The Commando

The Commando is a 2022 American action crime thriller film directed by Asif Akbar and starring Mickey Rourke and Michael Jai White.

It was released in the United States on January 7, 2022, by Saban Films.

Cast

 * Mickey Rourke as Johnny
 * Michael Jai White as James Baker
 * Jeff Fahey as Sheriff Alexander
 * Brendan Fehr as Sebastian
 * Gianni Capaldi as Dominic
 * Donald Cerrone as Ray
 * Sam Tan as Sean
 * Mia Terry as Jennifer
 * Nao Maes as Natalie
 * Aris Mejía as Lisa
 * Matthew Van Wettering as Matthew
 * Cord Newman as Rudy
 * John Enos III as Trey

Plot
A DEA SWAT team, led by elite DEA agent James Baker (Michael Jai White), assault a Mexican cartel's drug lab. The bad guys are taken out in the ensuing gun fight, but Baker inadvertently kills three hostages. As a result of PTSD-induced hallucinations and nightmares, caused by the killing of the innocent, Baker gets sent home to recover.

At this time, his family makes an unexpected discovery in their house - a stash of money worth $3 million. Baker just happens to live, with his wife Lisa (Aris Mejía) and their two teenage daughters, in the house where career criminal Johnny (Mickey Rourke) stashed his loot. The Baker family soon faces the danger and threat of freshly sprung Johnny, who quickly reunites with his old crew to retake the $3 million of stolen money he hid before his arrest. Johnny is über-badass, just before his release, he "dealt" with three inmates who tried to shank him right before he was freed.

Eventually, James and Lisa head off for a quiet weekend together, leaving their two daughters home alone. The youngest girl promptly organizes a house party. It is during this party that Johnny's goons stage a home invasion.

Johnny and his henchmen will do whatever it takes to retrieve the money, including kidnap Baker's daughters. Stakes are high in this head-to-head battle as Baker stops at nothing to protect his family against the money-hungry criminals. There are many confrontations, but none of them between Baker and Johnny, until the final minutes.

One of the highlights is a high schooler getting shot while taking a leak and peeing all over his killer.

Casting
In September 2020, it was announced that Rourke was cast in the film. In October 2020, White joined the cast of the film.

Filming
Principal photography occurred in New Mexico on October and November 2020.

Release
On December 7, 2021, Saban Films released a trailer for the film and set it for a January 7, 2022 release.

Reception
Rene Rodriguez of Variety gave the film a negative review and wrote, "A talky and lethargic home-invasion thriller, The Commando amounts to an inept crime drama stuffed with banal dialogue and irrelevant supporting characters to pad its feature-length running time."

Leslie Felperin of The Guardian awarded the film one star out of five and wrote, "The Commando contains a number of egregious implausibilities and cliches."