WFG RATING: A

A BC Pictures Production. Written, lensed, edited and directed by Benjamin Combes. Produced by Tristan de Carbon and James Secker. 

Stars Eric Carlesi, Philippe Allier, Stephane Asensio, Anaelle Rincent, Charlotte Poncin, Olivier Dobremel, and Thyra Hann Phonephet. 

The 80s are back in this over-the-top action comedy that pays homage to some of the great and not-so-great action epics of that decade. 

Seventeen years after serving in Vietnam, John Hunter became a divorced man whose daughter Jenny lives with her mom in Los Angeles while he lives in Canada. When his old friend Hopkins visits him, he delivers some news. One, his ex-wife was murdered. However, the more bad news is that Jenny has been kidnapped. This sends John to go after the ones responsible when Hopkins informs him that the ones responsible are part of a drug deal set to be busted by the FBI. 

John learns that the man responsible for kidnapping Jenny is Central American dictator Oleg Kinsky, who has an army of Ninjas. However, John is more than just a commando. He is trained in the art of Ninjitsu. Combining his skills in both warfare and the ways of the Ninja, John becomes a one-man army with one thing in mind and that’s to get Jenny back at all costs. 

From the mind of director Ben Combes comes one of the best 80s homages since the short film Kung Fury. Combes has the viewer go down the list of homages throughout the film. Let’s break them down. The film combines influences from Predator, Jurassic Park, Missing in Action, Revenge of the Ninja, Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Commando, and Highlander just to name a few…or most. 

Eric Carlesi takes on the role of John Hunter, the titular “Commando Ninja”. Having a resemblance to Bill Cambra of Kill Squad, Carlesi is greatly cast in the role as a man who not only gets to kick some serious butt, but when it comes to his scenes with Philippe Allier’s Hopkins, has some comic quirks along the way. For instance, when he learns his ex-wife has been murdered, he ends up cheering saying “no more alimony” but switches gears when he learns his daughter has been kidnapped. 

While there is the very insane dubbing, what’s even more over-the-top are the action sequences. In the vein of Commando, we see Arno…err, John destroy Kinsky’s army with a ton of firepower, throwing shuriken, chopping off limbs with his katana, and even goes as far as stabbing one evil goon in the face with his machine gun then proceeds to do a double kill by killing the thug with the gun in his face and shoots it repeatedly to kill both he and another thug.  We get a RotN style final fight between John and Kinski’s head Ninja warrior, sporting a Nintendo Power Glove as well as a flashback that has a training montage in the vein of the Van Damme classics with Thyra Hann Phonephet as his former captor turned martial arts teacher. 

Commando Ninja is the most 80s fun you will have since Kung Fury. And be prepared because coming later this year, we are getting Commando Ninja II: Invasion America. 

You can see the full movie on the official YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No6isuzn0FQ