A California man named John Matrix is a colonel for the United States Army Special Forces. Shortly after coming home, he is reunited with his daughter, Jenny. They spend quality time together.

However, that is all interrupted when former General Franklin Kirby reveals to John that everybody in the unit he belonged to is dead. They were killed by a bunch of mercenaries.

Then assassins start coming to attack. Even worse, they kidnap Jenny, who has tried her best to hide from them.

John is also tranquilized and abducted to come face to face with commander and former South American dictator Ernesto Arius. To protect Jenny, John is forced into a difficult mission. He needs to carry out a political assassination in the country of Val Verde.

What will happen with him and Jenny?

The opening was quite peaceful. Aside from the calm tone, it was sweet to see John return home and greet Jenny. The 2 had a beautiful father-daughter relationship as they did different things together, such as eat ice cream and even feed deer.

Which brings me to my next thought: I almost thought Jenny was a boy when she first showed up onto the screen. But then I saw her face more carefully and later, her clothing choices, revealing that she was actually a girl. And she was played by Alyssa Milano back when she was 12.

I did not know that Alyssa Milano had cut her hair to above the shoulders at that age. She had had long hair before, and even after that. Maybe her hair just used to grow super-fast then.

Another perk was how there was nothing too violent or disturbing. But as an R-rated movie, it does have swearing and blood.

Unfortunately, the calm tones made the film boring after the beginning. Not only that, but the inability to follow the plot that easily also contributed. I was having trouble understanding what was happening aside from all the gun violence and shooting.

In fact, both the boredom factors and the complexity of the storyline went so far that I couldn’t finish the movie. I stopped before I could even make it to the half hour mark. And this film is only an hour and a half long.

And another flaw is how so many of the men look very similar. Yes, I understand that in the military, soldiers have to wear their hair above the ears and be clean shaven for safety reasons. But in that case, the casting crew should try to find extras for other actors who look different enough to be distinguishable. That could even involve having actors of different races and skin tones.

Yeah, this movie was made in the 1980s, when inclusion and diversity didn’t matter that much compared to today. But I think it would have at least made it easier to tell every soldier apart.

At that time, racism was no longer as widely acceptable as it had been in previous decades before then. So, had the casting directors added people of different racial backgrounds, I can’t imagine that it would have brought ratings down and cause criticism from critics or audiences.

But since I did not exist in the 80s, I could be wrong. Yet I doubt it would have received as many racist remarks compared to if inclusive casting had been done in the 1960s or before.

Overall, Commando did not work out for me the way I hoped. But maybe it will for you.

I give this film 2.5 out of 5 stars.