The first GI JOE directed by Stephen Sommers was a joke; it didn't resemble the old GI JOE cartoons or anything related to the license. The action was weak, the cast was too unwieldy, it didn't even look like GI JOE and overall, a waste of money. The sequel/ reboot, thankfully, avoids all of these faults and gives a movie worth my time and money. It's everything the first movie should've been.
The tone of the movie was great. It may take place in modern times (you got touchscreen computers all over the place) but it still lives in the GI JOE universe (Firefly's entire arsenal of creative explosives speaks for itself). The successful combination of realism and imagination bleeds throughout the whole movie and it's part of what made the movie enjoyable.
The characters are fewer but better; now that the cast list has been cut to half its size in the first installment, there's more time for the writers to add what development they could to people based on an 80's cartoon. The characterizations weren't the best but they were more than something. Each and every single character was great, all of them having their own distinct personalities instead of being cardboard copies of each other or some other character. Whether Joe or Cobra, it wasn't hard to pick a favorite from each side.
A small problem with the cast, though, was that some of the characters didn't get the amount of screen presence they deserved, such as Duke and (especially) Cobra Commander. Characters from the previous movie aren't even mentioned and in the case of a certain big named GI JOE character, left forgotten. Now it was nice to see the effort put behind the movie's attempt to leave part one in the dust by removing half of the cast but it would've been nice if some explanation as to what happened to the other JOES was given.
The action was actually enjoyable this time around, with a mix of firefights, vehicle combat and ninja duels, all of which are done with a good eye for adrenaline. The camera was thankfully held in place and it made watching the action scenes a lot easier on the eye. some of the CGI looked too fake in some parts, but thankfully the CGI was used sparingly and only when necessary.
The main problem the movie had was the weak resolution and revelation of certain key subplots. I'm not going to spoil any of them but when a major subplot was introduced, it was abruptly ended in less than a few seconds when the movie was nearing its end. Loose ends were hanging by the end but this didn't cost the movie dearly; while it did leave me wanting some closure to the given problem, it didn't hinder the fact that I had a blast watching RETALIATION.
GI JOE: RETALIATION should serve as a lesson to future movies based on some old license; it's fine to have a reboot, it's fine to change the tone into a gritty one but never forget what made those titles popular in the first place: fun. RETALIATION successfully combined the limits of reality and the inspiration of the franchise to deliver a movie that doesn't only resemble the cartoons (only grittier this time around) but a simple action movie that can entertain both JOE fans and those who are new to the franchise.
The tone of the movie was great. It may take place in modern times (you got touchscreen computers all over the place) but it still lives in the GI JOE universe (Firefly's entire arsenal of creative explosives speaks for itself). The successful combination of realism and imagination bleeds throughout the whole movie and it's part of what made the movie enjoyable.
The characters are fewer but better; now that the cast list has been cut to half its size in the first installment, there's more time for the writers to add what development they could to people based on an 80's cartoon. The characterizations weren't the best but they were more than something. Each and every single character was great, all of them having their own distinct personalities instead of being cardboard copies of each other or some other character. Whether Joe or Cobra, it wasn't hard to pick a favorite from each side.
A small problem with the cast, though, was that some of the characters didn't get the amount of screen presence they deserved, such as Duke and (especially) Cobra Commander. Characters from the previous movie aren't even mentioned and in the case of a certain big named GI JOE character, left forgotten. Now it was nice to see the effort put behind the movie's attempt to leave part one in the dust by removing half of the cast but it would've been nice if some explanation as to what happened to the other JOES was given.
The action was actually enjoyable this time around, with a mix of firefights, vehicle combat and ninja duels, all of which are done with a good eye for adrenaline. The camera was thankfully held in place and it made watching the action scenes a lot easier on the eye. some of the CGI looked too fake in some parts, but thankfully the CGI was used sparingly and only when necessary.
The main problem the movie had was the weak resolution and revelation of certain key subplots. I'm not going to spoil any of them but when a major subplot was introduced, it was abruptly ended in less than a few seconds when the movie was nearing its end. Loose ends were hanging by the end but this didn't cost the movie dearly; while it did leave me wanting some closure to the given problem, it didn't hinder the fact that I had a blast watching RETALIATION.
GI JOE: RETALIATION should serve as a lesson to future movies based on some old license; it's fine to have a reboot, it's fine to change the tone into a gritty one but never forget what made those titles popular in the first place: fun. RETALIATION successfully combined the limits of reality and the inspiration of the franchise to deliver a movie that doesn't only resemble the cartoons (only grittier this time around) but a simple action movie that can entertain both JOE fans and those who are new to the franchise.