The Terminator ensured that when paying audiences thought of Arnold Schwarzenegger, they thought of a badass action star who could really deliver in that genre. Arnold was also established as just the right pick to play a soulless killing machine bent on destruction, but just how easy would it be for him to use that power for the side of good??? Well, let's talk about Commando.
Commando sees Schwarzenegger as ex-military man John Matrix, who is now living a life of peace with his daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano). That is, until he's informed by his former superior officer General Kirby (James Olson) (insert Nintendo joke here) that some old foes are looking for him. Before too long, the bad guys track him down in the form of Arius (Dan Hedaya), a former South American dictator whom Matrix helped overthrow, and Bennett (Vernon Wells), Arius' second-hand man and one of Matrix's former military allies. They kidnap Jenny and demand that he go to the fictional country of Val Verde, kill the current leader, and get Arius' rule back. If he doesn't comply, Jenny will be killed. Along the way, he gets some help from a love interest(????) named Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong) in his mission to escape Arius' watch and get his daughter back.
All I can say about this movie is, poor Arnold. He is trying SO, so hard in this film, but it's not a film that can hold him up. This is a stupid, stupid movie. Not only is it filled to the brim with cliches, but plotholes are running rampant throughout. There are so many moments in this movie that make you honestly question the intelligence of the characters on screen. Also, even though Arnold really is trying his best...at times, it seems like he got lost back in The Terminator. Some of his behavior in this movie is really strange, and almost seems like a fish-out-of-water story, much like how the Terminator behaved in that film. Yet, he's supposed to be a normal human being (well, okay, as normal as a gigantic Austrian death machine (great band, by the way) can be). It's just a weird atmosphere.
Now, I must address two more characters. The first is Cindy, Arnold's companion in the film. Why did the 80's absolutely love its whiny, nasally sidekicks whose only job was to complain about EVERYTHING in the most high-pitched voice they could muster? The only time I've seen this done worse was Rob Schneider in Judge Dredd, but that was at least forgivable because the rest of the movie was friggin' awesome. Here, it gets grating VERY quickly. The other character is Bennett. I don't want to spoil anything, but there's a moment in the climax of the movie where Arnold manages to trick Bennett into making one of the STUPIDEST decisions a person could possibly make in the situation he was in, and it essentially cost him his chance to kill Arnold once and for all. It's a decision that literally NO human being would make given the option. Have I emphasized strongly enough the point of questioning characters' intelligence?
This is usually the part of the review where, despite everything I've said, I come to at least commend the action. Well...no. This is another one of those movies from this time period in which one man has got dozens of people shooting at him, and yet is able to dodge all the bullets just by running. That about sums up the quality of action in this movie. Not one of Arnold's best.
Overall, this is just an extremely dumb movie. Now, okay, it has its audience, and I've been one to promote corny content in the past, but this one was just too much for me. I know people have a lot of fun with this one, and it does have its decent moments of excitement, but, more than anything, it's a movie that makes you ask, "Why?" or "How?" just a few too many times. You may enjoy it and find it to be quite a ride, but, being perfectly honest, I thought this was a huge step back from Terminator. But, as we'll see in my next post, it wouldn't be the last of Arnold's questionable film choices.
No comments:
Post a Comment