Bullet Points: Sabotage (1996)
Mark Dacascos’ career as a leading man has been something of a mixed bag. Movies like Only the Strong, Brotherhood of the Wolf, and Drive were excellent additions to the genre but there have also been a whole bunch of duds in there as well. Recent work in John Wick 3 and in Wu Assassins has brought Mark back into the action spotlight and I couldn’t be happier to see him there.
Synopsis: Former special services agent plays an intricate game of chess involving several federal agencies. Queen takes pawn.
- The pieces: Michael Bishop (Mark Dacascos) opens the movie while on a mission in Bosnia to rescue some Serbian officers. Nothing ever seems to go right in Bosnia. This is no different. He’s quickly ambushed, or sabotaged, if you will, by Tony Todd’s Sherwood. Bishop gets shot seven times and left for dead.
- Mark’s second act: Bishop recovers from his wounds and gets work as a bodyguard for some rich folks. Maybe it’s just bad luck but rich white guy gets offed getting off his private jet and Bishop is thrust back into action. No surprise here, but Tony Todd’s Sherwood is the man behind the rifle once again.
- Tony Todd: You have to love Tony Todd. He plays a bad guy so well and he should have been a much bigger movie star because of it. While he’s best known for his role in Candyman, my favorite part of his was when he played a villain in The Crow. His voice and his physical presence really put him over in everything he did.
- An excellent cast: Dacascos and Tony Todd are the easy ones but this film also makes use of Carrie-Anne Moss and Graham Greene as federal agents. Moss plays Castle, who is investigating the murder of the rich dude from earlier and ends up working alongside Dacascos. The cast definitely makes this a more watchable film because I didn’t think the script was much to talk about.
- Safe house: Business finally picks up when the feds led by Castle and Bishop raid a house full of the bad guys. The following action is great as we see some gun battles, explosions, and villains who are actually smart. The second part of this film really picks up and my interest changed drastically because of this scene.
- Hide yo kids: Like the true evil that they are, Sherwood and his boys target Castle’s daughter. The babysitter gets it bad and Bishop and Castle are on a new mission to save the little girl. It’s classic action revenge!
- Checkmate: The movie sets up everything really well but I thought the climax was a bit of a letdown. They get to the villain, he sets up another ambush, and they’re forced to think their way out. I will say this, though, Mark Dacascos better be gettin’ some of that good Trinity lovin’ after all the shit he goes through in this. In the end, Bishop and Castle beat Sherwood….checkmate bitch!
The Verdict: Sabotage really picks up in the second half of the movie. It’s usually not a good sign when it takes two sittings to finish a film but this one got easier on that second sitting because they stopped pussy-footing around and finally showed us some action! Mark Dacascos is best when he’s kicking dudes in the faces and shooting people in the chest. Tony Todd and Carrie-Anne Moss both play their parts really well and take what seemed like a bad movie and turn it into something very watchable. Check it out, but have patience because this chess match is a slow one.
