Suburban Commando (1991)
2/4
Some movies could only be made within the barriers of somewhere around 1989 to 1992. There are some things that are instantly recognizable from different eras, like swing dancing or flappers from the 1920's, or post-war 1950's suburban homes. There is a movie that is instantly recognizable from 1991, too, a movie that stars Hulk Hogan, the famous (now infamous, with all that behind-the-scenes drama over the past years) wrestler, a fish out of water tale, and a campily entertaining screenplay and generally genial direction. That movie is "Suburban Commando" - and boy, is it recognizable from its era.
By the early 1990's, Hulk Hogan had reached superstardom. He was huge - and had already (or at least attempted to) conquer Hollywood two years earlier with the successful "No Holds Barred" which is also a movie that could only be made in 1989. He had tried to venture out into a real movie career; like Arnold Schwarzenegger (which this film actually has references to) or Chuck Norris, both professional athletes like Hogan before becoming massive movie stars. "Suburban Commando" was a genuine failure, however, and nothing really came of it. Hogan, you can tell, really wanted a movie career. Well, with this film, I don't think it's hard to see why he's not in a lot of movies.
"Suburban Commando" is your classic early 90's fairly tale. It literally opens on a direct copy of the original beginning of 1977's "Star Wars" which shows how desperate this film is. Hogan stars as a galactic hero who's just managed to save himself, but must escape, where he must go to earth. He remarks, "I hate Earthlings..." (while speaking English, of course). After landing in a random location, Hogan ends up with a common suburban family of two kids and a husband and wife (played by Christopher Lloyd and Shelley Duvall). In order to charge his spaceship, he must reside on Earth to wait for his spaceship, where he ends up living with the suburban family, and has a hard time fitting in with the "Earthlings" - which, to him, are quite bizarre creatures.
Nothing new here. The story is phoned in, really, and Hogan cannot act whatsoever, delivering a performance of "grrrrrrr" for just about the entire movie. I laughed a lot at him.
But, to be honest, this is a movie that is very obviously aimed at children, and is very appealing to children. I would be lying to say I didn't enjoy it in my own guilty pleasure kind of way. There are actually a few funny moments; for example, there are moments in Frank Cappello's script that are actually very witty, as in a scene where Hogan claims his lack of knowledge about the human kind and American culture comes from being French. A very funny moment; another comes from Hogan explaining his intergalactic duties to a next door neighbor who's a war veteran, to which he exclaims, "things certainly have changed since '44!" I liked this scene too. "Suburban Commando" is very much like a sitcom of the era, with some unoriginal ideas and laughable dialogue. But I enjoyed it enough to say that it's not really that bad - just mediocre, with some standout unintentional laughs.
2/4
Some movies could only be made within the barriers of somewhere around 1989 to 1992. There are some things that are instantly recognizable from different eras, like swing dancing or flappers from the 1920's, or post-war 1950's suburban homes. There is a movie that is instantly recognizable from 1991, too, a movie that stars Hulk Hogan, the famous (now infamous, with all that behind-the-scenes drama over the past years) wrestler, a fish out of water tale, and a campily entertaining screenplay and generally genial direction. That movie is "Suburban Commando" - and boy, is it recognizable from its era.
By the early 1990's, Hulk Hogan had reached superstardom. He was huge - and had already (or at least attempted to) conquer Hollywood two years earlier with the successful "No Holds Barred" which is also a movie that could only be made in 1989. He had tried to venture out into a real movie career; like Arnold Schwarzenegger (which this film actually has references to) or Chuck Norris, both professional athletes like Hogan before becoming massive movie stars. "Suburban Commando" was a genuine failure, however, and nothing really came of it. Hogan, you can tell, really wanted a movie career. Well, with this film, I don't think it's hard to see why he's not in a lot of movies.
"Suburban Commando" is your classic early 90's fairly tale. It literally opens on a direct copy of the original beginning of 1977's "Star Wars" which shows how desperate this film is. Hogan stars as a galactic hero who's just managed to save himself, but must escape, where he must go to earth. He remarks, "I hate Earthlings..." (while speaking English, of course). After landing in a random location, Hogan ends up with a common suburban family of two kids and a husband and wife (played by Christopher Lloyd and Shelley Duvall). In order to charge his spaceship, he must reside on Earth to wait for his spaceship, where he ends up living with the suburban family, and has a hard time fitting in with the "Earthlings" - which, to him, are quite bizarre creatures.
Nothing new here. The story is phoned in, really, and Hogan cannot act whatsoever, delivering a performance of "grrrrrrr" for just about the entire movie. I laughed a lot at him.
But, to be honest, this is a movie that is very obviously aimed at children, and is very appealing to children. I would be lying to say I didn't enjoy it in my own guilty pleasure kind of way. There are actually a few funny moments; for example, there are moments in Frank Cappello's script that are actually very witty, as in a scene where Hogan claims his lack of knowledge about the human kind and American culture comes from being French. A very funny moment; another comes from Hogan explaining his intergalactic duties to a next door neighbor who's a war veteran, to which he exclaims, "things certainly have changed since '44!" I liked this scene too. "Suburban Commando" is very much like a sitcom of the era, with some unoriginal ideas and laughable dialogue. But I enjoyed it enough to say that it's not really that bad - just mediocre, with some standout unintentional laughs.