G.I. Joe: Retaliation

This is both a reboot and a sequel. The storyline from the first film is followed and there are returning cast members but the mood of the film is different. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" wasn't bad but I had more fun watching "The Rise of Cobra". Some of the choices they made with the story worked and others didn't. I wish that Stephen Sommers had been the director instead of just the executive producer. The film is worth seeing in 3D but not in IMAX.

I loved the chemistry between Dwayne Johnson and Channing Tatum, especially with the video game gag. It was working so well up until Duke's self-sacrifice. The relationship between Roadblock and Duke was such that you were disappointed when it suddenly ended. They should have planned the story better so that you weren't let down by the death of Duke. I was grateful for the design of Cobra Commander. His helmet was a perfect reference to the merchandise. I was hoping for a few more references to the cartoon but I didn't get them. This sequel has a major plot hole: how the heck did Storm Shadow survive? The original film made it absolutely clear that he was dead. It even implied that his body was unrecoverable with the destruction of Cobra's underwater base. His surprise appearance let me down. Despite the fact that I do not accept Storm Shadow's survival, I was quite entertained by the plot twist associated with him. The filmmakers effectively took the Storm Shadow/Snake Eyes plotline from the original film and turned it upside down. With one quick move, Storm Shadow reveals his innocence to the clan. We now understand that he joined Cobra to get revenge on Snake Eyes for killing the Hard Master but we knew from the first film that Snake Eyes didn't do it. Everyone in the scene then has to figure out who is the real murderer and Storm Shadow through memory realizes it to his horror. This was some good storytelling. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" fortuitously was released at the right time in world events. The first scene of the movie with the Joes sneaking across the North Korean border brought to our minds the recent news events of North Korea declaring a state of "war" on the south. The subsequent North Korea jokes during the climax were funnier as a result. I love the line about how the US can destroy every other world power 14 times over and North Korea 15 times over. Let's not kid ourselves however into thinking that all this was intentional humor. These scenes were filmed almost two years ago. I bet many US audiences were cheering at these jokes and irony is that the filmmakers, when writing them, never thought that they would get such a response. I see this as fitting response to North Korea's threat and it was all accidental. When the Zeus satellites are destroyed, I was thinking that this climatic plot point was a little soft. It turned out not to be the high point of the whole movie and that was some nice storytelling. I thus felt satisfied by the ending.

Dwayne Johnson's acting wasn't too bad. I was expecting a worse performance but I liked it more when Channing Tatum was the protagonist. Jonathon Price's performance was noteworthy, as he had to play two different characters that looked exactly the same. Technology has come so far that we forget how hard it used to be to put one actor twice in a shot. I wanted Bruce Willis to be more fun than he was in the film. They spoiled most of his one-liners in the trailers. I was happy that Ray Park and Arnold Vosloo returned.

The studio delayed the release of "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" so as to convert it to 3D. This was both a win and a loss. I did see some imperfections with the conversion but the mountain battle in the Himalayas was the best use of 3D in the whole film and it was a cool sequence as a result. The special effects were much better this time but because the story was not as strong or fun as with the first film, I rate this film lower than its predecessor.

3 Stars out of 5