This sequel may have a few flaws like most sequels, but G.I. Joe: Retaliation is much more charismatic and an improvement upon its predecessor.
354 Reviews
I enjoyed this movie
0U23 February 2020
Plenty of great visuals and action but not much story.
jhpstrydom9 September 2013
This second G.I JOE film doesn't have much in terms of a well thought out plot but it does have some great visuals and is packed with loads of well staged action sequences so action movie buffs should have a blast. For those also seeking more of a character story it's still best to look somewhere else.
The acting is however surprisingly good given the film's plot. Dwayne Johnson and Channing Tatum both bring a certain likability to their characters and I enjoyed watching them the most and of course Adrianne Palicki who was very friendly on the eyes.
Overall, The film might not have much of a plot but the great visuals and the well made action sequences keep it from becoming a total bore. Those who want more of a character driven plot might not think very much of it.
The acting is however surprisingly good given the film's plot. Dwayne Johnson and Channing Tatum both bring a certain likability to their characters and I enjoyed watching them the most and of course Adrianne Palicki who was very friendly on the eyes.
Overall, The film might not have much of a plot but the great visuals and the well made action sequences keep it from becoming a total bore. Those who want more of a character driven plot might not think very much of it.
If you don't expect much, you might like it.
naregian30 March 2013
As a film buff, I love seeing films alone on Saturday afternoons or Friday nights. As as result of my frequent attendance, I have come to know not to expect much from action blockbuster films. Yes, you get your usual incomprehensible hand-to-hand fights, buildings exploding and enemy gunfire as inaccurate as ever, with the inevitably minimal plot and screenplay. As the ending credits rolled, I stood up thinking "ehhh". The film definitely had some amazingly entertaining action sequences and awesome special effects, but you know, you can't really be THAT amazed with an action film. Not gonna lie, the screenplay in this film was pretty well written, and it included quite a few pleasantly surprising laughs. Dwayne Johnson has a big few months ahead of him with the release of Snitch (which I give a 7/10), the next Fast and Furious movie, and Pain & Gain. With this film, he did reinforce his true acting credentials, even though not much notable acting is observed in such a genre. All in all, if you're expecting something like Olympus Has Fallen, you might be dissatisfied. If you go in like me, with no true expectations other than hoping for some entertainment, you might like what you see.
A bit of A Disappointment Storywise
alucard_castlevania8627 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I had 50/50 hopes for this movie and felt a bit bummed out when it was told that it will be delayed to March 2013 but I thought maybe it was for the best so I decided to give it chance. Now after nearly a year of waiting, I have to say I was a bit disappointed
First off, they promised to explain what happened to the characters in the previous film that didn't show up (ripcord, Scarlett etc.) but no explanation was given whatsoever as well as wanting to strengthen Duke and Baroness character but nothing was ever explained. 2nd storywise, it was not that very interesting in my opinion and there some parts which I find a bit illogic and not explained like how did Storm Shadow survive. The guy just like appeared out of no where
Character wise, Cobra rules compared to the Joes. Lady Jaye and Flint were not really that interesting to watch and the romance between them didn't really look that convincing. Killing off Duke Hauser (Channing Tatum)and letting Roadblock (The Rock) take over as team leader for me was the biggest letdown in my opinion since he never really looked that great playing the lead role. Bruce Willis was OK a Joe but nothing exciting but for me the best Joe out there would have to be Snake Eyes (Ray Park). His performances were great as usual and really made the movie looked exciting
As for the villains, I really wanted to see Zartan fight with somebody but that didn't happen. Destro was the biggest disappointment for me since they killed his character off just like that. Cobra Commander looked better in this outfit that the previous one but there was really nothing from him but in my opinion, the best villain and character of the entire movie has got to go to Firefly (Ray Stevenson) His character was so wicked cool and I really loved how those nano flys were used as his explosion device. Though a villain, he stood out the most in the film for me I can't say much for the rest of the cast like Storm Shadow and Jinx since there wasn't really anything much from them
However I find it kind of hard to believe that this is a G.I Joe movie since apart from Snake Eyes, there wasn't really anything that made me feel that these guys were the G.I Joes since it felt like there were very little connection between this team to the previous G.I Joe team in the first movie
Overall a bit of a letdown compared to the first movie and it didn't seemed like it was a sequel to the first G.I Joe movie and it wasn't really worth watching it in 3D either
First off, they promised to explain what happened to the characters in the previous film that didn't show up (ripcord, Scarlett etc.) but no explanation was given whatsoever as well as wanting to strengthen Duke and Baroness character but nothing was ever explained. 2nd storywise, it was not that very interesting in my opinion and there some parts which I find a bit illogic and not explained like how did Storm Shadow survive. The guy just like appeared out of no where
Character wise, Cobra rules compared to the Joes. Lady Jaye and Flint were not really that interesting to watch and the romance between them didn't really look that convincing. Killing off Duke Hauser (Channing Tatum)and letting Roadblock (The Rock) take over as team leader for me was the biggest letdown in my opinion since he never really looked that great playing the lead role. Bruce Willis was OK a Joe but nothing exciting but for me the best Joe out there would have to be Snake Eyes (Ray Park). His performances were great as usual and really made the movie looked exciting
As for the villains, I really wanted to see Zartan fight with somebody but that didn't happen. Destro was the biggest disappointment for me since they killed his character off just like that. Cobra Commander looked better in this outfit that the previous one but there was really nothing from him but in my opinion, the best villain and character of the entire movie has got to go to Firefly (Ray Stevenson) His character was so wicked cool and I really loved how those nano flys were used as his explosion device. Though a villain, he stood out the most in the film for me I can't say much for the rest of the cast like Storm Shadow and Jinx since there wasn't really anything much from them
However I find it kind of hard to believe that this is a G.I Joe movie since apart from Snake Eyes, there wasn't really anything that made me feel that these guys were the G.I Joes since it felt like there were very little connection between this team to the previous G.I Joe team in the first movie
Overall a bit of a letdown compared to the first movie and it didn't seemed like it was a sequel to the first G.I Joe movie and it wasn't really worth watching it in 3D either
Thrilling ride if you don't take it seriously
CMTiago3 April 2014
The sequel to the first G.I.Joe movie gathered some negative reviews like its predecessor. This kind of thing doesn't deter me from watching any movie and one of the reasons is because you have to understand what kind of movie you're going to watch. I know that this is a mindless action flick with a simple plot. It's entertaining and it doesn't have to prove a point by being a perfectly constructed movie. It's meant to look cool and lack any real depth. After getting that out of my system, I can say that I enjoyed watching Retaliation and will try to watch it many times in the future, as this is the kind of film I watch when I wanna have fun. Ranging from The Rock to Willis this movie has very stylistic characters that ultimately kick ass with the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow battles coming to mind. The special effects also look impressive, particularly in one massive destruction scene. If you like to just lay back and see great fights and a little eye candy then this is the movie for you. Anyone trying to be logic about this I'll just tell you that you are wasting your time.
Rating 8/10
Rating 8/10
Should Never Have Been Made
jace_the_film_guy29 July 2021
GI Joe: Retaliation is a film that should never have been made. When most of the original cast declined to return for this second installment, the studio panicked and did the only logical thing: bring in The Rock. The problem with this response to an already broken franchise is that it disconnected the audience from the characters. If Jaye was Scarlett, Roadblock was Ripcord and General Joe was General Hawk, we would be looking at a completely different film, one that probably would have been more successful.
Unfortunately, I had no vested interest in the story or the climactic "Project Zeus" because of these flaws. The action sequences (especially the Himalayan cliffside battle) were fantastic, but that was not enough to make me actually care about what happened in the end.
Unfortunately, I had no vested interest in the story or the climactic "Project Zeus" because of these flaws. The action sequences (especially the Himalayan cliffside battle) were fantastic, but that was not enough to make me actually care about what happened in the end.
G.I.Joe Retaliation:Strictly Average!
GaneshKSalian4 April 2013
G.I. Joe Retaliation is an strictly average action movie.
The movie has the same repeated story,which we have often seen in many action movies before.
For me,what made G.I Joe Retaliation more disappointing is Bruce Willis.He had hardly any screen-space to showcase his action skills.
G.I Joe Retaliation is a movie made for the teens.The teens are surely going to love this one! There are many action sequences in this movie,but only a few stand out.The action sequence in the Himalayas is the highlight of the movie.This action sequence has been shot very nicely.
The direction is mediocre.
Performance: Dwayne Johnson is fine.Channing Tatum is strictly okay.Elodie Yung,Ray Park and Adrianne Palicki are just okay.Bruce Willis disappoints.
All in all,G.I.Joe Retaliation is a strictly average action movie.I would recommend this flick for the teens but not for adults.I am giving it a four on ten.
The movie has the same repeated story,which we have often seen in many action movies before.
For me,what made G.I Joe Retaliation more disappointing is Bruce Willis.He had hardly any screen-space to showcase his action skills.
G.I Joe Retaliation is a movie made for the teens.The teens are surely going to love this one! There are many action sequences in this movie,but only a few stand out.The action sequence in the Himalayas is the highlight of the movie.This action sequence has been shot very nicely.
The direction is mediocre.
Performance: Dwayne Johnson is fine.Channing Tatum is strictly okay.Elodie Yung,Ray Park and Adrianne Palicki are just okay.Bruce Willis disappoints.
All in all,G.I.Joe Retaliation is a strictly average action movie.I would recommend this flick for the teens but not for adults.I am giving it a four on ten.
Bad.
DrTuvok9 July 2020
I was maybe around 15 when I watched this and didn't even like it then. A non-stop mess of jumbled headache inducing overkill action scenes that numb the brain and rot the imagination. Not even Dwayne Johnson could save it. Even worse, not even Bruce Willis could save it. That tells you all you need to know.
Side Note: The ninja cliff fight scene was actually fairly well done, but just watch a clip for it on Youtube; slogging through the entire movie isn't worth it.
Side Note: The ninja cliff fight scene was actually fairly well done, but just watch a clip for it on Youtube; slogging through the entire movie isn't worth it.
Stale Explosions
billygoat107130 March 2013
G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra feels like it belongs to a different age of blockbusters. It had a hard time fitting in to the modern generation thus most moviegoers never find it as appealing as the other films that was released on that year. Those rants can be true only in some reasons. The film is undeniably silly and dumb but it was never boring and has its own quality. Since people are now asking for darker and much serious blockbusters, this sequel reduces all the silliness that was displayed on the original. G.I. Joe: Retaliation is cooler and less cartoony. Unfortunately, it is also less exciting and terribly uninspired. The action may be better looking but the lack of fortitude and creativity made it fall short into another visual showcase stress.
"Awesome" is the main goal of this sequel. While the original was too corny to impress, this film darkens the tone and made it a bit down to earth. It abandons the silly gadgets and the ridiculous laws of physics that was shown in the original. But the film fails to be both dark and realistic. Not only because of those robotic fireflies and the mass annihilating missiles but the secret prisons and the government are unbelievably dumb to manage their job. Well, it's a blockbuster based on toys so it will never be too realistic. Deal with it while we are here for the fun. The dark aspects aren't dark at all. What they only do is to be serious. This seriousness blocks the potential joy and turns it into standard blockbuster bland.
The storytelling is quite messy. It's like an uninteresting version of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol with uninteresting characters. The storytelling from the first movie wasn't great either since it is cluttered with cheesy flashbacks. But it's worse here because it takes some twists that are absurdly incoherent. And so, it's all pretentious. The characters are boring and even the performances can't bring them to life. Dwayne Johnson is the only good thing among them though, Bruce Willis is trying to make fun of himself again as a crazy grandaddy, and the villains ham it up which isn't suppose to be a bad thing but they can't give enough personality to them.
The action scenes are acceptable enough to call awesome at least. With all the explosions and the none CGI-ed machines, it seems to be really exciting, but it's not. It does a fine job to be pretty but there's a difference between good looking and exciting. There's only a little suspense. If there is actually suspense and joy then it would be found at the mountain ninja fight but it's just mild and still glosses some slow motions in it. For the rest of the action, the heroes are always superior. Plus more explosions and slow-mos. The action is stylishly directed anyway. The fight between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow remains to be the only action that excites and one part of the climax has a nutty scene with The Rock riding huge vehicles and shooting like a badass. The production designs, special effects, and costumes gets better. What else to talk about it?
The absence of the Joes' ridiculous transportation and weapons, holograms, and other snazzy gadgets may please our modern viewers but it also forgets why this material is interesting anyway. Now we only get typical military stuff. It still has some crazy devices but it's limited compare to the first film. Rise of Cobra wasn't a classic. It's nothing more than a simple guilty pleasure. Same with Retaliation except this one can't even be completely pleasurable unless you want some endless visual coolness. Cool is not a bad thing but it could have been creative and much more exciting instead of showing off slow-mos on screen. To be fair, it's mildly entertaining and good to look at. If the film wasn't this visually awesome, it would have been an empty cinema. The series still fails to justify its source material.
"Awesome" is the main goal of this sequel. While the original was too corny to impress, this film darkens the tone and made it a bit down to earth. It abandons the silly gadgets and the ridiculous laws of physics that was shown in the original. But the film fails to be both dark and realistic. Not only because of those robotic fireflies and the mass annihilating missiles but the secret prisons and the government are unbelievably dumb to manage their job. Well, it's a blockbuster based on toys so it will never be too realistic. Deal with it while we are here for the fun. The dark aspects aren't dark at all. What they only do is to be serious. This seriousness blocks the potential joy and turns it into standard blockbuster bland.
The storytelling is quite messy. It's like an uninteresting version of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol with uninteresting characters. The storytelling from the first movie wasn't great either since it is cluttered with cheesy flashbacks. But it's worse here because it takes some twists that are absurdly incoherent. And so, it's all pretentious. The characters are boring and even the performances can't bring them to life. Dwayne Johnson is the only good thing among them though, Bruce Willis is trying to make fun of himself again as a crazy grandaddy, and the villains ham it up which isn't suppose to be a bad thing but they can't give enough personality to them.
The action scenes are acceptable enough to call awesome at least. With all the explosions and the none CGI-ed machines, it seems to be really exciting, but it's not. It does a fine job to be pretty but there's a difference between good looking and exciting. There's only a little suspense. If there is actually suspense and joy then it would be found at the mountain ninja fight but it's just mild and still glosses some slow motions in it. For the rest of the action, the heroes are always superior. Plus more explosions and slow-mos. The action is stylishly directed anyway. The fight between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow remains to be the only action that excites and one part of the climax has a nutty scene with The Rock riding huge vehicles and shooting like a badass. The production designs, special effects, and costumes gets better. What else to talk about it?
The absence of the Joes' ridiculous transportation and weapons, holograms, and other snazzy gadgets may please our modern viewers but it also forgets why this material is interesting anyway. Now we only get typical military stuff. It still has some crazy devices but it's limited compare to the first film. Rise of Cobra wasn't a classic. It's nothing more than a simple guilty pleasure. Same with Retaliation except this one can't even be completely pleasurable unless you want some endless visual coolness. Cool is not a bad thing but it could have been creative and much more exciting instead of showing off slow-mos on screen. To be fair, it's mildly entertaining and good to look at. If the film wasn't this visually awesome, it would have been an empty cinema. The series still fails to justify its source material.
Guys and Dolls
tedg6 April 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I suppose it is natural to define a self from negatives: what you are not. So much in public life depends on this dynamic. It is a dangerous urge that I often see out of control, and one I want to closely monitor in my own life.
One place I really let it go is when I see a bad movie. Under the best of circumstances, I'd be able to see only films that nourish some creative evolution in my soul. With some discipline, bad movies allow me much the same benefit if I can understand what separates me from it.
There's the obvious stuff to react against of course. The movie borrows as much as it can from the 1970s and does so with no irony. It really is misogynistic, jingoistic and celebrates dumbness. None of this is a joke. Plot points are from 35 years ago: the suitcase, the complex plan with nukes, the notion that national leaders really can do absurd things by themselves... even with Goldfinger this was a joke.
The idea that two turbaned (?) Pakstanis would be hand carrying a nuke on scaffolding is bizarre, Plan 9 from Outer Space level stuff.
The focus on guns as icons; when Bruce Willis reveals his hidden arsenal, we are supposed to have a frothy pumped up admiration of the devices, a flood of admiration for the size of the cache. Willis isn't allowed to wink at us as he usually does. We really are supposed to cheer.
Even when there is some modern reference, they carry it with a dated juvenile attitude: "they call it waterboarding but I never get bored" is possibly the most revolting failed joke of the era.
All that is obnoxious. This is a franchise movie, designed to sell toys to nine year olds, so the intent of these offensive tropes is particularly unsettling. I'd never want a child to see this until he/she could build fences around the weeds.
When I'm in the US, I see films in an audience dominated by military and their families. After the disastrous wars in Iraq and Afganistan, they are particularly conscious of good honest souls doing their duty. And then having their lives wasted. They know that the guys guarding the president at the end are just regular soldiers who showed up for duty. It is hard to cheer when they get wasted for our amusement. For that matter, what about the several million inhabitants of London who get annihilated as a demo.
But if I just react to these sorts of things, I lose, because there is no cleverness, no construction is seeing these stupidities. What is it about this that makes it bad storytelling and bad cinema?
I heavily criticize the Marvel movies. But that is because they are poor cinema; generally the storytelling is crackerjack. I think Tarantino is usually worthless but I do credit him with knowing how to put together a cinematic story.
Why this film is uncinematic is an easy shot. Clearly, what they did was divide up the film and budget and send the parts out to centers all over the world. That means that it has no soul. One moment, you'll be swinging with cartoon ninjas in the Himalayas in three D effects clearly added afterwards, and then the fight goes through a window and an amateur crew shoots two huffy guys rolling in the snow. We are jerked from a writer-director stance of a buddy movie, to cheap explosions, to more than one poor imitations of comicdom. It lacks coherence so it lacks soul.
One would almost think it was intended. If the idea is to sell dolls so that juvenile testosterone surges can be monetized, then perhaps there is some wisdom in erasing the humanity from the thing so that kids can pour themselves in more readily. But no. As was once said of a past US president, the stupidity is not a sly act.
You can see some of the difficulties they faced. Because they are selling dolls they have to interrupt the situation at hand to give character-defining backstory, so you have built in fragmentation. They have to live with the legacy dolls, I suppose. Marvel has a similar problem with The Avengers, which they solved by having each major character have his own introductory movie(s).
The fascinating part for me is the shuffling of two worlds. One world is the gutsy army guy with big guns. He has no superpower and it is all about the guns and the mania. This world is elaborated by having an eternal enemy army and a group of special forces types including a woman. The stereotypes draw from war movies and there is a sort of beauty in closing the loop from movie concepts to toy play to movie about the play.
But there is also the ninja world, wholly separate in concept and with an origin in a different film genre. Here, ninja magic is routine and derived from a magical jewel. Something like superpowers are assumed. The skill in battle comes not from being bold but from long training with masters.
Previous comics and cartoons provide extensive backstory of the Arashikage Clan (the good guys) and the characters we see here. There is (I read) a thorough weaving of the two worlds in the backstories: some soldiers join the clan and the clan evolves to support the GI Joes. But the problem is not that someone hasn't 'explained' the connection, but that they really do live in worlds with different physics.
One is a world of bravado and bullets while the other is a matter of stealth and skill. Battle, devotion, honor, comrades all have different non-overlapping meanings. It just cannot work.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
One place I really let it go is when I see a bad movie. Under the best of circumstances, I'd be able to see only films that nourish some creative evolution in my soul. With some discipline, bad movies allow me much the same benefit if I can understand what separates me from it.
There's the obvious stuff to react against of course. The movie borrows as much as it can from the 1970s and does so with no irony. It really is misogynistic, jingoistic and celebrates dumbness. None of this is a joke. Plot points are from 35 years ago: the suitcase, the complex plan with nukes, the notion that national leaders really can do absurd things by themselves... even with Goldfinger this was a joke.
The idea that two turbaned (?) Pakstanis would be hand carrying a nuke on scaffolding is bizarre, Plan 9 from Outer Space level stuff.
The focus on guns as icons; when Bruce Willis reveals his hidden arsenal, we are supposed to have a frothy pumped up admiration of the devices, a flood of admiration for the size of the cache. Willis isn't allowed to wink at us as he usually does. We really are supposed to cheer.
Even when there is some modern reference, they carry it with a dated juvenile attitude: "they call it waterboarding but I never get bored" is possibly the most revolting failed joke of the era.
All that is obnoxious. This is a franchise movie, designed to sell toys to nine year olds, so the intent of these offensive tropes is particularly unsettling. I'd never want a child to see this until he/she could build fences around the weeds.
When I'm in the US, I see films in an audience dominated by military and their families. After the disastrous wars in Iraq and Afganistan, they are particularly conscious of good honest souls doing their duty. And then having their lives wasted. They know that the guys guarding the president at the end are just regular soldiers who showed up for duty. It is hard to cheer when they get wasted for our amusement. For that matter, what about the several million inhabitants of London who get annihilated as a demo.
But if I just react to these sorts of things, I lose, because there is no cleverness, no construction is seeing these stupidities. What is it about this that makes it bad storytelling and bad cinema?
I heavily criticize the Marvel movies. But that is because they are poor cinema; generally the storytelling is crackerjack. I think Tarantino is usually worthless but I do credit him with knowing how to put together a cinematic story.
Why this film is uncinematic is an easy shot. Clearly, what they did was divide up the film and budget and send the parts out to centers all over the world. That means that it has no soul. One moment, you'll be swinging with cartoon ninjas in the Himalayas in three D effects clearly added afterwards, and then the fight goes through a window and an amateur crew shoots two huffy guys rolling in the snow. We are jerked from a writer-director stance of a buddy movie, to cheap explosions, to more than one poor imitations of comicdom. It lacks coherence so it lacks soul.
One would almost think it was intended. If the idea is to sell dolls so that juvenile testosterone surges can be monetized, then perhaps there is some wisdom in erasing the humanity from the thing so that kids can pour themselves in more readily. But no. As was once said of a past US president, the stupidity is not a sly act.
You can see some of the difficulties they faced. Because they are selling dolls they have to interrupt the situation at hand to give character-defining backstory, so you have built in fragmentation. They have to live with the legacy dolls, I suppose. Marvel has a similar problem with The Avengers, which they solved by having each major character have his own introductory movie(s).
The fascinating part for me is the shuffling of two worlds. One world is the gutsy army guy with big guns. He has no superpower and it is all about the guns and the mania. This world is elaborated by having an eternal enemy army and a group of special forces types including a woman. The stereotypes draw from war movies and there is a sort of beauty in closing the loop from movie concepts to toy play to movie about the play.
But there is also the ninja world, wholly separate in concept and with an origin in a different film genre. Here, ninja magic is routine and derived from a magical jewel. Something like superpowers are assumed. The skill in battle comes not from being bold but from long training with masters.
Previous comics and cartoons provide extensive backstory of the Arashikage Clan (the good guys) and the characters we see here. There is (I read) a thorough weaving of the two worlds in the backstories: some soldiers join the clan and the clan evolves to support the GI Joes. But the problem is not that someone hasn't 'explained' the connection, but that they really do live in worlds with different physics.
One is a world of bravado and bullets while the other is a matter of stealth and skill. Battle, devotion, honor, comrades all have different non-overlapping meanings. It just cannot work.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
Disappointing.
zmlatoza29 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
It sucks that they had to put up a poster of this movie with Duke (Channing Tatum) and Joe (Bruce Willis) so grossly misleading when Duke showed up about what 10 mins or so then dies and Joe shows up when half of the movie is already finished, and not getting much burn at that (I should have known, how many of Willis's recent movies has been like this already). For an average movie goer like me (i'd like to think of myself like that) that doesn't normally go researching(goggling stuff) before watching a movie, I was sucked up by the poster itself expecting a whole lot of Duke and Joe in action. In my opinion, The Rock is not a bad actor himself but sadly he is not able to carry the movie by himself. I believe the movie producers/marketers or whoever is responsible for creating that misleading poster cheated people for their money. To be honest I am not sure I would be going to watch the movie in theater had I known I would be only getting this much, It's one of the movies I could have waited to be available on HBO\TV or on DVD. I did like the special effects though, especially the mountain action scenes.
What happened to movie? G.I. Joe: Retaliation is ALL BRAWN, and NO BRAIN.
HeartMonger28 March 2013
It's amazing how many good movies produced this year have been relegated to sub-par status, while others that shouldn't be given a glance are given zenith status as great pieces of work, art, and other such pop-cultural sub- standard excrescences achieve more than their worth in fool's gold. One such picture - I'm sorry - movie, that audiences will endure a release of, either glorifyingly, or harshly, is G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the new brawn packed action farce from Paramount Pictures.
Starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and with appearances by Bruce Willis and Channing Tatum, the film offers no social commentary, consists of nothing remotely engaging (I tended to doze off on even the action scenes), and pities itself with egregious CGI 3-D effects that disappear mid-air depending on where one sits in the audience. There is no basis for being an audience member, because the effects are so jarring, that the viewer will not be able to involve itself to anything worth sitting for an hour and forty minutes for (which trust me, there wouldn't be anyway.) But that's not the half of the film's problems.
The real problem stems from lack of plot. More like no plot. The film is supposed to be a sequel, or rather, a continuation of the original G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, but even by todays standards, the filmmakers weren't trying to mark any new ground. All we get is one action sequence after another. Even James Cameron knows you need a through-line of plot device to make these kinds of movies work, but director Jon M. Chu doesn't have enough respect for the audience to even give them that. Instead, we are mindlessly treated to fast shots of punches being thrown, with no idea who is throwing them, why, or if we should care.
Seriously. We only know one thing. The good guys will always win. Never a good sign when you go to the movies to know how they end, with no conscious minding of what it will take to get there. Don't waste your money, my friends. Still, more muscular contractions ache this bastard of a performer.
Those involved knew this was just a paycheck - examine the evidence; Dennis Quaid did not return, and subsequently they need Bruce Willis to carry the big name legacy. Channing Tatum has his screen time terminally reduced, not a great sign because most audiences will probably be wanting to see the film solely for his performance. The writer was clearly hired to write a how-to on perfecting scripts for CGI based stories. This wouldn't be such an insult to film purists and enthusiasts alike if it wasn't such a dreary waste of time and money. There is nothing there in terms of story or structure. The movie starts, and it's action scenes strung together with no link. Then you leave. I would disclose such a plot to entice what viewers may challenge the notion of wasting their money if such a plot existed! It's a disgusting practice of show-off acrobatics by computer geniuses that would be better suited decrypting or ciphering codes left behind from the Zodiac Killer or the Unabomber! This is not why we go to the movies. We go to be entertained, and I predict that many an audience member be robbed of their hard earned cash in this recession, and by such standards and caused an equal recession in film quality! Honestly, there has to be a better place for films in today being tomorrow's history, than this!
An early release for such a seemingly summer blockbuster - it's obvious Paramount wants to get this one out of the way, so they don't have to worry about a summer release tanking to the bottom of the swimming pool (a place where the pre-teens normally disposed to this mendicant tar would be better off spending the day.) It's futile to promote a product without any real integrity, or so I thought. Amazing what a little muscle can do. It's already seen some couple million smackers (across the face!) for it's previews and advance releases, but when it all comes down, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is one hunk of movie that holds a strong PR campaign in it's biceps, but can't think for itself, and never latches on to the timeless fact that the real strength of a movie lies in it's story and it's characters, both factors of the machine that are simultaneously weak.
Starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and with appearances by Bruce Willis and Channing Tatum, the film offers no social commentary, consists of nothing remotely engaging (I tended to doze off on even the action scenes), and pities itself with egregious CGI 3-D effects that disappear mid-air depending on where one sits in the audience. There is no basis for being an audience member, because the effects are so jarring, that the viewer will not be able to involve itself to anything worth sitting for an hour and forty minutes for (which trust me, there wouldn't be anyway.) But that's not the half of the film's problems.
The real problem stems from lack of plot. More like no plot. The film is supposed to be a sequel, or rather, a continuation of the original G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, but even by todays standards, the filmmakers weren't trying to mark any new ground. All we get is one action sequence after another. Even James Cameron knows you need a through-line of plot device to make these kinds of movies work, but director Jon M. Chu doesn't have enough respect for the audience to even give them that. Instead, we are mindlessly treated to fast shots of punches being thrown, with no idea who is throwing them, why, or if we should care.
Seriously. We only know one thing. The good guys will always win. Never a good sign when you go to the movies to know how they end, with no conscious minding of what it will take to get there. Don't waste your money, my friends. Still, more muscular contractions ache this bastard of a performer.
Those involved knew this was just a paycheck - examine the evidence; Dennis Quaid did not return, and subsequently they need Bruce Willis to carry the big name legacy. Channing Tatum has his screen time terminally reduced, not a great sign because most audiences will probably be wanting to see the film solely for his performance. The writer was clearly hired to write a how-to on perfecting scripts for CGI based stories. This wouldn't be such an insult to film purists and enthusiasts alike if it wasn't such a dreary waste of time and money. There is nothing there in terms of story or structure. The movie starts, and it's action scenes strung together with no link. Then you leave. I would disclose such a plot to entice what viewers may challenge the notion of wasting their money if such a plot existed! It's a disgusting practice of show-off acrobatics by computer geniuses that would be better suited decrypting or ciphering codes left behind from the Zodiac Killer or the Unabomber! This is not why we go to the movies. We go to be entertained, and I predict that many an audience member be robbed of their hard earned cash in this recession, and by such standards and caused an equal recession in film quality! Honestly, there has to be a better place for films in today being tomorrow's history, than this!
An early release for such a seemingly summer blockbuster - it's obvious Paramount wants to get this one out of the way, so they don't have to worry about a summer release tanking to the bottom of the swimming pool (a place where the pre-teens normally disposed to this mendicant tar would be better off spending the day.) It's futile to promote a product without any real integrity, or so I thought. Amazing what a little muscle can do. It's already seen some couple million smackers (across the face!) for it's previews and advance releases, but when it all comes down, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is one hunk of movie that holds a strong PR campaign in it's biceps, but can't think for itself, and never latches on to the timeless fact that the real strength of a movie lies in it's story and it's characters, both factors of the machine that are simultaneously weak.
Far better than the original.
paulclaassen6 September 2019
Wow, a sequel that surpasses its predecessor by miles!! Those who enjoyed the lightheartedness of the first film might be disappointed to see this film takes a far more serious approach.
The action and excitement never ceases, resulting in a thrilling, full-throttle adventure ride. The action scenes are incredible! The film features so many jaw-dropping sequences, like the mountain scene. That scene indeed was certainly something I've never seen before. Director Jon M. Chu successfully pushed the action and stunt boundaries for this film to the limit!
I cared far more about the characters than those in the first film. Storm Shadow (Byung-Hun Lee) is back and once again steals the show (for me, at least). He is such a great actor. I loved everything about this film. It had a great script, great soundtrack, fantastic action, and great visuals. This is a must for action fans!
The action and excitement never ceases, resulting in a thrilling, full-throttle adventure ride. The action scenes are incredible! The film features so many jaw-dropping sequences, like the mountain scene. That scene indeed was certainly something I've never seen before. Director Jon M. Chu successfully pushed the action and stunt boundaries for this film to the limit!
I cared far more about the characters than those in the first film. Storm Shadow (Byung-Hun Lee) is back and once again steals the show (for me, at least). He is such a great actor. I loved everything about this film. It had a great script, great soundtrack, fantastic action, and great visuals. This is a must for action fans!
Better than the original, but not really great
estebangonzalez1030 March 2013
¨Call me JOE¨
As a kid I was a huge fan of the GI Joe cartoons and had a vast collection of the action figures, but I never thought it was a very good idea to bring the franchise to the big screen. I didn't like the first film despite all the great special effects because the entire concept was just way too silly, and I didn't like this film all that much either despite the fact it had a better story and some more interesting characters. What really saved this film for me was a ten minute action scene in the mountains which was pretty amazing and made the entire movie worthwhile. It was one of the best action scenes I've seen all year. This second film was directed by Jon M. Chu (Justin Bieber Never Say Never and Step Up 2) and the screenplay co-written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Zombieland), but very few actors are back from the original movie (only five) so this felt like a totally different movie. Retaliation is much better than Rise of Cobra but it still felt a little light due to the nonstop action. It's one of those movies you can enjoy for two hours but forget about once it's over. What it does have going for it is that is includes better action stars like The Rock and Bruce Willis. The Rock is probably one of the best contemporary action stars and he already brought the Fast and Furious franchise back alive again. He doesn't quite do the same with GI Joe, but he still makes this movie a little more enjoyable than the original one. Despite all the cheesiness of the plot I still had some fun, and the producers knew that the premise couldn't be taken seriously so they just played around with it.
The Joes continue to serve and protect the world under the leadership of Captain Duke (Channing Tatum) and his team which consists of Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock), Flint (D.J. Cotrona), and Jaye (Adrianne Palicki). They have a couple of successful missions until the team is betrayed by the US president (Jonathan Pryce) who is actually Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) infiltrated as him. Thus the Joes are forced to fight enemy forces inside their own government and are forced to receive help from the only person they can trust: retired General Joe Colton (Bruce Willis). Meanwhile Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) has conceived a plan with Firefly (Ray Stevenson) to free their imprisoned Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey). Snake Eyes (Ray Park) is determined to stop him with the help of Jinx (Elodie Yung), but the Joes are running out of time with the President threatening the world with a nuclear war. Will the Joes be able to stop the Cobra team before they destroy the entire world?
Channing Tatum and The Rock shared some funny scenes together and had great chemistry, but I would have enjoyed more screen time with them. Adrianne Palicki looked great in that red dress and was a good addition to the film. Cotrona and Willis didn't do much, but the highlight of the film was the mountain action sequence between Park and Lee. The film had its extremely cheesy moments, and I couldn't believe they even didn't care about the explosion of London. They continued as if nothing ever happened and celebrated the success of the mission without considering the devastating loss. I think that was probably the worst part of the film and the entire scene was probably used to attract people through the trailers. Retaliation is big and loud, anticipation for what is to come in the blockbuster summer movies. By the time summer gets here we will probably have forgotten all about this movie, but it was still a fun and entertaining two hours. Even those people that will end up hating this film will have to agree that the ten minute action scene between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow was pretty entertaining. As long as you don't think too much about what's going on you might enjoy this senseless film.
As a kid I was a huge fan of the GI Joe cartoons and had a vast collection of the action figures, but I never thought it was a very good idea to bring the franchise to the big screen. I didn't like the first film despite all the great special effects because the entire concept was just way too silly, and I didn't like this film all that much either despite the fact it had a better story and some more interesting characters. What really saved this film for me was a ten minute action scene in the mountains which was pretty amazing and made the entire movie worthwhile. It was one of the best action scenes I've seen all year. This second film was directed by Jon M. Chu (Justin Bieber Never Say Never and Step Up 2) and the screenplay co-written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Zombieland), but very few actors are back from the original movie (only five) so this felt like a totally different movie. Retaliation is much better than Rise of Cobra but it still felt a little light due to the nonstop action. It's one of those movies you can enjoy for two hours but forget about once it's over. What it does have going for it is that is includes better action stars like The Rock and Bruce Willis. The Rock is probably one of the best contemporary action stars and he already brought the Fast and Furious franchise back alive again. He doesn't quite do the same with GI Joe, but he still makes this movie a little more enjoyable than the original one. Despite all the cheesiness of the plot I still had some fun, and the producers knew that the premise couldn't be taken seriously so they just played around with it.
The Joes continue to serve and protect the world under the leadership of Captain Duke (Channing Tatum) and his team which consists of Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock), Flint (D.J. Cotrona), and Jaye (Adrianne Palicki). They have a couple of successful missions until the team is betrayed by the US president (Jonathan Pryce) who is actually Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) infiltrated as him. Thus the Joes are forced to fight enemy forces inside their own government and are forced to receive help from the only person they can trust: retired General Joe Colton (Bruce Willis). Meanwhile Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) has conceived a plan with Firefly (Ray Stevenson) to free their imprisoned Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey). Snake Eyes (Ray Park) is determined to stop him with the help of Jinx (Elodie Yung), but the Joes are running out of time with the President threatening the world with a nuclear war. Will the Joes be able to stop the Cobra team before they destroy the entire world?
Channing Tatum and The Rock shared some funny scenes together and had great chemistry, but I would have enjoyed more screen time with them. Adrianne Palicki looked great in that red dress and was a good addition to the film. Cotrona and Willis didn't do much, but the highlight of the film was the mountain action sequence between Park and Lee. The film had its extremely cheesy moments, and I couldn't believe they even didn't care about the explosion of London. They continued as if nothing ever happened and celebrated the success of the mission without considering the devastating loss. I think that was probably the worst part of the film and the entire scene was probably used to attract people through the trailers. Retaliation is big and loud, anticipation for what is to come in the blockbuster summer movies. By the time summer gets here we will probably have forgotten all about this movie, but it was still a fun and entertaining two hours. Even those people that will end up hating this film will have to agree that the ten minute action scene between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow was pretty entertaining. As long as you don't think too much about what's going on you might enjoy this senseless film.
I so wanted to like it, but I couldn't
siderite6 July 2013
The first G.I. Joe film was a surprise. I had expected to hate it or at least just enjoy it as a no brainer, but it wasn't so at all. I really liked the special effects, the villains, the story. The reason why I had made the effort of watching it was the appearance of Retaliation, which had really nice trailers.
So, after much waiting, I was able to watch G.I. Joe Retaliation... and I found it lacking in every respect. The jokes lamer, the effects cheaper, the story linear and impossible and the script bad, the acting worse, the fighting stupid. My conclusion: a failure that not even the presence of Ray Stevenson could not save. Arnold Vosloo practically did not act in this film, while some of the characters were killed outright for no other reason that I can see except that their actors didn't want to play this film.
Don't watch this. It's a waste of time.
So, after much waiting, I was able to watch G.I. Joe Retaliation... and I found it lacking in every respect. The jokes lamer, the effects cheaper, the story linear and impossible and the script bad, the acting worse, the fighting stupid. My conclusion: a failure that not even the presence of Ray Stevenson could not save. Arnold Vosloo practically did not act in this film, while some of the characters were killed outright for no other reason that I can see except that their actors didn't want to play this film.
Don't watch this. It's a waste of time.
Probably better if you love video games
freemanpatrick725 May 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This is the last time I sit in the middle of the row. Had I been sitting on the aisle I would have left long before the movie was over.
Maybe if I were in the 13 to 24 age bracket and had grown up playing video games...
Or maybe if I were still a little boy at heart and still played video games...
One reviewer lauded the "jaw dropping" visual fx. Really? Was this person exaggerating or just haven't been to the movies in about 20 years? Nothing new here. Same visual fx you'll see in any 200 million movie or a video game.
The bottom line is this movie is just like a big long expensive video game. If you like that then go see it. Except don't be disappointed if they don't let you have the controller.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's totally cool when a bad guy can get run over by and Escalade(after having beaten up The Rock, for crying out loud) and get right back up and run away. It's also kind of cool that he can get on a motorcycle, start it, put it in gear AND ride safely away in less time than it takes for said Escalade to hit a dumpster. Also, it was interesting that Duke had the time to yell "Incoming" get Flint out of the way yet he sits there and takes it like a man. I guess Tatum wanted out of his contract. Maybe he saw this going the same way as Police Academy 15.
I'm not sure why I expect so much from a movie based on a toy. My only question is where will they go next? They have GI Joe, Battle Ship, Transformers, Rock'em Sock'em Robots(Real Steel)... what's next? Toss Across? Battling Tops? Maybe they'll make a sci-fi flick about silly putty. (I wonder if producers read these things to get ideas)
And the dialog was pretty bad. I was trying to remember one particular line that was really bad but I guess it was so disgusting that it ran screaming out of my memory. RZA was the absolute worst part of the whole thing. The Rat in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a better actor than RZA. Where's Master Po when you need him? I'm not sure why anyone thinks Rappers make good actors.
Anyway, lots of action, some way hot chicks who kick but (always cool, IMO) AND there will probably be another sequel.
If all that sounds like it's worth $10 bucks to you then have at it. I wait until movies come to the $2 theater and sometimes they aren't even worth that much.
Maybe if I were in the 13 to 24 age bracket and had grown up playing video games...
Or maybe if I were still a little boy at heart and still played video games...
One reviewer lauded the "jaw dropping" visual fx. Really? Was this person exaggerating or just haven't been to the movies in about 20 years? Nothing new here. Same visual fx you'll see in any 200 million movie or a video game.
The bottom line is this movie is just like a big long expensive video game. If you like that then go see it. Except don't be disappointed if they don't let you have the controller.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's totally cool when a bad guy can get run over by and Escalade(after having beaten up The Rock, for crying out loud) and get right back up and run away. It's also kind of cool that he can get on a motorcycle, start it, put it in gear AND ride safely away in less time than it takes for said Escalade to hit a dumpster. Also, it was interesting that Duke had the time to yell "Incoming" get Flint out of the way yet he sits there and takes it like a man. I guess Tatum wanted out of his contract. Maybe he saw this going the same way as Police Academy 15.
I'm not sure why I expect so much from a movie based on a toy. My only question is where will they go next? They have GI Joe, Battle Ship, Transformers, Rock'em Sock'em Robots(Real Steel)... what's next? Toss Across? Battling Tops? Maybe they'll make a sci-fi flick about silly putty. (I wonder if producers read these things to get ideas)
And the dialog was pretty bad. I was trying to remember one particular line that was really bad but I guess it was so disgusting that it ran screaming out of my memory. RZA was the absolute worst part of the whole thing. The Rat in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a better actor than RZA. Where's Master Po when you need him? I'm not sure why anyone thinks Rappers make good actors.
Anyway, lots of action, some way hot chicks who kick but (always cool, IMO) AND there will probably be another sequel.
If all that sounds like it's worth $10 bucks to you then have at it. I wait until movies come to the $2 theater and sometimes they aren't even worth that much.
A solid improvement over Rise of Cobra! Thumbs up!
gavin-thelordofthefu-48-46029731 March 2013
I'm not exactly a fan of the GI Joe franchise, but I seemed to have found myself liking "The Rise of Cobra" aside from it's predictable storyline and uneven script and called it a guilty pleasure for me. So, I went to see this sequel on the opening weekend and it exceeded my expectations thereafter and delivered what the trailers had promised. It's not an excellent film by any means, but in my honest opinion, this is a great sequel and is much better than the previous installment despite the negative reception it received. I will admit, however, that there are some parts that got dragged and the beginning was way too rushed for my liking; and while most of the action sequences are thrilling thanks to Jon M. Chu's solid effort, some of them gave me a bit of a headache in it's shaky camera form.
Flaws aside, everything else is perfect. The cast has improved a bit, but not that much. Channing Tatum's role as Duke has improved seeing as how he was beyond bland in the previous film and I liked his chemistry with Roadblock played by Dwayne Johnson who pulls off the role really well throughout the film. Bruce Willis steals the show as General Colton with his witty one-liners. The rest of the acting, however, ranges from OK to just forgettable.
The directing from Jon M. Chu isn't perfect, but it's decent and a bit more focused on the story, which isn't exactly the best, but it's not as contrived as Rise of Cobra's plot. I kind of liked the idea of a nuclear missile that can destroy an entire city in the whole planet and it sort of leaves up for another sequel if it would get made. The script is very interesting and it has some nice plot twists. The editing is slick, the scenery is nice to look at, and the cinematography is great. Henry Jackman's music score is OK with some solid action cues, but most of the music is pretty obvious.
Overall, GI Joe: Retaliation isn't an excellent, but like I said before, it's a much better installment to the franchise. To those who haven't seen it yet, I suggest that you should try. It is a good film worth recommending!
Flaws aside, everything else is perfect. The cast has improved a bit, but not that much. Channing Tatum's role as Duke has improved seeing as how he was beyond bland in the previous film and I liked his chemistry with Roadblock played by Dwayne Johnson who pulls off the role really well throughout the film. Bruce Willis steals the show as General Colton with his witty one-liners. The rest of the acting, however, ranges from OK to just forgettable.
The directing from Jon M. Chu isn't perfect, but it's decent and a bit more focused on the story, which isn't exactly the best, but it's not as contrived as Rise of Cobra's plot. I kind of liked the idea of a nuclear missile that can destroy an entire city in the whole planet and it sort of leaves up for another sequel if it would get made. The script is very interesting and it has some nice plot twists. The editing is slick, the scenery is nice to look at, and the cinematography is great. Henry Jackman's music score is OK with some solid action cues, but most of the music is pretty obvious.
Overall, GI Joe: Retaliation isn't an excellent, but like I said before, it's a much better installment to the franchise. To those who haven't seen it yet, I suggest that you should try. It is a good film worth recommending!
Not as flamboyant as the first film...
0w016 June 2020
The first GI Joe movie was so hilariously unrealistic and just completely bat crazy, that it was really a good 'just stare at all the explosions and enjoy' movie... but unfortunately this 2nd film is much, much less flamboyant and much less of an extravagant affair... they also removed Sienna Miller and Joseph Gordon Levitt which is an obvious down-point.
So overall, this film is much less of a spectacle than the first film, but the plot also isn't 'all over the place' and thus it has a better plot and story. So if you want your eyeballs bombarded by explosions and huge amounts of CGI, then rather watch the first film... but if you want a more structured 'action film experience' then this 2nd installment is better for you... both films are only barely 6/10 films though, and neither comes close to the action films greats like MI:Fallout.
So overall, this film is much less of a spectacle than the first film, but the plot also isn't 'all over the place' and thus it has a better plot and story. So if you want your eyeballs bombarded by explosions and huge amounts of CGI, then rather watch the first film... but if you want a more structured 'action film experience' then this 2nd installment is better for you... both films are only barely 6/10 films though, and neither comes close to the action films greats like MI:Fallout.
Add to List of Worst Sequels
adam-stocker31 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
After 2009, surprisingly well done Rise of Cobra, I was expecting an entertain sequel anticipating how the writers and director would tie in Zartan as President. It seems the studio decided to reboot the franchise by decided to continue parts of the previous storyline which fails horribly. The movie ends up being a mashed up, thrown together movie with little continuation of the previous storyline and muscular actors whose roles are just being muscular people with guns. The movies basic premise is around nuclear disarmament. With the GI Joe's forced to rebuild and discover the plan of Cobra before they destroy the world.
The only good part of the movie is the opening where The Rock and Channing Tatum display the only enjoyable on screen chemistry of any of the actors. Unfortunately, that chemistry is blown up roughly 15 minutes in when Tatum's character is blown up. When Tatum is killed The Rock's character is upset for about two minutes. Stranded in a desert, The Rock, Lady Jaye and Flint somehow manage to make it back to America. Though how is unknown. To avoid being found, the trio hide in an abandon rec centre where they find weights and old computers from over a decade ago. Yet 5 minutes later is all upgraded to state of the art technology, in which lady Jaye is able to find videos of the present discover his commonly used phrases and hand position before and after Zartan has become President. Yes all this on 1995 technology that magically upgrades and takes her a matter of hours. Now the side plot which is equally as awful. Stormshadow who appeared to be dead at the end of the first movie somehow is alive. Stormshadow breaks Cobra commander out of prison leaving destro. But is badly burn during his escape. To recover from his burns, Stormshadow travels to the mountains where he is revived. SnakeEyes and his protégé climb the mountain drug Stormshadow to return him to the place of their training as seen in the first movie. As in the first movie they are trying Stormshadow for murdering the master. Stormshadow then proves to the council he is not guilty as it was not his sword. Back video shows it was Zartan in disgust. Stormshadow joins the Joes in fight against Cobra. Need I say more the plot is illogical leaving anyone who saw the first movie scratching their heads. Flint and Lady Jaye prove to be nothing more than eye candy for the viewer as they have very little back story and don't advance the previous story. The films ending action sequence is rushed and poorly planned out. The scene boils down to the Joes showing up little planning and no story on where the building is there are attacking. Yet kill everyone but Cobra commander and save the day.
The only good part of the movie is the opening where The Rock and Channing Tatum display the only enjoyable on screen chemistry of any of the actors. Unfortunately, that chemistry is blown up roughly 15 minutes in when Tatum's character is blown up. When Tatum is killed The Rock's character is upset for about two minutes. Stranded in a desert, The Rock, Lady Jaye and Flint somehow manage to make it back to America. Though how is unknown. To avoid being found, the trio hide in an abandon rec centre where they find weights and old computers from over a decade ago. Yet 5 minutes later is all upgraded to state of the art technology, in which lady Jaye is able to find videos of the present discover his commonly used phrases and hand position before and after Zartan has become President. Yes all this on 1995 technology that magically upgrades and takes her a matter of hours. Now the side plot which is equally as awful. Stormshadow who appeared to be dead at the end of the first movie somehow is alive. Stormshadow breaks Cobra commander out of prison leaving destro. But is badly burn during his escape. To recover from his burns, Stormshadow travels to the mountains where he is revived. SnakeEyes and his protégé climb the mountain drug Stormshadow to return him to the place of their training as seen in the first movie. As in the first movie they are trying Stormshadow for murdering the master. Stormshadow then proves to the council he is not guilty as it was not his sword. Back video shows it was Zartan in disgust. Stormshadow joins the Joes in fight against Cobra. Need I say more the plot is illogical leaving anyone who saw the first movie scratching their heads. Flint and Lady Jaye prove to be nothing more than eye candy for the viewer as they have very little back story and don't advance the previous story. The films ending action sequence is rushed and poorly planned out. The scene boils down to the Joes showing up little planning and no story on where the building is there are attacking. Yet kill everyone but Cobra commander and save the day.
Why the bad reviews?
niallorourke32128 April 2013
I'll start off by saying that I really enjoyed this movie. At times it made me laugh, at times it gave me frights, there were many times when it set my pulse racing. It's an action movie, its supposed to. Not once did it make me think of how flawed western civilization really is, or put tears in my eyes, or make me appreciate living in a 21st century, western country, with plenty to eat, drink etc. Its an action movie, it's NOT supposed to.
And thats where I find some of these reviews annoying. If you go to the cinema to see a movie called GI Joe: Retaliation, which is an action movie, you should only rate it accordingly. This movie easily fulfills all the criteria for a good action film, so if you want to go see an action movie, then yes, go see this. The acting isn't bad, the plot is fairly good and the visuals are incredible. But if you want to see a realistic film, one that will make you smile, sob, or think about life, do not go see this film. What this film is, is 2 hours entertainment. It will have you glued to the screen for that 2 hours (especially if you see it in 3D). I would recommend GI Joe: Retaliation to anyone from about the age of ten up, as long as you walk into the cinema or press play expecting to see a good action movie. If you do this, you will be thoroughly entertained for 2 hours. Enjoy!
And thats where I find some of these reviews annoying. If you go to the cinema to see a movie called GI Joe: Retaliation, which is an action movie, you should only rate it accordingly. This movie easily fulfills all the criteria for a good action film, so if you want to go see an action movie, then yes, go see this. The acting isn't bad, the plot is fairly good and the visuals are incredible. But if you want to see a realistic film, one that will make you smile, sob, or think about life, do not go see this film. What this film is, is 2 hours entertainment. It will have you glued to the screen for that 2 hours (especially if you see it in 3D). I would recommend GI Joe: Retaliation to anyone from about the age of ten up, as long as you walk into the cinema or press play expecting to see a good action movie. If you do this, you will be thoroughly entertained for 2 hours. Enjoy!
G.I. Joes Are Much Better This Time Around!
g-bodyl28 June 2014
G.I. Joe: Retaliation is the sequel to the much maligned 2009 film, Rise of the Cobra. While I did enjoy the first film to a fault, I think it's much better this time around. Unlike Rise, this film is less campy and has a more serious overtone. There is still some well-timed humor to like. The action is incredible and it certainly outdid it's predecessor.
Jon M. Chu's film takes place several years after the events of Rise. In this film, a revolution is in progress led by the fearful Cobra Commander and his comrades. But it's up to the Joes led by Duke Hauser and Roadblock to put an end to this rebellion. But with the government infiltrated, it may not be an easy task.
This time around, the cast is bigger with more brand-name stars here. First, Channing Tatum was good and if rumors had it, his screen time certainly was expanded. Dwayne Johnson was an excellent addition to the cast and his persona fills up the screen. Bruce Willis was another good addition to the cast and quite frankly, who doesn't love Bruce in these kind of films.
Overall, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is bigger, badder, and better than the first film. These kind of films certainly bring out my inner kid and I can't help enjoying them no matter how preposterous they are. This film stretches its plausibility just a little bit, but what does it matter. It has plenty of explosions and action to make my inner kid happy. Also, this film was directed by the guy who did the Justin Bieber film. Who would have thought that? I rate this film 9/10.
Jon M. Chu's film takes place several years after the events of Rise. In this film, a revolution is in progress led by the fearful Cobra Commander and his comrades. But it's up to the Joes led by Duke Hauser and Roadblock to put an end to this rebellion. But with the government infiltrated, it may not be an easy task.
This time around, the cast is bigger with more brand-name stars here. First, Channing Tatum was good and if rumors had it, his screen time certainly was expanded. Dwayne Johnson was an excellent addition to the cast and his persona fills up the screen. Bruce Willis was another good addition to the cast and quite frankly, who doesn't love Bruce in these kind of films.
Overall, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is bigger, badder, and better than the first film. These kind of films certainly bring out my inner kid and I can't help enjoying them no matter how preposterous they are. This film stretches its plausibility just a little bit, but what does it matter. It has plenty of explosions and action to make my inner kid happy. Also, this film was directed by the guy who did the Justin Bieber film. Who would have thought that? I rate this film 9/10.
YOU LOVE MY PANTIES
nogodnomasters6 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
This is a fun popcorn action film with loads of action, great banter, and a ridiculous plot. Fifteen minutes into the film the G.I. Joes are enemies of the world and the president is an imposter. The Joes must rekindle old alliances and friendships to save the world from the evil-doers.
The film incorporates advances in science, miniature drones, and nanotechnology to the extreme. Bruce Willis is added to the mix and James Carvel plays himself in a cameo. The most incredible scene is the mountain fighting which happens about midway. The film appears to be designed for an action game, one in which my character would die in the first 20 minutes. Worth a view on the big screen if all you crave is action.
Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Plenty of killing
The film incorporates advances in science, miniature drones, and nanotechnology to the extreme. Bruce Willis is added to the mix and James Carvel plays himself in a cameo. The most incredible scene is the mountain fighting which happens about midway. The film appears to be designed for an action game, one in which my character would die in the first 20 minutes. Worth a view on the big screen if all you crave is action.
Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Plenty of killing
G.I.Joe: Retaliation movie review- ridiculous and lovely!
achyutaghosh29 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
The good- GI Joe Retaliation is infinitely bigger, louder and thankfully so- better than its predecessor. Breath-taking, non stop action, great VFX, deadpan heroes and femme fatals , great soundtrack and gizmo's that will shame 007, it ticks most of the boxes for a summer action flick. The bad- not that the leads are great actors, but back to back to back action set pieces leave little room for acting, the dialogs are as banal as they can get, and the climax is cartoonishly over the top.
Retaliation takes off from where Rise of Cobra ended, and the movie is best enjoyed by folks versed in the Joes legend - the President of the US has been replaced by Zartan aided with some cool nanomite wizardry. The time-line is a mix of alternate and real history- Pakistan is a failed state and the Joes are sent to retrieve the country's nuclear arsenal. But it is a trap- the President is after all a Cobra operative, and he wipes out the entire GI Joe force including the hero from the previous film Duke (Channing Tatum), except for the intrepid trio of Roadblock (The Rock- Dwayne Johnson) , Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) and Flint (D J Cotrona). It is up to these three along with the original Joe, Bruce Willis to expose the fraud president and prevent global annihilation.
GI Joe action figures gained popularity in the mid 80s, when the world was falling at the feet of Japan- economic hatchbacks, Walkman, ninjas, VCR et all-action movies in the 80s paid homage to Japan (anyone remember Robocop 3?). The Japanese angle in GI Joe is Snake Eyes, Jinx and Storm Shadow- together they deliver one of the finest one on one sword fight in a monastery, and then director Jon Chu goes one step better to give your ticket worth price 3D action sequence in snow capped Himalayan territory when Snake Eyes and Jinyx escape from a platoon of ninjas whooshing between peaks, rappelling sheer cliffs, braving avalanches, gunfire and swords. The trailer features some of this out of the word stunt-work, but the full experience of this in the movie is amazing, so much so that after this, the other Joes do not matter anymore- its Snake Eyes that your eyes will follow, and i think it is about time he got his solo movie- he is cool enough! I was happy to see Dwayne Johnson return to his roots- the Rock always adds class to any role he takes on, he has his family audience fans, but he is first and foremost an action star, with a sweet core. Jonathan Pryce as the President is delightfully funny as a villain reveling in his new found power and Bruce Willis totes his own brand of hairless machismo.
This is Hasbro's third live adaption of its action figures/toys- after Transformers and Battleships. So if you are above 12, it will feel ridiculous, funny and overblown. Characters do not have names, just tags. Things get blown up big, and there is a villain thirsting for "world dominion". This is not mature and contemplative graphic novel adaptation- this is the cinematic equivalent of a Big Mac meal, the ultimate junk food, and like the Mac meal it gives the kick and leaves a sweet feeling too . I grew up on comic books and action figures, and perhaps the greatest kick I get out of these kind of movies is the magical transport back to childhood. For guts and for glory, for guns and for action, for setting the summer of 2013 on fire - 7/10. Boo-ya-ah!
Retaliation takes off from where Rise of Cobra ended, and the movie is best enjoyed by folks versed in the Joes legend - the President of the US has been replaced by Zartan aided with some cool nanomite wizardry. The time-line is a mix of alternate and real history- Pakistan is a failed state and the Joes are sent to retrieve the country's nuclear arsenal. But it is a trap- the President is after all a Cobra operative, and he wipes out the entire GI Joe force including the hero from the previous film Duke (Channing Tatum), except for the intrepid trio of Roadblock (The Rock- Dwayne Johnson) , Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) and Flint (D J Cotrona). It is up to these three along with the original Joe, Bruce Willis to expose the fraud president and prevent global annihilation.
GI Joe action figures gained popularity in the mid 80s, when the world was falling at the feet of Japan- economic hatchbacks, Walkman, ninjas, VCR et all-action movies in the 80s paid homage to Japan (anyone remember Robocop 3?). The Japanese angle in GI Joe is Snake Eyes, Jinx and Storm Shadow- together they deliver one of the finest one on one sword fight in a monastery, and then director Jon Chu goes one step better to give your ticket worth price 3D action sequence in snow capped Himalayan territory when Snake Eyes and Jinyx escape from a platoon of ninjas whooshing between peaks, rappelling sheer cliffs, braving avalanches, gunfire and swords. The trailer features some of this out of the word stunt-work, but the full experience of this in the movie is amazing, so much so that after this, the other Joes do not matter anymore- its Snake Eyes that your eyes will follow, and i think it is about time he got his solo movie- he is cool enough! I was happy to see Dwayne Johnson return to his roots- the Rock always adds class to any role he takes on, he has his family audience fans, but he is first and foremost an action star, with a sweet core. Jonathan Pryce as the President is delightfully funny as a villain reveling in his new found power and Bruce Willis totes his own brand of hairless machismo.
This is Hasbro's third live adaption of its action figures/toys- after Transformers and Battleships. So if you are above 12, it will feel ridiculous, funny and overblown. Characters do not have names, just tags. Things get blown up big, and there is a villain thirsting for "world dominion". This is not mature and contemplative graphic novel adaptation- this is the cinematic equivalent of a Big Mac meal, the ultimate junk food, and like the Mac meal it gives the kick and leaves a sweet feeling too . I grew up on comic books and action figures, and perhaps the greatest kick I get out of these kind of movies is the magical transport back to childhood. For guts and for glory, for guns and for action, for setting the summer of 2013 on fire - 7/10. Boo-ya-ah!
A real departure from what we've seen before
Joxerlives1 April 2013
Warning: Spoilers
They certainly weren't afraid to shake things up a bit! Getting rid or at least not featuring almost the entire cast and characters from the first film was a bold move. As to whether they survived or not that remains something of a matter or conjecture, it's perfectly possible that General Hawk etc either survived the attack as Roadblock and co did or had left the organisation in the intervening years (and in Scarlet and Ripcord's case been off on maternity leave). So we have a new set of characters and solve the mystery behind who killed the Hard Master (although I'm still a little lost as to how exactly Storm Shadow figured that out and why he hadn't done so before?).
The Good stuff? Lovely little cameo from Walter Goggins as the warden, he defies your expectations, you think he's the normal sadistic prison controller but actually he's heroic and extremely resourceful. Lady Jaye is gorgeous, you wish you'd seen more of her as Wonder Woman and the scene where Jinx and Snake-Eyes combine a Ninja movie with some extreme version of 'Cliffhanger' leaves you stunned. A little bit of political satire sneaked in there as well, the kidnapped president being 'waterboarded' and his imposter having record approval ratings from the public due to his habit of blowing stuff up. Also nice to see the proper Cobra Commander as we know him and great line 'Sorry Destro, you're out of the band'.
The Bad? What they just sit there and let the Houses of Parliament get destroyed? How exactly does Cobra know that every nation will have a failsafe switch to destroy their missiles in flight? How is everyone able to retarget their missiles at the US within 4 minutes, especially nations like Britain who only have missiles aboard their submarines? Actually I'm going to stop there because the list of plot-holes is pretty much endless. Last but not least it feels like Bruce Willis is doing an extended cameo as a favour to one of the producers
So part 3, yes definitely, I'd go to see it. Cobra Commander releases the Baroness and together they try to steal high-tech weapons from the US government using Major Bludd, the Dreadnoks and Zartan's family. Scarlet and Ripcord return from maternity leave to help rebuild the Joes and thwart them, uncovering Cobra's base in Springfield as they do. A complicating factor is Destro who was released from prison by the explosion and hires The Black Major and his mercenaries The Red Shadows who have a grudge against Cobra Commander who has betrayed them before. In the end Cobra retreat to their new base on Cobra Island to work on Serpentor whilst Destro examines some captured technology, technology based on certain giant transforming robots .
The Good stuff? Lovely little cameo from Walter Goggins as the warden, he defies your expectations, you think he's the normal sadistic prison controller but actually he's heroic and extremely resourceful. Lady Jaye is gorgeous, you wish you'd seen more of her as Wonder Woman and the scene where Jinx and Snake-Eyes combine a Ninja movie with some extreme version of 'Cliffhanger' leaves you stunned. A little bit of political satire sneaked in there as well, the kidnapped president being 'waterboarded' and his imposter having record approval ratings from the public due to his habit of blowing stuff up. Also nice to see the proper Cobra Commander as we know him and great line 'Sorry Destro, you're out of the band'.
The Bad? What they just sit there and let the Houses of Parliament get destroyed? How exactly does Cobra know that every nation will have a failsafe switch to destroy their missiles in flight? How is everyone able to retarget their missiles at the US within 4 minutes, especially nations like Britain who only have missiles aboard their submarines? Actually I'm going to stop there because the list of plot-holes is pretty much endless. Last but not least it feels like Bruce Willis is doing an extended cameo as a favour to one of the producers
So part 3, yes definitely, I'd go to see it. Cobra Commander releases the Baroness and together they try to steal high-tech weapons from the US government using Major Bludd, the Dreadnoks and Zartan's family. Scarlet and Ripcord return from maternity leave to help rebuild the Joes and thwart them, uncovering Cobra's base in Springfield as they do. A complicating factor is Destro who was released from prison by the explosion and hires The Black Major and his mercenaries The Red Shadows who have a grudge against Cobra Commander who has betrayed them before. In the end Cobra retreat to their new base on Cobra Island to work on Serpentor whilst Destro examines some captured technology, technology based on certain giant transforming robots .
Lacks the logic continuity
destroyerwod28 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
My biggest complaint is about what they did with the other characters. Where are Scarlett, Breaker, Heavy Duty and all the other Joes? Its like they replace them with new Joes just for the sake of showing new Joes... Flint is merely a lesser Duke, Lady Jaye is pretty much Scarlett 2(she don't use her signature Arrows, nor does she have short hair) just to have a contest which one is hotter... cause they sure both are hot. They pretty much wasted Destro in the first movie even tough he was pretty much the main big bad, without his trademark iron head. And now they decide to just let him go like that? Really...? Cobra Commander is supposed to be the same guy as the first movie, yet don't act the same, don't talk the same, even tough this time they got the look right.
Also the movie is meant to be a couple months after the first one, yet where is everybody??? Why Duke act like he Knowns Roadblock for years... Where is General Hawk? Why Cobra Commander suddenly feel respected and scary when in the first movie he seamed like a bratty child... and he seem to know Firefly like from years Everything felt wrong with this movie, too serious, like it was not GI Joe really? Cobra Commander was not meant to be scary and all, he is meant to be comical... Im still waiting for the trademark sentence "Cobra Forces, RETREAT , RETREAAAAAT!!! " from the cartoon. Anyway it was a decent action movie for sure, but i was not satisfy as i hoped i would had been.
And Killing Duke was a dumb movie for sure... they could had pick any lesser joe to kill without problem but not Duke... And Bruce Willis house was just silly and ridiculous...
So well as an easy to please guy, im OK with this movie for what it is, an action fest, but i understand if people end up being angry and disappointed at this movie.
Also the movie is meant to be a couple months after the first one, yet where is everybody??? Why Duke act like he Knowns Roadblock for years... Where is General Hawk? Why Cobra Commander suddenly feel respected and scary when in the first movie he seamed like a bratty child... and he seem to know Firefly like from years Everything felt wrong with this movie, too serious, like it was not GI Joe really? Cobra Commander was not meant to be scary and all, he is meant to be comical... Im still waiting for the trademark sentence "Cobra Forces, RETREAT , RETREAAAAAT!!! " from the cartoon. Anyway it was a decent action movie for sure, but i was not satisfy as i hoped i would had been.
And Killing Duke was a dumb movie for sure... they could had pick any lesser joe to kill without problem but not Duke... And Bruce Willis house was just silly and ridiculous...
So well as an easy to please guy, im OK with this movie for what it is, an action fest, but i understand if people end up being angry and disappointed at this movie.
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