In the space of a week, I watched both Triple 9 and Sabotage (2014), which would make a good double feature under the sub-genre of “corrupt cops commit heist”. Along with Den Of Thieves, there’s a similar post-Heat aesthetic but jacked-up with scumbag Monster drink energy. While Triple 9 has some great sequences, looks amazing, has an all-star cast, a sense of place in its Atlanta setting and an all pervading nihilism, I had more fun with Sabotage, and might be the most I’ve ever enjoyed a David Ayer directed joint (he of Fury, Suicide Squad, Bright). With Ayer’s auteur interest in cops, gangbangers and soldiers, this time it’s a scuzzball crew of DEA agents led by post-governorship, stogie-chomping Arnold Schwarzenegger. From the first ten minutes, you’ll know if you can stomach hanging out with these excessive grotesques as they raid a drug-lord’s mansion in a hail of blood and explosions, all to skim a bit off the top from a gigantic pile of money. As the movie settles into a murder-mystery thriller plotline, similar to the Agatha Christie inspired over-the-top thrillers from previous decades (see: Identity, D-Tox, Mindhunters), we see a grizzled Schwarzenegger and the outside homicide investigator played by Olivia Williams, who is nicely chewing the scenery with a southern accent and a pixie hair cut, try to crack who is picking off Arnie’s troop one by one (and not even Arnie is above suspicion with that Starship Troopers haircut). With faint shades of Predator redirected to a world of strip-joints, government offices and drug dens, what really got me in was its whacked-out and over the top approach. This includes the cast: Sam Worthington’s bald-headed nu-metal look might be the best thing he’s ever done as an actor; Joe Manganiello dominates his scenes like a wrestler in a biker costume; and especially Mirielle Enos who I have mostly associated with calm investigators or Brad Pitt’s wife in World War Z, well, here she’s a revelation as the most tweaked-out and ferocious member of the team. Also stars Terrence Howard, Sawyer AND Michael from Lost, and Martin Donovan in corporate boss mode. Contains grotesque violence, video game POV shots of machine guns firing, multiple sequences of the actors demonstrating their drug-raid squad training, temporal distortion editing, and a border noir epilogue. Available to stream on Stan and Binge. Recommended, if you’re into the dirt-bag crime action thriller sub-genre.
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