When a retired Special Forces operative by the name of John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) gets wind of his past soldiers being killed, he's later attacked on the grounds of his own home. He's captured and sent away on a mission to assassinate a Latin American president, and if he doesn't pull off the job, then his daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano) will be killed. Matrix puts together his own plan to rescue his daughter and kill everyone responsible for invading his life. -summary
One thing I can say about the 1985 action film Commando is this; like a faithful soldier, it knows exactly what its mission is, and it sets out to complete the objective. Commando starring Arnie is the living definition of pop corn chomping, brain rotting shlock. The movie knows what it wants to be and not even once does it stray off track. I was actually feeling down in the dumps today, and the sheer silliness of the film brought me back to my happy self. But for the record, this movie screams guilty pleasure.
Mark L. Lester is one director who never had a problem delivering the goods with the action. From the very beginning, the viewer is treated to plenty of cold blooded murders via shoot outs, stabbings, vehicle assault, whatever. The plot follows Matrix as he tries to rescue his daughter under a time limit, and the result is one action scene after the other until the explosive, super action packed finale. No joke, this final scene has damn near everything, guys being shot up repeatedly, killed with sharp objects, axes to the get, machetes going *chop*, forget about it, this is an action fans cheesy wet dream with some good chuckles to top it off. The movie is 90 minutes long and it felt amazingly short.
Forget about character development, everyone is a plot device to serve in either the carnage or mass destruction. Arnie is your typical balls to the wall, cheesy lined hero, kicking ass the entire time and the hell with names; whatever you see him picking up or eyeballing, he's damn sure going to use it, and the villains are stock bad guys to the fullest. The acting is exactly what you would expect from this type of movie, I didn't think it was horrible or even bad. It was just the right fit to compliment the zany feel of it. The special effects were surprisingly good depicting the violence, very little was left up to the imagination as you will see a guy shot right smack in the head. There's a good amount of gore, with one scene coming right out of left field. Those who saw the movie know what I'm talking about.
The biggest reason I enjoy Commando is because it makes no attempt towards the intellectual. It's completely turn your brain off, ridiculous absurdity, having a grand ol' time from start to finish. Flicks like this is how come Arnie became my favorite action hero back in the days. This is a movie that I recommend only to the serious action fan. If you're a fan of Arnie then even better.
Pros:
-No identity crisis here, straight action and cheesiness,
Cons:
- Weak on plot, Bullshit runs rampant(plenty of folks like that part)
