Up until this weekend I had never watched the Commando Ninja movies, but I heard they were fun love letters to old-school action and figured it was time I watched them for myself.
They are directed by Benjamin Combes and mostly financed through Kickstarter with minimal crew; that alone is impressive and shows the sheer dedication that Combes has to creating this world.
Commando Ninja (2018)
Plot: 1986: John Hunter is a Vietnam veteran, half commando, half ninja, 100% American. He is forced back into action when his young daughter is kidnapped by a secret ninja organization, led by a Central American dictator who wants to create a new world order through time… Unfortunately for them, she is the only thing he would kill again for. Hunter will have to fight his way through an army of ninjas, Vietcongs, punks, dinosaurs, mutants, one of his former commandos and a fully equipped private army. With the help of his old friend Hopkins, Hunter will have to combine the arts of ninjutsu and guerilla warfare to become the ultimate soldier and rescue his daughter.
If you grew up watching 80’s action movies then this first film is basically a dream come true. It has regular references to all the classics like Predator, Commando, Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Highlander, The Cannon Ninja movies, Terminator and more. It’s a bizarre mishmash of all of them and for the most part it works as it’s just such harmless fun.
Commando Ninja is clearly made with love for the genre, and it is packed with gory kills, surprisingly awesome fight scenes, regular nudity and fun characters.
This being a French film it’s dubbed with questionable results, but that sort of adds to the entertainment value as it’s just so bonkers.
Eric Carlesi looks the part as action hero John Hunter and Philippe Allier provides the comic relief as Leeroy Hopkins.
There are little details I love like the inclusion of Val Verde which any true action fan knows about, but I also enjoyed the use of the Nintendo Powerglove, which I always wanted but never had.
Commando Ninja has an awesome synth score featuring electric guitars as well as an 80’s style song for the end credits.
At an hour and 8 minutes Commando Ninja keeps things brisk and well-paced, so it never overstays its welcome.
Overall, Commando Ninja is a crazy throwback to the action movies of old with hilariously over the top kills, awesome music and surprisingly decent action. The dubbing is distracting due to the weird voices, but it just makes it all the more fun.
Commando Ninja 2 (2025)
Plot: The filmmakers behind 80s beefcake throwback COMMANDO NINJA are back, with a new chapter in their humorous and ultra violent action adventure. COMMANDO NINJA 2: INVASION AMERICA is the explosive sequel to the cult film COMMANDO NINJA (2018), Directed by Benjamin Combes and Co-Produced by James Secker. COMMANDO NINJA 2 plunges viewers into a retro-futuristic adventure mixing unbridled action, violence, offbeat humor and strong tributes to the action films of the 80’s and 90’s.
I watched the Director’s Cut of the second movie which for some reason is 2 hours and 28 minutes long! Where the first movie was nice and short, this sequel is far too long and tries to pack in a bit too much. Despite that, it’s still a good time with some decent special effects and once again hilariously over the top gore.
There is also the shorter US cut which is 2 hours long which I think is better.
The original cast returns including Eric Carlesi as John Hunter and Philippe Allier as Leeroy Hopkins. This time our heroes face off against a mysterious villain known as Uncle who wants to destroy the USA with his evil organization.
The threat comes from not only bad guys, but also dinosaurs and zombies. It’s even more outrageous than the first film but not quite as funny. It does have a slightly more coherent plot though and despite the bloated runtime it still moves pretty fast. Rather than trying to emulate every action film from the 80’s (like the first film) there is a straightforward story of trying to stop World War III.
Some of the voice dubbing is annoying especially for Uncle which sounds more like Gwildor from MOTU so it’s more distracting than the first film.
The dinosaurs actually look pretty awesome and obviously there are references to Jurassic Park and this also did dinosaurs in Vietnam before Primitive War.
The music is once again cool although not quite as awesome as the first film, but it does the job.
Overall, Commando Ninja 2 is overlong, but still has lots to enjoy with plenty of action, gruesome kills and dinosaurs!
It’s available in physical form at Vinegar Syndrome, Le Chat Qui Fume or Bounty Films in Australia.
Hopkins (2020) A Short Prequel to Commando Ninja 2
Plot: SOUND ON! HOPKINS is an Atmospheric Vigilante Film Noir, a prequel taking place 10 years before Commando Ninja. This short film will introduce you to the Commando Ninja 2 main plot.
Hopkins is an 18-minute prequel that takes place before the events of Commando Ninja 2 and to be honest, this is the best part of the entire saga. Where the movies are essentially parodies the tone here is serious going more for a gritty Taxi Driver/Exterminator/Death Wish vibe which works perfectly.
Directed once again by Benjamin Combes and set in 1978 NYC, Hopkins features Philippe Allier reprising his role as Corporal Leeroy Hopkins, who becomes a vigilante to avenge murdered homeless veterans. A part of me wishes this was a full movie as the visual style, music and performances are awesome; it’s all cigarette smoke and neon lights feeling like a near perfect throwback to 70’s style thrillers.
In the movies Hopkins is more of a joke, but here it’s dead serious and shows us what a genuinely talented director Combes is.
It only has a couple of minutes of action at the end (involving flamethrower too) but just for sheer mood setting Hopkins is fantastic.
Overall, Hopkins is the best aspect of the entire Commando Ninja world and would have worked as a full feature rather than just a short as it really is awesome with its noir-esque voiceover and visuals.