Daily Times

A spectacularly atrocious, ostensible action thriller, “The Commando” is distinguished by an incompetence that extends even to locations. The title protagonist, a PTSD-riven agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration played by Michael Jai White, lives with his family in a house that sits on an unusually barren plot of land. The movie, directed by Asif Akbar, was shot in New Mexico, where xeriscaping is in vogue, but this place is, for all intents and purposes, a dirt lot. There’s not even a driveway, which makes things convenient for the baddies who stage a sodden, tedious home invasion near the movie’s end. The reason for the invasion is a stash of bank-robbery money hidden in the house. The home’s prior owner, Johnny, put it there before going to prison. It seems no authorities thought to search the residence of a bank-robbing felon before the place changed hands. Meanwhile, the teenage daughters of the D.E.A. agent have found some of the cash and are enjoying it. Once an actor of considerable appeal and charisma, Rourke here struggles to stand up.