Starring: Dwayne Johnson, D.J. Cotrona, Channing Tatum, Adrianne Palicki, and Byung-hun Lee
Directed by: Jon M. Chu
Screenplay by: Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
I'll be honest, I've waited for this movie for a while. Was it worth it? You'll just have to read on.
In this sequel to the 2009 film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the G.I. Joe division of the United States military is terminated. In a brutal sneak attack, almost all of the Joes are killed, but some survive. There's only one man who can order an attack like that, and it's the President of the United States. When the surviving Joes discover that the President is actually being held prisoner by the evil organization, Cobra, and being played by an imposter, things get ugly, not just for the Joes, but for the entire world.
Cobra has an intense plan for world domination. Since one of it's operatives is playing the part of the President of the United States without anybody except the Joes knowing it, controlling the entire world isn't too far out of Cobra's reach. Now that the imposter president has authorized a defense system capable of destroying every country fourteen times over and is willing to use it, the entire world is in danger and at the mercy of Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey). It's up to the surviving Joes, Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki), and Flint (D.J. Cotrona), Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee), Snake Eyes (Ray Park), and Jinx (Elodie Yung), to save the day. Will they do it before Cobra can push the button that might just destroy the world?
This series likes to have really epic plot lines with extreme consequences when things go wrong. In the first movie, it was the Eiffel Tower that gets destroyed. In this film (and the trailer shows this), it's the entire city of London that goes down.
This is a film that shows audiences just how high the stakes are if the heroes fail their mission. For example, in one scene, the "president" has called for a meeting between the eight heads of state of countries with nuclear weapons to discuss nuclear disarmament. He threatens them to disarm all of their weapons by firing all of the USA's nukes around the world. In retaliation, they all do the same, and it's the single most intense scene of the film. You'll just have to see the film to see what happens, but from this point forward, it's pretty clear what the stakes are for our heroes.
There are a few movies in theaters now that are incredibly intense. Films like Olympus Has Fallen and The Call are so intense, that you'll be wanting a Gatorade after walking out of the theater. G.I. Joe: Retaliation is not quite as intense, but what bothers me is that it tries to be as intense as these films. As I explained above, the story explicitly shows us how high the stakes are for the heroes, and this creates some suspense, but not as much as it should. The film tries so hard to be overly intense that it fails to be as intense as it tries to be.
The action scenes are the prime focus of this film (as expected), and while there are bits of the movie that are not filled with explosive action and actually filled with some plot, those scenes move very quickly, almost to the point where the film stays one step ahead of one's mind. It doesn't make the film all that more difficult to follow, but it makes the audience work harder to follow it when scenes are filled with plot content and not just mindless explosions.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation proves to be just another action packed movie meant to be released during the height of summer, along with all of the other action packed movies released during that time of year. It was originally supposed to release last June but was pushed back to now. There isn't a whole lot that's special about this movie, and I would say that if you saw the first film, you'll want to see this one. But if you haven't seen the first one, there isn't a big need to see this one.
I give G.I. Joe: Retaliation a B-.
Directed by: Jon M. Chu
Screenplay by: Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
I'll be honest, I've waited for this movie for a while. Was it worth it? You'll just have to read on.
In this sequel to the 2009 film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the G.I. Joe division of the United States military is terminated. In a brutal sneak attack, almost all of the Joes are killed, but some survive. There's only one man who can order an attack like that, and it's the President of the United States. When the surviving Joes discover that the President is actually being held prisoner by the evil organization, Cobra, and being played by an imposter, things get ugly, not just for the Joes, but for the entire world.
Cobra has an intense plan for world domination. Since one of it's operatives is playing the part of the President of the United States without anybody except the Joes knowing it, controlling the entire world isn't too far out of Cobra's reach. Now that the imposter president has authorized a defense system capable of destroying every country fourteen times over and is willing to use it, the entire world is in danger and at the mercy of Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey). It's up to the surviving Joes, Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki), and Flint (D.J. Cotrona), Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee), Snake Eyes (Ray Park), and Jinx (Elodie Yung), to save the day. Will they do it before Cobra can push the button that might just destroy the world?
This series likes to have really epic plot lines with extreme consequences when things go wrong. In the first movie, it was the Eiffel Tower that gets destroyed. In this film (and the trailer shows this), it's the entire city of London that goes down.
This is a film that shows audiences just how high the stakes are if the heroes fail their mission. For example, in one scene, the "president" has called for a meeting between the eight heads of state of countries with nuclear weapons to discuss nuclear disarmament. He threatens them to disarm all of their weapons by firing all of the USA's nukes around the world. In retaliation, they all do the same, and it's the single most intense scene of the film. You'll just have to see the film to see what happens, but from this point forward, it's pretty clear what the stakes are for our heroes.
There are a few movies in theaters now that are incredibly intense. Films like Olympus Has Fallen and The Call are so intense, that you'll be wanting a Gatorade after walking out of the theater. G.I. Joe: Retaliation is not quite as intense, but what bothers me is that it tries to be as intense as these films. As I explained above, the story explicitly shows us how high the stakes are for the heroes, and this creates some suspense, but not as much as it should. The film tries so hard to be overly intense that it fails to be as intense as it tries to be.
The action scenes are the prime focus of this film (as expected), and while there are bits of the movie that are not filled with explosive action and actually filled with some plot, those scenes move very quickly, almost to the point where the film stays one step ahead of one's mind. It doesn't make the film all that more difficult to follow, but it makes the audience work harder to follow it when scenes are filled with plot content and not just mindless explosions.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation proves to be just another action packed movie meant to be released during the height of summer, along with all of the other action packed movies released during that time of year. It was originally supposed to release last June but was pushed back to now. There isn't a whole lot that's special about this movie, and I would say that if you saw the first film, you'll want to see this one. But if you haven't seen the first one, there isn't a big need to see this one.
I give G.I. Joe: Retaliation a B-.
The movie has fun action, and that’s what it’s meant for. Nothing more, nothing less. Solid review Matt.
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