Review of Commando (1985) by James S — 22 Feb 2010

Though not equalling the greatness of The Terminator, this is certainly up there with The Running Man making it the most underrated of Arnulds offerings.

Here he is the undeniably coolly monikered John Matrix, a former army dude who chops wood and eats ice cream with his daughter in the cutest way imaginable until someone starts offing members of his old unit and kidnaps the little dungaree wearing cherub unless Matrix performs a nasty task. Matrix escapes and embarks on a one man race against time to get his daughter back and shoot as many dudes as humanly possible.

The 80s were the real home of the action movie. The bad guys were utterly despicable and always deserved to die and the hero was only too willing to oblige. Commando is the epitome of this type of film.

The deaths come quick and fast and often brutally for Arnulds foes and are always accompanied by a cracking one liner - "Don't wake my friend, he's dead tired" quips Arnie after breaking his captors neck, leaving him on a 747 before slipping out of the landing wheels. You just don't see that in movies today.

Everything about Commando involves making a big noise and blowing stuff up. When Arnie raids an army surplus store, he doesn't break in quietly through the back....where would the fun in that be? No, he drives digger through the front window....and then, perhaps rather dumbly, wonders why the cops show up.

Ultimately, Commando is a very dumb movie which requires no brain power but it is worth remembering that with no brain power often comes a great deal of fun.