Sabotage

I enjoyed this film because I am a Mark Dacascos fan. He plays a street smart bold character/hired bodyguard who is resourceful and tough. His one fight scene in the hotel has a great cinematic angle. At first, this film may confuse the viewer because the dialogue is not simple to grasp at first yet after the 3rd time watching this film, I finally understood it. Carry Ann-Moss plays a tough single mother/FBI agent with a strong willed-killer instinct. The film has good action, humor that is dry and a emotional-chess like story line.

Surprisingly good action film. Far better than some big budget films that somehow made it into the theaters but should have gone straight to video.

Surprisingly upscale cast. Carrie Anne Moss of future Matrix fame. Also excellent veteran character actors such as Graham Greene.

Good sniper-themed films are few and far between. The original Day of the Jackal, Sniper, Shooter, Quigley Down Under, Enemy at the Gates. You can pretty much list them on the fingers of one hand.

Admittedly Sabotage makes a few technical gaffes regarding the nitty-gritty of how snipers operate. But if one is willing to overlook them, Sabotage is actually one of the better sniper-themed films around.

Lots of "gun porn" for firearms freaks. Lots of intrigue, double-crosses and triple-crosses for thriller fans. Satisfying conclusion. I disagree with those who say the ending was an anti-climax.

It even has some of the earliest uses of "bullet time." Judicious use too, used appropriately. Not overkill.

If you're looking for a Saturday night action flick with a lot of stuff blowing up, martial arts and a bunch of one-liners you're in the wrong place. However if you came seeking a slow burn thriller with slightly more story and good performances, 'Sabotage' delivers.

Michael Bishop (Mark Dacascos) a disgraced former Navy Seal finds himself doing private bodyguard work three years after a failed mission in Bosnia. When Sherwood (Tony Todd) an assassin from his past targets his clients, Bishop gets thrust back into a world he thought he had left behind. Louise Castle (Carrie-Anne Moss) the local FBI agent in charge gets swept up in the dark proceedings of murder & lies.

The proceedings have a down to earth feel and generally satisfy. It never goes over the top, gets overly complicated or goes off the rails. There's the standard bit of investigating and getting to the bottom of things with a chess angle played out both literally and figuratively.

Dacascos is in top form as a level headed ex-military man with skills and smarts. Willing and able to use a gun, but more than apt to use his brain first. Carrie-Anne Moss is tough, but vulnerable. Happily there's no cliché romance subplot. Tony Todd is effective in his sparse appearances as a mercenary for hire who relishes his job, dislikes amateurs. Supporting players in Graham Greene & John Neville have interesting angles to play and are just great all around actors who've appeared in a bunch of fine films. With great screen presence they elevate the somewhat pedestrian dialog given to them.

I'll acknowledge the contrived nature of the story. The sequence of events, how all the same players came together past and present, but this was a hidden gem for me in the 90's. Much like another Dacascos title - 'Drive' - but for different reasons. This Canadian filmed action trip won't appeal to everyone and didn't make a blimp when it was originally released, but I enjoyed it.

This is a fine example of the kind of films I like to see Mark Dacascos in. Mark plays an ex black ops leader. After being double crossed and left for dead, he resurfaces as a bodyguard for high profile political figures. After his client is assassinated he uncovers a web of arms dealing, corrupt cia officials and a strange link between his past as a black ops member and his clients murder. This film offers some of the earliest examples of the highly overused "bullet time " effect as well as some brief but well staged fight sequences. This is one of the best examples of a low budget film that pulls out all the stops.

I seem to have a knack for stumbling upon obscure little movies, which is how I ended up watching this entry in the Canon of Dacascos. Some endorsement, I know, but this surprised me for a low-budget actioner in a decade rampant with them.

The plot, with its blatant chess metaphors and convoluted twists, is a lot of nonsense, as is par for the course. However, now and again the script shows flashes of genuine intelligence and attention to detail that offset the boilerplate dialogue. Even at just under 100 minutes it drags a few times - a couple of action scenes back-to-back followed by stretches of exposition - but never becomes outright boring. Those action scenes are fairly routine affairs, with a bit too liberal use of John Woo level slow-mo. However, there are a couple good uses of pre-Matrix bullet cam, even if the effects haven't dated very well.

Mark Dacascos has always had an interesting screen presence without being much of an actual actor. Fortunately, the movie recognizes this and surrounds him with a strong supporting cast, including a delightfully hammy Tony Todd and vets Graham Greene and the late John Neville. Unfortunately, it also doesn't play to his strengths - there are only a couple of fight scenes, which are not only painfully brief and sloppily edited, there's a sense they aren't even necessary. The role doesn't embarrass Dacascos in any way, but it's not particularly suited to him either. A pre-Matrix Carrie-Anne Moss does decent work as a co-lead, even if the script isn't particularly interested in her as a character either. Todd gives the best performance in a walk, by virtue of not caring how far over the top he's going or how often his exaggerated accent just kinda wanders off.

This is an efficient enough time-waster that functions best as a stepping stone for its two leads to bigger and better things. It's kind of the same for viewers: there are definitely better and worse action films out there, and this does a decent job bridging the gap.