That sound you hear is someone tooling up with serious weaponry and ammo – slotting knives into sheathes and strapping guns into holsters. No, it’s not Arnie; it’s several people at Empire Towers who love Commando and are duly horrified to learn that 20th Century Fox is planning to remake the ‘80s action-fest.
But it’s true – Deadline reports that the studio has recruited **Training Day **writer/Street Kings director David Ayer to draw on his military background (he served in the Navy) for a new take on the 1985 favourite.
There are no confirmed plot details yet, save for a mention of Ayer bringing a “real-world” element to the character of John Matrix, the former elite special forces operative who is blackmailed into taking out the rival of a dictator. Matrix, of course, doesn’t put up with that guff: he hunts down and kills all of the dictator’s goons and delivers bad puns as he does so.
Ayer’s script (and the film he plans to direct) will apparently revolve around a stealthier approach to a similar problem. Let’s hope it’s half as much fun.
Commando was one of the movies that helped make Schwarzenegger’s career, and it could do the same for an up-and-coming action type. The big question is, should it? Does the world need a new John Matrix? Either way, it looks like we’ll find out.