A little history in Gi Joe =
G.I. Joe is a line of military-themed articulated "action figures" produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces with the Action Soldier (Army), Action Sailor (Navy), Action Pilot (Air Force) and Action Marine (Marines). The term G.I. stands for Government Issue and became a generic term for U.S. soldiers, especially ground forces. The development of G.I. Joe led to the coining of the term "action figure."
The G.I. Joe trademark has been used by Hasbro to title two different toy lines. The original 12-inch line that began in 1964 centered around realistic action figures. In the United Kingdom, this line was licensed to Palitoy and known as Action Man. In 1982, the line was relaunched in a 3 3/4-inch scale complete with vehicles, playsets, and a complex background story involving an ongoing struggle between the G.I. Joe Team and the evil Cobra Command. As the American line evolved into the Real American Hero series, Action Man also changed, by using the same molds and being renamed as Action Force.
Well i know i have been saying dark horse of the summer laugh out loud, but the movie is no where near as bad as some people make it out to be.
First dark horse, not sure but it was darker than i imagined and i was totally surprised and happy that they didn't ham or numb down the violence. I was very surprised on what they got away with and some even was on the bounds of being r-rated it felt like! (You'll know what i mean when you go and watch it).
Also yes, leave your brain at home and take it for what it is, a movie based on a line of toys just like Transformers and many other films. It is what it is, a entertaining wild ride big spectacular fun packed action movie that delivers! (Ultimate Popcorn flick).
Yes there's good and bad, and i know my Joe's some of it they changed but nowhere near as much as a little movie called X-men Origins: Wolverine! Oh and the special effects were better too in Gi Joe, although some bits were iffy, but you get that with all Hollywood movies these days. I personally think a bit of both worlds is always the way, like a mix of cgi and models or cgi and puppetry. Didn't like the cgi polar bear though but that's a mute point considering you only see it for a few seconds heh heh, reminded me of the movie The Day After Tomorrow with them cgi wolves that spoiled the whole movie!
Now down to casting, well i thought it was half spot on and half not, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, and Zartan were perfect, oh and Storm Shadow wasn't that bad either. Great fight Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow have in this, puts a big grin on your face, especially if you loved this stuff since you was a kid and seeing it on the big screen in live action is just fantastic! The bad casting however are Duke (Channing Tatum), what the heck was they thinking casting that guy as Duke? He wasn't very good first off acting the part and second he was totally miscast in this, reminded me in fact if Jensen Ackles got the part of Captain America it would be exactly the same thing, totally bad casting! You can not believe this guy will soon be leading the Joe team into missions, he just don't look act or even scream leader. Total piss poor choice in casting, reminded me also of Jensen Ackles look wise too, the two could easily do a movie as twin brothers together. The other choice are Cover girl, why in fact do we even have her in the movie? You'll understand that when you see it, something happens with the character i'll just say that. Cobra Commander (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) i knew wasn't going to be that great from the start but lets just say he doesn't have much screen time as Cobra Commander and leave it at that, don't hold your breath for one or two Cobra Troopers either, it really is the rise of Cobra.
I will tell you the start of the plot, in the near future (Like the X-men lol), weapons expert James McCullen played by Christopher Eccleston, has created a nanotechnology-based weapon capable of destroying an entire city. He sold four warheads to NATO, and the U.S. Army is tasked with delivering the warheads. Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are delivering the warheads and the start when they are ambushed by the sexy Baroness (Sienna Miller), and the Joe's turn up just after that.
I thought the undersea battle in it was spectacular (had a Return of the Jedi feel to it) and the PIT (Gi Joe underground headquarters) Was done really well, reminded me that that's probably what Marvels S.H.I.E.L.D would turn out like on a big budget film.
Bad points are the super suits, but we knew that from the trailer, though when Ripcord falls out of the van in it, it isn't the only funny bit, what happens next was really funny, cracked me right up! Yeah there was other stupid bits in it but over all it was packed with entertainment and worth a look and yeah the kids will love it, Roller-coaster ride!
One of the best touches in it was Duke getting his scar, very nice touch and wink to the original Gi Joe action doll series! (Pity about the miscasting).
I will say this, it only felt like a handful of Gi Joe's which it was really, you never got to see the others at all though i suppose that's what Gi Joe 2 is for! ; )
By the way, Rachel Nichols was a top-notch casting, she is Scarlett and i personally thought sexier than Sienna Miller's rack lol!
Stars in no order =
Joseph Gordon-Levitt ... Cobra Commander
Christopher Eccleston ... Destro
Dennis Quaid ... General Hawk
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje ... Heavy Duty
Channing Tatum ... Duke
Marlon Wayans ... Ripcord
Byung-hun Lee ... Storm Shadow
Sienna Miller ... The Baroness
Rachel Nichols ... Shana 'Scarlett' O'Hara
Jonathan Pryce ... U.S. President
Saïd Taghmaoui ... Breaker
Karolina Kurkova ... Courtney A. Kreiger / Cover girl
Ray Park ... Snake Eyes
Arnold Vosloo ... Zartan
Characters though that should of been in it.
Jason Statham as Firefly =
Firefly's father was owed a debt by the Koga Ninja Clan. When his father died, Firefly was taken in by the ninja. Training with them he eventually earned Master status, and took the name "Faceless Master". Soon after Cobra Commander approached Firefly with a job: kill the man known as Snake-Eyes. Cobra Commander blames the silent ninja for killing his brother and i think Crank's Jason Statham would be amazing for the role.
Kevin McKidd as Snow Job =
His real name is Harlan W. Moore, and his rank is that of staff sergeant E-6. Snow Job was born in Rutland, Vermont.
Snow Job was a major Olympic Biathlon contender who enlisted for the special training and support privileges that the army gives to Olympic champions. It's been suggested that he got his nickname more from being a con artist than from his primary military specialty on the arctic ski patrol. He is competent with a rifle, and his secondary specialty is as a rifle instructor.
Really Snow Job should have been in the movie because some of it does take place on the polar ice caps, maybe we just have to believe he was there somewhere.
Joseph Gordan-Levitt as Cobra Commander =
Yes he was in the movie, sort of but i hope this is what he'll be like in Cobra in Gi Joe 2! Joseph Gordan-Levitt is a mighty fine actor by the way for the part.
For a movie based on a toy, a cartoon and a comic, it delivers the goods with shameless entertainment, enjoy and have a blast!
LEEE777 - Yo Joe!!!