http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i367bfce562b7ee621c8ea584d5aa21e5
So...this is actually happening...awesome...
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Review: G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
Well they got me into the theatre. All summer this movie was in the back of my mind. The trailers made me want to skip it completely but free food lured me in. Good marketing on AMC’s part, free popcorn and pop and I’m in their seat. To be clear, I was never a big G.I. Joe fan. I vaguely remember watching the show, say “and knowing is half the battle” more than anyone should, and remember marrying my brother’s Cobra Commander to a slew of my Barbie dolls. My favourite action figure was with red-bearded guy with a white t-shirt that I found in a fire-pit when we were camping one summer. I don’t know the back stories or remember the history. I read the recent G.I. Joe: Cobra comic mini-series but that’s where my knowledge ends. So what did I think of this movie? I thought it was a whole hell of a lot of fun! Was it deep? No. Was it plausible? No a chance. Is Channing Tantum likeable enough to carry a movie? Just barely. Did things explode? And how! This is one of those movies where you have to shut off your brain and just go with it and that’s ok. The movie knows what it is. It’s ridiculous, plot points are guessed at and there are a few too many coincidences but it doesn’t matter. Shit blows up. Evil tries to take over the world. Good saves the day. G.I. Joe knows each scene is only there to get to the next big explosion, and unlike some of this year’s big action movies (CoughWolverineCough) they don’t try to sugar-coat it. Let me explain.
In one scene Duke grabs the case of warheads and bashes Storm-Shadow with it. It doesn’t do any good, but in the next scene Breaker announces that he’s been watching the warhead signal in case it comes back on, and now it has. I could have missed something but apparently bashing warheads=activating tracking signal. They could have tried to explain away what Duke was doing. They could have come up with a better reason for the tracking to work or for the Joes to find the base, but the movie knows it really just doesn’t matter. When we get there things will explode and everything else will be forgotten.
I may seem like I’m talking down but I’m really not. I’m actually surprised that there was any actual story at all. It wasn’t ra-ra American propaganda by any means and the characters were generally good too. Marlon Wayans as Ripcord was a little annoying, Channing Tatum was a little bland but it seemed to work. I especially enjoyed Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (imdb says he played Heavy Duty but I had no idea what his name was through the entire movie). I’ve only seen him play somewhat crazy people (OZ, Lost) so it was a nice surprise to see him in this. The casting of Joseph Gordon-Levitt still boggles my mind but for some reason it worked. And Brendan Fraser? I’ve also learned that I kind of love Sienna Miller and/or wish I looked that good in a skin-tight body suite...
When watching the trailer I thought this movie could possible have been the worst film of the summer but for me it wasn’t. It wasn’t the deepest or most insightful. It was an action movie with all that entails. Hell, I came out of this feeling enormously better than I did after Funny People. If you want something with high emotional moments and heart-wrenching scenes skip G. I. Joe but otherwise I’d say have fun and be eight years old again. Watch rockets and lasers kill things. Watch cars crash as no one is held accountable for collateral damage. Watch the Sequel because they are clearly planning one. Have fun with it and don’t think too hard. Was is great? no. Was it good? Probably not. But I will say it again, it was fun. Also, +100 points for not yelling “NOOOO!” over the body of a dead girl.
In one scene Duke grabs the case of warheads and bashes Storm-Shadow with it. It doesn’t do any good, but in the next scene Breaker announces that he’s been watching the warhead signal in case it comes back on, and now it has. I could have missed something but apparently bashing warheads=activating tracking signal. They could have tried to explain away what Duke was doing. They could have come up with a better reason for the tracking to work or for the Joes to find the base, but the movie knows it really just doesn’t matter. When we get there things will explode and everything else will be forgotten.
I may seem like I’m talking down but I’m really not. I’m actually surprised that there was any actual story at all. It wasn’t ra-ra American propaganda by any means and the characters were generally good too. Marlon Wayans as Ripcord was a little annoying, Channing Tatum was a little bland but it seemed to work. I especially enjoyed Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (imdb says he played Heavy Duty but I had no idea what his name was through the entire movie). I’ve only seen him play somewhat crazy people (OZ, Lost) so it was a nice surprise to see him in this. The casting of Joseph Gordon-Levitt still boggles my mind but for some reason it worked. And Brendan Fraser? I’ve also learned that I kind of love Sienna Miller and/or wish I looked that good in a skin-tight body suite...
When watching the trailer I thought this movie could possible have been the worst film of the summer but for me it wasn’t. It wasn’t the deepest or most insightful. It was an action movie with all that entails. Hell, I came out of this feeling enormously better than I did after Funny People. If you want something with high emotional moments and heart-wrenching scenes skip G. I. Joe but otherwise I’d say have fun and be eight years old again. Watch rockets and lasers kill things. Watch cars crash as no one is held accountable for collateral damage. Watch the Sequel because they are clearly planning one. Have fun with it and don’t think too hard. Was is great? no. Was it good? Probably not. But I will say it again, it was fun. Also, +100 points for not yelling “NOOOO!” over the body of a dead girl.
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