MovieChat Forums > Sabotage (2014) Discussion > Too much Woods not enough Ayer.

Too much Woods not enough Ayer.

posted 9 years ago by Deniro68
1 reply | jump to latest

I liked Harsh Times and end Of A Watch a great deal. Even Street Kings had its moments. So it;s safe to say I like David Ayer's work. I also grew up watching Schwarzenegger's movies.

So how did Sabotage end up as such a disappointment?

I suspect the answer lies in the screenplay credits. Ayer did not write this one on his own as he did with harsh Times and End Of Watch. No, it's co-written with Skip Woods. From what I read the core of the story came form a Woods script that Ayer re-wrote a significant part of.

Perhaps this movie may have been better if Ayer had just used the basic concept, thrown out Woods script and started from scratch. Because instead of this being a David Ayer movie, it's part Ayer movie, part Woods movie and the Woods elements choke out the Ayer elements. Because most of Ayer's work is of high quality or at least decent. Most of Woods' work is mediocre to abysmal. Ayer and Woods is like combining Ray Charles and Michael Bolton.

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2 ways you can go on this job. My way or the highway. Now what's it gonna be Mr. Pink?

[–] BrokenDreamer 9 years ago

I think that's what he did. Look at the Trivia:

Although screenwriter Skip Woods is credited with screen writing along side David Ayer, very little of his original script was used for the film. Just the central plot idea of a group of cops being picked off one by one.

David Ayer's fingerprints were all over this script. Of course, it was recut from a three hour movie, so that would also affect the final film. However, if the only element left is the basic idea, it can be assumed that everything else was thrown out and rewritten. This is Ayer's script.