Although it often flirts with the so-bad-it's-good cliché, as a typical 80's action flick, Mark L. Lester "Commando" delivers exactly what it's expected and sometimes more, and it's this 'more' that made all the difference and elevated to its fully deserved cult-status.
Let's face it, it's impossible to resist to Arnold Schwarzenegger, he might not possess the versatility of a method actor, the wide range of emotions of a Shakespearian comedian, but no one can deny that he was born for the big-screen. Seriously, cinema is not just about having message or displaying emotions, what grabbed people's interest the first time was action. There's no film without action and people would rather sit through an action-film with no substance than an static movie.
And Arnold Schwarzenegger, with his muscular physique, his incredible strength, and photogenic face is perfect for whatever Action-film requires: a charismatic hero. Even the Austrian accent that could have been a handicap becomes an unforgettable trademark, making the lines briefer but total dynamite humor-wise. How many times we hear Internet users complaining about an actor's British accent? But there's a general consensus that without his accent, Arnold is not Arnold, I mean Ah-Nuld.
And "Commando", directed right in the middle of the 80's, is simply the best exaltation of what makes Arnold an unavoidable figure of this flamboyant, where everything is over the top, from his strength to his name, John Matrix, hilariously absurd by today's standard. Of course, to those who doubted it, there is a heart beating behind this mountain of muscles and Matrix is also a caring and loving father, as the magnificent opening credits perfectly captures.
A cute and very convincing 13-year old Alyssa Milano plays Jenny Matrix and it's so obvious that Daddy loves his daughter that he'd terminate 300 men if it could save her life. "Commando" gets directly to the plot, starting with a series of mysterious killings, and leading us to Matrix' house, where his instructor leaves him his two best men to protect him, of course, they're the best but not as good as matrix, which explains why they got quickly perforated by the baddies when the instructor left, while Matrix had time to hide his daughter because he smelt them coming.
Yet they end up kidnapping Jenny. Matrix meets in her room a sneaky little villain sitting lecturing him about the necessity of cooperating. His "right?" is retorted by a "wrong" punctuated by a bullet through the head. Matrix takes no bullshit and is determined to save his daughter. Somewhat he gets arrested and meets the bad men, the mastermind is an ex-dictator (Dan Hedaya) who orders Matrix to kill his successor and the 'badder' bad guy is one of the film's most original creations; a Freddie Mercury look-alike, wearing black pants, sleeveless T-shirt and a chain-mail vest, talk about a match to macho Arnold.
And that's one of the irresistible charms of "Commando": it features great villains, and for each one, a memorable confrontation, needless to tell who always wins: in fact, there's one simple pattern that governs the plot, each bad guy gets his comeuppance and inspires at least two or three unforgettable one-liners. When the hostess asks Matrix if he has a carry-on luggage, he points his finger to the black guy who escorts him, I wouldn't mind having Arnold talking every five minutes if it's for comedic gold like this.
I won't spoil the script; most of those who read this are already associating images to the 'dead tired' passenger, or the unforgettable statement that follows 'you remember when I told you I'd kill you last'. The film is even aware of its own cleverness when it inserts the character of Rae-Dawn-Shong and her priceless reactions toward the mayhem Matrix causes in his way. She can't even believe the cheesy macho dialog between Arnold and Bill Duke. The film is so 80's, it has Rae-Dawn Shong and by the way whatever happened to her career these last 20 years is a total mystery.
"Commando" is entertaining because of this capability to be enjoyable, smart and not taking itself too seriously, and because of the villains. That might explain how the film kind of loses me in its most defining sequence, the 10-minute during which Matrix eliminates more than 100 soldiers. You know the Golden rule that when the enemy aim at the hero with 1000 bullets, they will miss him while the hero never misses, well, let's say that this device is overused in "Commando" more annoyingly than in any other "Star Wars" movies. John Matrix is a good guy but body count-wise, he's certainly the most violent character ever played by Arnold.
Don't get me wrong, I know that the film had much credibility to rely on in the first place but still, the sequence gets quickly redundant and makes us wait for the ultimate confrontation between Freddie M I mean, Bennett (whoever came with that name is another genius) and Matrix. Matrix vs. Bennett: let's party. And at the end, the film provides the right dose of action, one-liners, adrenalin and testosterone inducing scenes, the whole thing impeccably packaged with a catchy steel drums score. And with his large shoulders, Arnold carries the film as simply as if it was a gigantic tree log, proving again that he was one of the greatest action stars, before the public would ask for another kind of movie hero and allow a film like "Die Hard" to put a fresh air in the action/thriller genre.
Yet if actions film owe a lot to "Die Hard", "Die Hard" owe to films like "Commando" and to Schwarzenegger. I would even give to Arnold the same compliment I gave to Sidney Poitier or Humphrey Bogart, actors who were often playing the same kind of characters. Arnold might have the most limited range acting-wise, but within his own range, he's unbeatable.
Let's face it, it's impossible to resist to Arnold Schwarzenegger, he might not possess the versatility of a method actor, the wide range of emotions of a Shakespearian comedian, but no one can deny that he was born for the big-screen. Seriously, cinema is not just about having message or displaying emotions, what grabbed people's interest the first time was action. There's no film without action and people would rather sit through an action-film with no substance than an static movie.
And Arnold Schwarzenegger, with his muscular physique, his incredible strength, and photogenic face is perfect for whatever Action-film requires: a charismatic hero. Even the Austrian accent that could have been a handicap becomes an unforgettable trademark, making the lines briefer but total dynamite humor-wise. How many times we hear Internet users complaining about an actor's British accent? But there's a general consensus that without his accent, Arnold is not Arnold, I mean Ah-Nuld.
And "Commando", directed right in the middle of the 80's, is simply the best exaltation of what makes Arnold an unavoidable figure of this flamboyant, where everything is over the top, from his strength to his name, John Matrix, hilariously absurd by today's standard. Of course, to those who doubted it, there is a heart beating behind this mountain of muscles and Matrix is also a caring and loving father, as the magnificent opening credits perfectly captures.
A cute and very convincing 13-year old Alyssa Milano plays Jenny Matrix and it's so obvious that Daddy loves his daughter that he'd terminate 300 men if it could save her life. "Commando" gets directly to the plot, starting with a series of mysterious killings, and leading us to Matrix' house, where his instructor leaves him his two best men to protect him, of course, they're the best but not as good as matrix, which explains why they got quickly perforated by the baddies when the instructor left, while Matrix had time to hide his daughter because he smelt them coming.
Yet they end up kidnapping Jenny. Matrix meets in her room a sneaky little villain sitting lecturing him about the necessity of cooperating. His "right?" is retorted by a "wrong" punctuated by a bullet through the head. Matrix takes no bullshit and is determined to save his daughter. Somewhat he gets arrested and meets the bad men, the mastermind is an ex-dictator (Dan Hedaya) who orders Matrix to kill his successor and the 'badder' bad guy is one of the film's most original creations; a Freddie Mercury look-alike, wearing black pants, sleeveless T-shirt and a chain-mail vest, talk about a match to macho Arnold.
And that's one of the irresistible charms of "Commando": it features great villains, and for each one, a memorable confrontation, needless to tell who always wins: in fact, there's one simple pattern that governs the plot, each bad guy gets his comeuppance and inspires at least two or three unforgettable one-liners. When the hostess asks Matrix if he has a carry-on luggage, he points his finger to the black guy who escorts him, I wouldn't mind having Arnold talking every five minutes if it's for comedic gold like this.
I won't spoil the script; most of those who read this are already associating images to the 'dead tired' passenger, or the unforgettable statement that follows 'you remember when I told you I'd kill you last'. The film is even aware of its own cleverness when it inserts the character of Rae-Dawn-Shong and her priceless reactions toward the mayhem Matrix causes in his way. She can't even believe the cheesy macho dialog between Arnold and Bill Duke. The film is so 80's, it has Rae-Dawn Shong and by the way whatever happened to her career these last 20 years is a total mystery.
"Commando" is entertaining because of this capability to be enjoyable, smart and not taking itself too seriously, and because of the villains. That might explain how the film kind of loses me in its most defining sequence, the 10-minute during which Matrix eliminates more than 100 soldiers. You know the Golden rule that when the enemy aim at the hero with 1000 bullets, they will miss him while the hero never misses, well, let's say that this device is overused in "Commando" more annoyingly than in any other "Star Wars" movies. John Matrix is a good guy but body count-wise, he's certainly the most violent character ever played by Arnold.
Don't get me wrong, I know that the film had much credibility to rely on in the first place but still, the sequence gets quickly redundant and makes us wait for the ultimate confrontation between Freddie M I mean, Bennett (whoever came with that name is another genius) and Matrix. Matrix vs. Bennett: let's party. And at the end, the film provides the right dose of action, one-liners, adrenalin and testosterone inducing scenes, the whole thing impeccably packaged with a catchy steel drums score. And with his large shoulders, Arnold carries the film as simply as if it was a gigantic tree log, proving again that he was one of the greatest action stars, before the public would ask for another kind of movie hero and allow a film like "Die Hard" to put a fresh air in the action/thriller genre.
Yet if actions film owe a lot to "Die Hard", "Die Hard" owe to films like "Commando" and to Schwarzenegger. I would even give to Arnold the same compliment I gave to Sidney Poitier or Humphrey Bogart, actors who were often playing the same kind of characters. Arnold might have the most limited range acting-wise, but within his own range, he's unbeatable.