Review of Suburban Commando (1991) by Michael T — 15 Jan 2014

Holy tight ass spandex Batman! a vehicle all for Hulk Hogan! luckily Christopher Lloyd is there to save the day kinda. A alien warrior that oddly enough looks exactly like a human being must save Earth and the universe from another set of aliens who also happen to look exactly like Human beings! what are the odds?.

So for better of worse Hogan is an alien that is basically space Rambo, he wears unconvincing plastic looking armour and carries unconvincing plastic looking weapons with flashing lights on them. It all looks like its been made by a fan for a comicbook convention, basically very good cosplay.

The film also kicks off with a pretty bland looking 'Star Wars' rip or homage however you wanna look at it. Its virtually shot for shot as a huge lumbering spacecraft slowly glides over the top of your screen like the Star Destroyer in 'A New Hope'. We then see a pretty terrible looking space battle with familiar looking laser shots all over and the intro of the supreme bad guy who is a short bald human. Maybe a bit of 'Spaceballs' going on there, mirroring Rick Moranis.

Most of this film comprises of small action and comedy sketches set up for Hogan to abuse with his big frame. So you get various silly scenes where he beats up bad guys, stops petty crimes, helps kids, helps old ladies, the odd pratfall and goofiness due to his super strength etc...its all very predictable and childish but then it is a kids flick.

In all honesty Hogan is a reasonable comedy actor and does ham it up nicely, he is also clearly great with kids which is nice and adds a genuine gentle touch to the films infantile bits. The best part of the film is the pretty sweet alien monster costume which appear when the bad guy transforms (yep he was a nasty alien creature all along). This suit is actually pretty scary for a kids flick which isn't surprising seeing as its a Steve Johnson creation. Other than that the rest of the effect are tacky as hell but that does kinda add to the charm I can't deny.

A typical low budget looking B-movie affair that didn't really do anything other than give Hogan some work to do. but despite that it is a warm fuzzy little flick with a good heart.