Bullet Points: Commando 2: The Black Money Trail

Commando is one of my all time favorite action movies. There is so much to like from the unforgettable characters and actors, to the witty one-liners and of course the action is over the top and bombastic. It came to me as a mild surprise when I learned there was a sequel to Commando that slipped past my radar. I quickly remedied my error and watched the 2017 movie Commando 2: The Black Money Trail, the sequel to the 2013 movie Commando: A One Man Army. 

• May I Speak to Your Manager – Vidyut Jammwal returns as Karanvir ‘Karan’ Dogra, the titular Commando whom we meet in the opening action set piece attacking a high rise in Taiwan. Right from the start the martial arts and athletic skills of Jammwal on in full force as we see Karan use a ladder to scale the building in a truly unique fashion. Once inside he dispatches all the goons with flips and suplexes galore. There is some fun action in the opener.

• That’s Why I Am Going To Kill You Last – You know how I know Karan is a bad ass that doesn’t care about following the rules? When he finds the main bad guy in the building, Karan asks his man in the chair partner, Baka, to shoot Karan so it makes it look excusable when Karan shoots the bad guy in the back. Cold blooded… and painful, Karan ends up in the hospital for two months setting up his next mission.
• Special Cell – Karan works for a special cell of the government called… Special Cell. His next mission is to go after Vicky Chadda, a criminal that has facilitated lots of black money dealings. While I am no expert in Indian finances, the newsposition at the beginning of the movie explains that lots of black market dealings in foreign countries have robbed hundreds of millions from the people of India and recent demonetization has made the bad guys nervous to get their money. When the Home Minister’s son is one of these criminals, there are now some in the government also trying to get to Vicky.

• There Is No I In Team – A team is sent to bring Vicky back to India after being arrested in Malaysia, and what a wacky team it is. Joining Karan is ACP Bakhtawar (Freddy Daruwala) the stereotypical by the book cop who loves to follow the rules and hates those who don’t. Zafar Hussain is the stereotypical nerd and computer specialist and even though is on the police force has no business being in the field. Bhavana Reddy is an encounter specialist and stereotypical fashionista, more interested in finding the nearest mall, although very good at her job. I love this team.
• Let’s Twist Again – Once the team makes it to Malaysia and it meets Vicky and his wife Maria there begins a non-stop string of twists and characters not who we think they are and knowing more than they let on. It is almost too much as Commando 2 tries to be to cool for school. Once the action kicks in, all the twists and plot holes can be forgiven. There is a fun boat shootout with bad guys ending up in the drink, and several shoots and chases. However, when Karan and Reddy end up in a mall while chasing Vicky I was getting flashbacks. I once saw an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie that had a fun scene in a mall. What was that movie called again? Most of the action happens outside of the mall in the airplane graveyard. And to continue to add to the words I never thought I would write, Karan is attacked by goons wearing jumping stilts and knife gauntlets!

Commando 2: The Black Money Trail has room for one last big twist (Hooray, Indian farmers!) that is the toughest to believe, but makes it easier to root for some of the characters. There is never any doubt that Vidyut Jammwal is the big star. He has the look and skills and is very impressive in the fight scenes. When you play a stoic hero, you can get away without showing a large range of emotion. When you can fight with knives, guns, sticks and hand to hand, I don’t need much else. The action is the standout in Commando 2 with a wide variety and some interesting POV shots to give the audience a view not seldom seen. Like many Indian films, Commando 2 runs over two hours, but again the action and twists should be enough to keep you entertained. If not, here are some Commando 2: The Black Money Trail Bonus Bullet Points.

• Rascal – I watched Commando 2 with subtitles, but can someone tell me if rascal is used as much in real life Hindi as it was in the movie. I loved it.
• Golden Arches – The McDonald’s product placement that plays an important role as a clue was jarring. Just as jarring as the Chang beer getting blurred out (I saw you peeking out, Chang elephants). Alcohol bad, high calories and fat good?
• Extra Credit – Stick around for the credits to watch a music video with the cast dancing to “Hare Krishna Hare Ram.”
• Followed By – Now having seen the first two, I need to complete the series by watching Commando 3.