There are plenty of reasons to dislike Sabotage, the latest flick starring the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's relentlessly gory, and occasionally storms head-first into dumb, torture-porn territory. Anyone watching it for its purported connection to Agatha Christie's most-beloved mystery novel, And Then There Were None, will be disappointed - the considerably less brainy film is, at best, only vaguely inspired by the ingenious twists of the book. But Sabotage remains compelling almost all the way through, and is all the more notable for featuring one of Schwarzenegger's finest, darkest performances yet.

John 'Breacher' Wharton (Schwarzenegger) leads a rogue DEA team on a drug bust, during which they try to skim ten million dollars for themselves. But their scheme goes awry, and the money mysteriously disappears. When investigations into the crime finally end, Wharton brings his team members together again - only for someone to start murdering them, one by one, in grisly, brutal fashion. Detective Caroline Brentwood (Olivia Williams) comes on board to piece together the entire puzzle. But, as she draws closer to the enigmatic Breacher, she discovers that there's far more to the man than meets the eye.

David Ayers' film has come under fire for myriad reasons: it's been called an ugly, twisted piece of film-making, more interested in sickening gore than character depth. Ostensibly, that's true. The murders are almost unbearably disgusting, Ayers' camera lingering almost lovingly over scenes awash in blood and internal organs. The film also deteriorates as it goes on, degenerating from a dark, uber-twisted thriller into a frustrating sequel to Final Destination, wherein death insists on finding its victims in the most revolting of ways.

But the real surprise of Sabotage is how it actually manages to juggle its main characters surprisingly well for much of its running time. A few characters do indeed turn out to be narrative fodder, quickly sliced up for maximum shock value. But others have far greater impact on audiences. In Breacher's team, the drugged-out Lizzy (Mireille Enos) and her dreadlocked husband Monster (an almost unrecognisable, bulked-up Sam Worthington) stand out. Caroline, too, is an assuringly capable, level-headed presence - despite some of the ignominies the character suffers in her growing relationship with Breacher.

The cast also does quite effective work, with Schwarzenegger leading the charge. As Breacher, he mines reserves of darkness and complexity he's barely accessed before, somehow managing to capture the man's odd mix of madness, nobility and ruthlessness. He's well-matched by Williams, who lends both the film and her character an air of respectability best- observed in scenes that might otherwise have played as a series of cheap grindhouse shots. Few people could pull off smoking desperately while bathed in blood, but Williams does it with charm to spare. Enos, too, is a joyful, ball-busting standout in a film running almost entirely on testosterone fumes, and Worthington heads down dark, bitter paths in a more convincing way than he's managed thus far in the likes of Avatar and Clash Of The Titans.

All in all, Sabotage is better than you might expect, but not as good as it probably could have been. While the film does revolve around many deeply considered ideas of vengeance, loyalty and morality, it doesn't really manage to come to grips with all of them beneath a backwash of diced-up body parts and pints of blood. It is, however, consistently gripping and almost worryingly compelling, a thriller that packs a punch so brutal it fascinates even as it disgusts.

SABOTAGE is an erstwhile reimagining of the classic Agatha Christie novel AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, featuring a simple but electrifying plot: a corrupt DEA team steal $10 million from their latest haul, only to have the money stolen in turn before a killer starts cutting a swathe through their members one by one. I saw the red-band trailer for this and was blown away; it looked like a true return to form for Arnie, and I couldn't wait to watch it. Then I found out it was directed by David Ayer, and I was in two minds; I either love his work (such as the equally underrated STREET KINGS) or despise it (such as the much-lauded END OF WATCH, in which barely anything happens). Things could go either way.

Well, despite the plentiful negative reviews, SABOTAGE turns out to be a great deal of fun and I'm not quite sure what the other reviewers were either expecting or watching. It's an action-packed movie, well directed and chock-full of on-screen mayhem and gory death, and there's very little to dislike about it. Apparently the movie originally had a running time of three hours and was later cut down by executives, revealing the odd plot hole here and there, but these aren't enough to detract from the entertainment value as a whole.

Inevitably, Arnie towers head and shoulders above the rest of the cast in this film (even though some of his team, like Joe Manganiello, are more physically imposing) and he delivers a fine performance as a haunted family man. His one-liners are kept to a minimum, but it's great to hear them when they do arise. The rest of his team are more interchangeable, but there's a surprisingly touching turn from Sam Worthington. The downside is Mireille Enos, who overdoes things as a drug addict.

The good news is that the film has plentiful action and it all plays out very well, from assaults on apartment buildings to car chases. The gore quotient is also strong, which I'm not complaining about, lending this film a distinctly adult edge. I know the ending was altered after initial audience dissatisfaction but I think it works very well. In all I had a ball with SABOTAGE and look forward to revisiting it in the future.

John Wharton (Arnold Schwarzenegger) leads an elite DEA tactical team with James Murray (Sam Worthington) and his wife Lizzy (Mireille Enos),Joe Philips (Joe Manganiello),Julius Edmonds (Terrence Howard),Eddie Jordan (Josh Holloway),Tom Roberts (Max Martini),Bryce McNeely (Kevin Vance),and Smoke Jennings. Smoke is killed during a raid. They steal $10 million cartel money dumping it into the sewer. However the money goes missing. The team is investigated but they don't break. They eventually allow Wharton his team back but then they are taken out one at a time. Police detective Caroline Brentwood (Olivia Williams) and Darius Jackson (Harold Perrineau) investigate.

It's a bloody, brutal, violent action movie. I like most of it to some extend. The gritty brutality is compelling although not everybody in the cast is. Arnold is actually interesting as a darker form of his cigar chomping persona. However the movie never really builds a lot of excitement. Director David Ayer is doing a lot stuff like looking down the gun barrel to jazz up the action. Some of it works but it does break up the action too much. However after the big chase gun battle, Arnold keeps going instead of ending the movie. That last part is not necessary and pushes a barely acceptable action movie into the negative.