Retro Film Review: Sabotage (1996)

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(Edited)

(source: tmdb.org)

Croatia's eastern neighbours often complain about simplistic way in which Hollywood treated former Yugoslav conflicts – especially portrayal of only one side as the villains. However, some Western films applied different approach and showed that Serbs weren't the only troublemakers of 1990s Southeastern Europe. At least this is the conclusion you might draw from the opening scenes of Sabotage, 1996 Canadian action film directed by Tibor Takacs. The plot begins in Bosnia 1993, where couple of Bosnian Serb officers get captured by Muslim "terrorists". In an attempt to prevent conflict from escalating even further, US government sends the elite team of Navy SEALs into rescue mission. But the operation goes terribly wrong and the only survivor, Michael Bishop (played by Mark Dacascos) recovers from near-fatal wounds only to see his military career going down the drain. Years later he is forced to earn his living as a bodyguard, but there he doesn't get any more successful. His most important client, arms dealer Trent (played by Richard Coulter), gets killed by Sherwood (played by Tony Todd), assassin who had wrecked Bishop's career in Bosnia. Under suspicion of being involved in murder, Bishop must clear his name and uncover the conspiracy behind it. In doing so, he joins forces with FBI Agent Louise Castle (played by Carrie-Anne Moss).

Despite its low budget, Sabotage leaves impression of being something more than exploitation film. This is mostly thanks to the efforts of director Tibor Takacs who staged very impressive action scenes that would satisfy many John Woo fans. The acting is also above the average for this kind of films. Mark Dacascos again shows that he is one of the best actors among cinema martial arts experts and The Matrix fans would probably like his interaction with Carrie- Anne Moss. The most remarkable role, on the other hand, belongs to John Neville who plays character in many ways similar to Well- Manicured Man he had played on The X-Files. Unfortunately, all the glamour and glitz can't hide the inadequacies of the script, mostly its predictability. At the end many viewers would feel cheated because of the "deja vu" feeling and realisation that Sabotage, in spite of its initial promise, represented nothing more than triumph of style over substance.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on May 16th 2003)

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2 comments
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I wish I could blog about movies also, I'll it soon...

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