Policing the police

And he doesn’t disappoint his countless fans in this orgy of graphic violence and gore.

Sabotage comes from director David Ayer, who wrote the Oscar-winning Training Day and was also the writer and director of End Of Watch. He has fashioned an energetic and abrasive cop-centred thriller with a whodunit element at its core.

Ayer has attempted to re-invent the ageing Arnie, who really looks hard-pressed here as he bravely attempts to fulfil his action-man duties. With tattoos and a no nonsense attitude, Schwarzenegger portrays legendary DEA agent John “Breacher” Wharton, who runs a team of elite agents fighting drug lords.

His psyche is deeply scarred and events from his dark past have an influence on his every action. His six-strong crew comprises a motley bunch of tough-edged individuals who enjoy fighting, women and imbibing copious amounts of alcohol. The only woman in the pack is Lizzy (Mireille Enos) a feisty red-head with a killer instinct.

The film opens with the team about to complete a major drug bust in which they “liberate”

$10 million from the stash to enrich their own bank accounts. When they return to claim it from its hiding place, however, it’s disappeared. Shortly afterwards, one-by-one, the members of Breacher’s team are killed in the most gruesome ways. As he tries to determine which member (or members) of his tight-knit “family” could be the traitor, Breacher finds himself at odds with detective (Williams) who is investigating these homicides.

Name actors such as Sam Worthington (Monster) and Terrence Howard (Sugar), are never fully utilised in a film that is totally dominated by the action sequences. The production moves at a cracking pace and character development is well maintained, but the film misfires somewhat when Ayers adds an extra 10 minutes to the ride with a tacked-on, out-of-place ending in order to provide closure for the Schwarzenegger character.

Sabotage is not a great film, but it will certainly satisfy action junkies and those who enjoy blood and gore on screen.

I don’t mind extreme violence in a film as long as it can be artistically justified, but here it is laid on so thickly at times it becomes a bore.