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December 3, 2009
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Ric and I caught G.I. Joe at the cheap theater - rather smart of us, I think. This one had a certain look to it in the trailers. It seemed a lot like the later Brosnan Bond movies. It's glossy, it's ridiculous, and it makes you cringe sometimes, but it's actually sort of awesome in how ridiculous it is. Actually, I think I did prefer this movie to Die Another Day.
I'm not sure I want to spend a long time typing out the plot of this movie. G.I. Joe is a military unit that has recruited a few new guys to use high-tech equipment to become super soldiers. One of them, Duke (Channing Tatum) is helpful in hunting down some warheads that have been stolen by the Baroness, who happens to be his ex-girlfriend. She (Sienna Miller) and Destro (Christopher Eccelston) wreak all sorts of havoc, including toppling the Eiffel Tower, and somehow everyone ends up in an under-the-sea climax that makes no sense but entertains.
It's surprising to me to see so many talented people attached to such a zany movie. The biggest surprise was seeing Joseph Gordon-Levitt, because he tends to choose innovative and interesting movies, but perhaps it was just a childhood fantasy of his to star in a G.I. Joe movie. Everyone does as well as they can with their roles, really (except perhaps Dennis Quaid). I think all of them are relatively likable. Most of the problems have to do with the script.
Really, this thing is off the charts. I wish I had written down all of the examples of things that didn't make sense. I remember there was something to do with a hologram that was able to be touched or felt (or something like that), which made me laugh. There are some flashback scenes involving Snake Eyes' past that were unintentionally funny as well. Surprisingly, there are still some moments of coolness, and those usually do have to do with Snake Eyes. Perhaps it's just because he doesn't talk, which gives him the advantage of not having to use some of the painful dialog the others have to work through, but he's okay in my book. But maybe it's all just like watching the cartoon. I never did, so I can't compare the two.
I must say that regardless of all of the negatives, this movie did one thing, which was to entertain me. I had an awesome time watching it at the cheap theater. Ric and I laughed a lot, and it was certainly a spectacle. So when I say it was awesomely ridiculous, I mean it. It wasn't "terribly" ridiculous. It was awesomely ridiculous. I had a fun time, but the movie wasn't all that great. Would I see another one? Probably, for another buck or two!
Posted by Jeri 
at 12:03:43 pm | movies, 2009 | 5 comments »
5 comments
I think what this movie did, that kinda got ignored/overlooked, was actually bring the cartoon-y quality of, ya know, the cartoon onto the big screen. It wasn't trying to make a movie franchise based on the cartoon properties. It WAS the cartoon, with a lot of its 80's goofiness, put on screen. And I like to think it was intentional, which made it fun to watch. It was an action movie for the kid in me that grew up watching the cartoon. Not an action movie for me as an adult (aka Transformers), failing horribly. ;-) 
See, that's what I was wondering - whether the movie was really just a close-to-literal translation of the original cartoon. Transformers was like that. Ric and I watched the original Transformers animated movie not long ago (it's a favorite of his), and it made us realize that the current-day movies are as action-packed and goofy as the originals. The only thing the original cartoons didn't have is all the "sexification". 
Glad you enjoyed this one like I did. I thought the flashback of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow was fantastic, if brutal to see children doing that to each other. But that's exactly how boys wish they could fight at that age, and therefore was perhaps this year's best encapsulation of pre-adolescent wish-fulfillment.I will probably get it on Blu-ray if only because it's that rare action movie that is perfectly intelligible visually without any out-of-control cameras to make it seem realistic (to which Transformers sometimes succumbed).
I thought it was way better than Transformers 2 and I appreciated that the actors played it fairly straight, unlike John Turturo who must have decided that since he was in a live-action cartoon he would treat it like a cartoon. You are right about Dennis Quaid feeling a bit off though.
Right now I'm halfway through a set of the first G.I. Joe cartoons, and they're above average for the era. The dialogue is pretty snappy too. I prefer them to the Transformers cartoons. Cobra's HQ is in a different exotic location for each story arc, and their current one is underwater, allowing for dogfights between tiny personal submarine craft, just like the movie.
Wow, I was just thinking yesterday, "Where the heck is J-OL, anyway?" Nice to see you again! Paper-grading at the end of term has kept me from both the theater and blogosphere. Lots of catch up to do! 
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