G.I. Joe: Retaliation review, redemption for the franchise

G.I. Joe: Retaliation was supposed to be released in the summer of 2012.  It was delayed; people blamed Channing Tatum, the competition it was up against or the filming of the 3D.  G.I Joe: Retaliation is fast cutting action that seems like a cousin to the action films of the late 80’s.  There are some laugh out loud funny one liners; the plot moves fast, there are dozens of ninjas, The Rock and Bruce Willis.

Going to G.I Joe: Retaliation and complaining about the plot or acting is like complaining about the large round balls at a bowling alley.  You know exactly what you’re going to get if you go see this movie.  Having said that, this was an overall enjoyable movie.  It’s the best movie that Hasbro has put out yet.

That may sound like a slam or that I’m slighting the brand, but Hasbro has put out lots of movies.  They do own a large number of properties and to suggest that they’re not thinking about all of them on the big screen is naïve.   G.I. Joe stumbled out of the gate and will join Transformers as their tent pole franchises.

Retaliation is a reboot.  The first G.I. Joe movie was horrible by most standards.  I turned it off ¼ of the way through it-and I had the flu and HAD to stay on the sofa.  One of the common problems that people said about that movie is that there weren’t enough ninjas.

There are more ninjas in G.I. Joe: Retaliation than you can shake a stick at.  Ninjas on a mountain cliff with grappling guns, ninjas looking for redemption and 1 looking for revenge against his master’s death.

Most of the Joes get killed in the beginning of the movie, including Channing Tatum.  The speculation that his movie death and subsequent real life fame required a script update is incorrect.  That is too bad because he does have screen presence, but he was part of the awful first move, so….hello Dwayne Johnson!

The Rock becomes the new leader for the Joes and must figure out why his own government killed his team.  Another member of the team knows the original Joe…hello Bruce Willis!  Willis has some great lines in the movie; his dry, glib style of delivery is perfect when the character and story are OK with it.

The President, who is under the control of Cobra Commander is determined to rid the world of nuclear weapons.  That seems like a good thing until he unleashes a much deadlier (but eco-friendly!) weapon on London.

Snake Eyes joins  in, as does Storm Shadow, Jinx, Lady Jaye and Zartan.  All the characters you remember from the comic book are here and represented in a much better fashion than the first movie.  Are you sensing a theme?

I wanted this movie to be good because the first one was soooo bad.  Even grading on a curve, G.I. Joe Retaliation is entertaining.  It’s enjoyable, action packed and has decent effects.  Sure you’ll wonder how anybody can stand toe to toe with The Rock in a fist fight and win, but hey, it’s only a movie, suspend belief.

If you have the choice of seeing it in 3D and 2D see it in 2D.  Assuming that the conversion to 3D was the only reason for the delayed release then they chose poorly.  The 3D adds nothing to this movie and made it blurry at times.

The Rock Bottom Line

G.I. Joe is popcorn fun and something that you’ll enjoy watching on  TV in a couple of years too.