[yasr_overall_rating]
When a group of international criminals from his past kidnap his daughter, the world’s greatest commando sets out for revenge in this action-packed parody of everything you loved about the ’80s.
As a child of the ’70s and ’80s, I grew up in Dublin, Ireland with a great love of everything Schwarzenegger. One of his earliest starring vehicles, “Commando,” I rented repeatedly from the local video store. I got to know it so well that when I revisited it recently, I was beyond surprised that I could still remember most of the dialogue. Indie filmmaker Matt Poitras has delivered a sequel, of sorts, and it pretty much picks where the events of the first film left off. In “Commando,” a retired Black Ops Colonel, John Matrix, comes out of retirement when South American terrorists kidnap his young daughter Jenny and blackmail him into carrying out a political assassination. When he manages to escape, he goes after the men holding his daughter, kills them all, and saves Jenny. In “No Chance,” many of the characters that were supposedly killed off in the first movie, miraculously return, including the sniveling Sully, and Mantrixx’s former team member and biggest enemy, Bennett.
With John’s daughter Jenny now all grown up, after Bennett kidnaps her, again, John must come out of retirement, again, and rescue her, again, and face off with Bennett one more time, again. It is pretty much a retread of “Commando” but without the multi-million dollar Hollywood budget. This time around, Schwarzenegger, unfortunately, does not return but John Mantrixx takes his place. Obviously, because 20th Century Fox own the rights to “Commando” and all of its characters, in “No Chance,” the names have been altered slightly, so it’s not John Matrix but John Mantrixx, it’s not Jenny Matrix but Cheni Mantrixx, it’s not Sully but rather, Sullee, it’s not Bennett but Barrett, get the gist?
The low budget is obvious throughout but director Poitras does a commendable job given his monetary restrictions. While actor John Mantrixx (undoubtedly not his real name but that’s what’s listed in the credits), is not the spitting image of Schwarzenegger, at times, he gets the look down pat but it is his grunts, groans, and growls that sound exactly like Arnie and if you were to close your eyes, you would swear it was the Terminator himself. The movie is peppered with lines from not only “Commando,” but many of Schwarzenegger’s other famous titles, such as “The Terminator,” “Predator,” and “Total Recall,” and only a true Arnie fan will be quick enough to catch them. The crowning achievement here is that Poitras managed to bring Australian actor Vernon Wells, the original bad guy from “Commando,” and who was also the villain in “The Road Warrior” and “Weird Science,” back for a cameo at the end of the movie. Believe me, it is worth sitting through just to glimpse the legendary actor in action one more time. While “No Chance” has no chance of rivaling its predecessor, it actually makes for fun viewing and for those who wished over the years to see Schwarzenegger become Matrix once more, now you have your wish. Sort of.
Now available on Video On Demand
