger and first discovered Arnold as Mr. Freeze or as the Governor of California, then what may sell you on this movie is that it is easily the goriest action movie I have ever seen. Not just bullets, knives, and explosions but horror movie gore. Horror movies have exploded into a super genre in the past fifteen years, Sabotage is the action movie for the young horror film fan generation.

I was honestly surprised how much this movie didn’t phone it in. I was expecting formulaic characters, scenarios, and action scenes with a few mods here and there or the movie equivalent of the Call of Duty or Madden video game franchises. Sabotage had it’s share of formula, but for each example of formula there was at least one if not two deliberate twists in character development and plot to keep me interested.

The movie did drag in the middle on it’s way to the climax and conflict resolutions but the beginning and ending packed more than a punch to move this movie out of Average-ville. There was even a good shooter scene to stop the drag in the middle from stretching too long. I certainly didn’t see the last twist before the final scene coming, mainly because the action scene that preceded it was high octane enough to pull my mind away from guessing what was coming next, and fully into the craziness I was seeing in front of my eyes at the moment.

There is a nice mix of camera tricks, color saturation, extreme close ups, wide shots, one liners, explosions, gun fights, and a clear effort by cast and crew to get themselves and this project over. The movie appeared to me to have had a limited budget. In an past era of lower production value, this would have been a straight to video release. But there is just enough of everything that matters to warrant a nationwide theater release. There is more than enough of action and attempted innovation to warrant a recommendation to see Sabotage in my opinion.

In the era of Netflix and Redbox I certainly recommend this movie for the price one will have to pay for it as part of a bulk streaming service plan. It isn’t too long and will make for good popcorn fodder. Any fan of Arnold or of gory horror films will appreciate Sabotage. It’s not gonna change minds or change the world, it’s not meant to, it’s an AHHHNALD action movie. If it’s not a crazy epic comic book movie, then I wouldn’t want my action movie any other way.