Film Summary CCLXVIII (Commando)


If Commando can't bring a smile to your face then nothing will.

It's one of the flat out best action films ever made. It has all the things you need, a decent setup, collateral to get our hero Into The fray and magical guns that have unlimited amounts of ammunition, especially towards the end. Of course the set of bad guys who you want to see get their comeuppance.
 
I will say their main set of villains are actually kind of lame, you have to leader of the military group 'Arius' who's supposed to run the entire operation and wants to eliminate the president of whatever the heck Nation it's supposed to be. But he has barely has any screen time he has no character development, he's taken out with relative ease.
Then there's Bennett. The big tough military man who supposed to be able to take on Arnold, but he can barely take care of a preteen girl. In fact that's what he spends most of the movie doing, looking for the girl that escapes at the end.
Now at the end he does get to have a pretty fun fight with Arnold; Getting tricked into a knife battle because of his own ego. 
What's up with his clothing though, he looks like he should be In a Twisted Sisters music video.
Arnold has harder time killing Sully, he needs to fight off a load of police and chase him down in a car to kill em.

It's a nicely self-contained movie, there aren't a bunch of rogue morons who want to join up with Arnold and prove how bad ass they are. There's no love interest. And all the exposition is given out while they're driving to a destination or when they were investigating something. It adds a slight element of suspense as they have to sneak around their location. Thus making you care about their dialogue (And they use it sparingly.) The heaviest amount of dialogue comes in right after Arnold's been Sedated by a dark. All the bad guys express what they want him to do and why they're doing it and then they send them on his way. Plus giving you all the crucial information before the action happens.

Person I feel sorry for is that flight attendant lady, she gets roped into the situation against her will and really doesn't have much of a choice of what happens. She'll get done-in for attempted murder and property damage later on, she'll probably lose her pilot license altogether and I doubt she'll be working anywhere near an airport anymore. Not that the movie cares, any good action movie doesn't worry about the future consequences. It's all about the Here and Now. How can Arnold destroy the island, how can he get his daughter back, how many dead bodies can he create.
Commando is a vacation flick, it's something you watch when you want to relax and not give a damn about anything. It's entertaining without being mentally stimulating.

Comments