Osmosis Iron
This movie just oozes of muscles, explosions, one-liners, shootouts and awesomeness! Arnie is in absolute top form playing John Matrix(even his name is badass!), who is an unstoppable killing machine and a loving father, funny how these things go hand in hand! Definitely one of, if not the best action movie where the emphasis is purely on action ever made!
DorkKnight
If you're not familiar with my review system, I break up my review into segments. Plot, characters, narrative, acting, writing, visuals, and, in this case (and other action movie reviews to come) action. Without further ado, these are my thoughts on the 1985 action film, Commando.Plot:The premise of Commando is simple. Former Special Forces soldier John Matrix, (btw, one of the most badass names in cinema history) played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, lives in peace with his daughter Jenny, played by a young Alyssa Milano, until she's kidnapped by Arius, a Latin dictator, played by Dan Hedaya who is aided by Bennett, John's former Special Forces partner. Arius requires John to kill someone in power to reinstate Arius as ruler. If John steps out of line, his daughter gets her throat slit like warm butter (according to a sadistic guard). Little did Arius know that he was screwing with Arnold Schwarzenegger. With help from a new friend Cindy, Matrix is ready to kick ass and eat Green Berets for breakfast. And he's super hungry. Commando has a basic premise, and the plot does flow smoothly, though it lacks logic. It doesn't give you enough time to breath and ask questions. It's an extremely cheesy plot, and feels almost like an old 1960s cop show it's so over-the-top, and that's why I'll lay off of critiquing the plot.Characters: Anyone looking for fun characters like in Die Hard or Terminator, will be disappointed with the characters in this film. Save for John Matrix, everyone in this movie is pretty forgettable. If I hadn't looked him up for this review, I wouldn't be able to remember a thing about Arius, who is a primary character. Narry a character development in this movie. By the end, Matrix is still a badass dad, in the end, Cindy is basically the same character she was at the beginning. But, again, this is a cheesy 80s action movie. The camp is through the roof. The characters are forgettable, and harmless.Narrative: The movie does move quickly, and is better as a result. I don't know if a 2-hour Commando would've kept me as engaged as an hour and a half Commando. The runtime is short, it's almost like a TV episode. However, I will say the airport/mall car chase scene is a little longer than it should be, but I don't think it hurts the pacing too bad. The great thing is, they throw is right into the action. In the first minute, some random civilian gets shot up by uzis. The movie never lets up, and I'll say that's a redeeming factor against all the cheese.Acting: The performances in this movie are awful. The lines are delivered so dramatically, there's no subtlety to the acting. So I will say this once more; it works. If I had to fill a container up with the amount of cheese in this movie, I'd need a couple gallons. The campy performances make sense in the campy context of the movie. Writing: Lines are cheesy, causes and effects are cheesy, it's a cheesy movie, end of story.Visuals: Visuals are standard action movie visuals. If I can remember one image, it's John Matrix in cameo makeup.Action: It's campy. But. It. Works. The action in this movie is fun. You can clearly point out the faults, like how blood squibs aren't where they should be, or just aren't there at all. Heck, I thought I was watching an episode of Power Rangers for a second. It is however, fun, like an Arnold movie should be. Commando is a fun, campy 80s action movie that I personally really enjoyed. It's a movie I could pop in and watch any ol' time. Where cheesy plot and bad acting fail, fun and corny action and a fast pace succeed.
jordansepticeye
I've recently decided to start an Arnold Schwarznegger movie marathon,and I started with this one.First,the good,the action of course,very well choreographed and memorable,this movie almost felt like a video game,besides all the shootouts,there was a great knife fight.The pacing,the action is nonstop,so the movie goes by fast,but not too fast.The characters,they are decently acted,and are all memorable.The addition of Rae Dawn Chong's character was one I liked,she provided some much needed comedy to balance the over the top nature of this movie.The music,while outdated,is fun and fits the film perfectly.The best part of the movie,Arnold,of course,he is so entertaining,spitting out one liners and being super intimidating,while he may seem unrealistic in the climax,it makes sense because throughout they show his strength,which is a lot more than the average person.Now,the bad,the acting at times isn't that great,and sometimes the stupidity is pretty high.Commando is a highly entertaining action movie that is nearly perfect.
