YO JOE!
G.I. Joe, which started as a doll line in 1964, soon exploded into a full-fledged franchise that exists to this day, spawning a comic book line, a cartoon series, a reimagined cartoon series, video games, and even a couple of animated movies. After Michael Bay’s successful 2007 adaptation of Transformers, Paramount saw fit to adapt G.I. Joe for the big screen, recruiting director Stephen Sommers, who made the only two good Mummy movies, and the entertaining, if slightly self-indulgent Van Helsing.
G.I. Joe takes place in the “Not Too Distant Future”, where a man named McCullen, owner of a corporation called M.A.R.S, has developed a nanotechnological weapon that can eat through tanks, and even entire cities. During a delivery of the weapon, to a group led by “Duke” and “Ripcord”, a mysterious and violent force attacks, killing nearly all of their men. Before the remainder can be taken out, they are rescued by another equally mysterious and violent force which appears and drives the bad guys away. Their rescuers reveal themselves as G.I. Joe, a secret organization founded to track down bad guys and destroy them. Duke and Ripcord want in, and receive advanced training. Soon, they are ready to take down the mysterious force, to keep them from doing God-knows-what. However, there is a past between Duke and the evil femme fatale known as The Baroness. What is it? You’ll just have to find out for yourself.
So, after all the controversy with the supposed firing of Stephen Sommers (which wasn’t true), the most obvious question remains. Is G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra any good?
No. It’s not.
Actually, it’s pretty awesome.
The film is a fast-paced, action-packed, extremely dumb, but extremely fun motion picture, which does more things right than wrong.
The acting is surprisingly good, considering the material. Channing Tatum, who plays Duke, is a likable presence, and makes for a good action hero. Marlon Wayans (Ripcord) does a good job too. I was afraid he would be the Jar Jar Binks of the film, but he manages to not be annoying. Sienna Miller was a surprise as The Baroness. Although neglected to assume the Russian accent of the character, I gave her a pass since she was good in the role; it helps that she was easy on the eyes. Rachel Nicholes as Scarlett is kind of a mixed bag, I don’t remember the character too well from the cartoon (it’s been a looooong while), but she did a fine job. The rest of the cast also did well, including Ray Park as the bad-ass Snake Eyes. I do have some problems with Cobra Commander, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt did well enough with what he was given.
The action sequence, though it starts out rather small, explodes into epic-ness around the halfway point. The assault on Paris was a rip-roaring sequence, filled with more wanton destruction than your average action movie. It’s also hilarious. Why? Well, the obvious comparison I can make with this scene is the opening of Team America: World Police. Nowhere have I seen a more blatant disregard for human life than in this movie. Our heroes are diving through flying cars, trains, buildings, possibly people, all while everything in the city is exploding. Is this a flaw? Hell, no! If one would look up the phrase “Cartoon Come To Life” in the dictionary, G.I. Joe will certainly be listed as one of the definitions. The final battle (which goes on forever), does lower the collateral damage count by 100%, but it doesn’t match the macho bravura of the Paris scene. Oh, and if you didn’t love the accelerator suits in the trailer, you’ll love them here.
The film is not without its problems, though. There are many backstories within G.I. Joe; however, none had a satisfying conclusion. The histories of Duke/The Baroness, and Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow were the most compelling, yet neither ended on a note that I felt was satisfying. I’m sure a sequel will fix all that, but I wish they had gone ballsier with the former storyline and ended it a bit more tragically. The latter storyline just needed to be more epic in its conclusion. I also felt the story of Cobra Commander was shortchanged. For a film subtitled “Rise of Cobra” they sure didn’t focus much on the main villain of the franchise. It was just, “BOOM! EVIL!” – and that’s it. I also didn’t quite buy the Scarlett/Ripcord love story. I would’ve preferred for them to go with canon, and paired Scarlett and Snake Eyes.
Also, I’m just not that big of a fan of super-obvious sequel-bait endings. This one had the most blatant. Transformers felt self-contained, with hints of a possible sequel coming from the sheer size of the franchise, but this one might as well have had a giant neon sign saying “GIVE ME A SEQUEL!” I sure hope the film’s a hit in this regard.
This leads into a question I’m sure almost none of you will ask, but I’ll answer anyway: is G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra better than Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen? If you see both, chances are 99.9% of you will say G.I. Joe. However, I’m going to have to be of the .1% that disagrees. Let me explain. I’m a much bigger fan of Transformers than G.I. Joe. I grew up with the “Transformers” series, and even watched the 1986 film millions of times and never got sick of it. I felt both of Bay’s films were successful in their transitions from cartoon to silver screen. I found them highly entertaining, and mind-blowingly epic. Yes, both Rise Of Cobra and Revenge of The Fallen had their problems; however, Rise of Cobra’s are much bigger than Revenge of The Fallen’s.
So, despite a few problems, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a hugely entertaining franchise starter that has no other direction to go but up. I recommend it for fans and moviegoers looking for a good time.
Have Fun!
