Commando, Part 49
[1:23:12–1:24:56]
Synopsis
Bennett continues pressing Matrix toward the flames, but then Matrix manages to push free and swap positions; now Bennett’s back is to the fire. They continue grappling. Matrix breaks the stalemate by headbutting Bennett, which separates them. Matrix then punches him in the face, sending Bennett reeling backward into the fence with the high-voltage sign on it. Sparks fly behind Bennett as he convulses and screams.
Suddenly, Bennett rushes forward from the electrified fence, punches Matrix in the face and gut, and then wallops him in the chest with two fists. Bennett delivers a kick to Matrix’s face, then shoves Matrix into the wall. Staggered, Matrix leans against the wall with his back to Bennett.
Bennett says, “John, I feel good!” Then he delivers an unguarded punch to Matrix’s back. “Just like old times!” He hits Matrix again. “What’s it feel like to be a dying man?” Bennett elbows Matrix in the shoulder, sending the commando to his knees. “You’re a dead man, John!”
Matrix responds, “Bullshit!” He gets to his feet, turns around, and delivers a rapid barrage of punches to Bennett’s face. Bennett falls to the floor, grabs a gun he finds there, and takes aim at Matrix. He continues yelling, a crazed look in his eyes, as he gets to his feet: “John! I’m not gonna shoot you between the eyes! I’m gonna shoot you between the balls!” Matrix grabs a steam pipe off the wall and hurls it into Bennett’s midsection. Bennett groans and dies as steam begins pouring out of the pipe. Matrix: “Let off some steam, Bennett.” Jenny has been watching from an elevated platform, and she says, “Daddy?” Matrix looks up at her and they smile at each other. Outside, three helicopters come in over the water toward the island. The seaplane swoops in behind them.
Analysis
When Bennett hits the fence with the high-voltage sign and gets electrocuted, it almost seems like this could be the end of the fight. It’s gone on for a while, the high-voltage sign was telegraphed earlier, and this would be a fairly creative way to finish off Bennett. But instead, Commando uses this as just one more escalation. After we see Bennett getting shocked, and get stunned reaction shots from both Matrix and Jenny, Bennett rushes toward Matrix with a renewed energy—almost as if the electricity has actually recharged him. It takes Matrix by surprise, and because it seemed like a potential end to the brawl, it has the same effect on the audience.
(Logically, when you think about it, it does seem pretty weird that simply by touching a fence, Bennett gets shocked. Like, there’s some electrical equipment behind it, but why would the fence be electrified? Maybe the infrastructure under Arius’s island is simply not up to code. In any event, both the spark effects and Bennett’s screaming/convulsions are effective, and when watching in real-time it makes good enough sense, in a movie-logic kind of way.)
After Bennett gets shocked and launches himself at Matrix, some great framing and blocking nicely communicate the changing momentum of the fight. Bennett comes at Matrix from screen left, punching and kicking his foe. Then he pushes Matrix into a wall at screen right. With Matrix briefly immobilized on the right side of the screen, Bennett taunts and strikes him repeatedly. As Bennett is about to deliver a finishing blow, Matrix gathers his determination, says “Bullshit!”, and turns to fight back. The shift happens in a close-up; Matrix’s head is against the wall on the right side of the screen. He turns his head and his gaze around, and suddenly the momentum shifts. Matrix moves from right to left as he delivers a flurry of punches—we hear a total of eleven punches in a span of about four seconds, and they knock Bennett backward to screen left.
Matrix’s attack leaves Bennett stunned and leaning against the steam tank on the left side of the screen. He aims his gun at Matrix, toward screen right. Matrix stares him down in a separate shot, looking toward screen left. Then Matrix hurls the metal pipe toward screen left. We see it hit Bennett in a wide shot, but then we cut to a close-up on his face, and a brilliant camera move slowly zooms out to reveal that steam is coming out the end of the pipe—meaning that it went all the way through Bennett and into the tank behind him. This is the cherry on top of an excellent fight scene.
But, this being Commando, one cherry is not enough. Matrix follows up the grisly death with a pun, “Let off some steam, Bennett,” which might be one of the funniest things to ever grace the silver screen. The fact that Matrix has the presence of mind to joke after the long, involved fight sequence is truly delightful, and it’s perfectly in keeping with the rest of the movie.
This part of the film ends with a long shot of helicopters and a plane flying in; it’s a simple shot, but also an impressive feat of coordination in the days before you could pretty easily just CG this stuff. They had to coordinate three helicopters flying in formation, as well as a plane swooping in from off screen (and landing—on the water, no less), and capture it all on camera. Having to reset this shot would’ve, I’m sure, been extremely expensive and time-consuming. This is the kind of stuff about older movies that I really appreciate—the “degree of difficulty” aspect is really visible on the screen, and knowing that they couldn’t just cheaply fake it (or even touch it up) adds a sense of realism and authenticity that may simply not be possible any more.
