Commando II (Sequels #1 of 5)

Genre: Action

Premise: A little bit older, Commando now has a sassy teenage daughter who is interested in boys and has to rescue her when she is kidnapped from some oil moguls. Really? Yes, really.

Writer: Stephen De Souza (Die Hard, Tomb Raider, 48 Hrs) and Frank Darabont (Sawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Indy and the Crystal Skull) based on a book by Roderick Thorp (who also wrote the novel Die Hard was based on)

About: The sequel was written soon after the success of the original film by the same writers, but Arnold put the squash on the development of a sequel because Connan the Barbarian II had recently bombed at the box office. The script was reworked into Die Hard. Isn't that weird? Two of the biggest 80's action films stem from the same source material!

I actually haven't seen Commando. All the way. Although I've seen 75 percent of the film in fragmented form. And let me tell you, while teenage slasher flicks and glossed up musicals may have not been excellent during the 80's, the real clunker are ramboids. After the release of Rambo, many actions movies tried to recapture the one man against a system theme. And the original (and subsequent Commandos) aren't far off the track. Now the film isn't awful, and it's definitely a star vehicle for Arnold (albeit a star vehicle he chose not to engage in), but Commando II is little more than an attempt to recapture the earlier glory of Rambo.

Only this time around John Matrix/Arnold/Commando's daughter is revealed as a little bit older and having crushes on teenage boys. (Did we really need this? I mean, I know there was a general action/comedy movement in the early 1990's but this film seems to kill that idea.) And that's generally how I felt about this entire Commando 2 script. Somewhere between actual meaning and 80's action films with cheesy one liners fall flicks who try to make jokes but ultimately just fall flat and Commando is a perfect example.

A type of logic is tried to made to a series that is deliberately over the top. Matrix doesn't need a good reason to fight, his family doesn't need to be that memorable, and certainly his agenda does not need multiple shades. As such, this film becomes increasingly less and less entertaining. (And, for the record there's nothing wrong with the source material, Commando 2 became Die Hard and worked with fairly good results.).

So the script wasn't that entertaining, the jokes weren't that original, an underlining story structure worked (kidnapped person in skyscraper) more successfully elsewhere. Altogether, it's understandable why Arnold didn't jump on the bandwagon and reboot the series. Particularly after a couple of disastrous sequels (Conan anybody?).

Scooby Doo (Complete Crap)
[X] Atilla (Poor, Few Redeeming Qualities)
Wedding Crashers (Mediocre)
Hot Rod (Good)
Definitely Maybe (Pretty Darn Good)

Isla Roles: There aren't any females in this thing that fit Isla's age group.

Tip: This film isn't afraid to break into comedy. But, by doing it in small doses and doing it at the right time, Commando 2 doesn't slide off into a comedy script. There's even a scene with the Arnold character disguised in a wedding gown. Why does it work? Cause it doesn't interrupt the thrust of the film.