G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Starring: Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Sienna Miller, Christopher Eccleston, Dennis Quaid, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jonathan Pryce, Kevin J. O'Connor, Byung-hun Lee, Said Taghmaoui, Brendan Fraser
Directed by: Stephen Sommers
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
2009

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Two soldiers, Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are ambushed while transporting nano-missiles, and are rescued by a top secret organization known as G.I. Joe. They join the team to stop a weapons dealer(Christopher Eccleston) from using the missiles to wreck havoc according to his sinister plan.

Review:

Tim: Stephen Sommers deserves some credit, because he nearly pulled off making a good movie about G.I. Joe action figures. This film is definitely a mindless summer action movie (there is nothing wrong with that), and features some truly impressive action scenes. This movie does such enough right that I really fought with myself back-and-forth on what I thought about it. In the end, the movie's flaws proved a bit more powerful than its strengths. I am still impressed, though, because this movie was far better than I expected.

As I mentioned, the action scenes are quite good. As someone who used to play with G.I. Joe action figures (although I was never a diehard fan), there were some pretty awesome nostalgic moments watching these characters battle on screen. That is the biggest attraction of the movie. Sommers does do a very impressive job of creating some exciting, intense action scene that are incredible, but grounded in quasi-realism. All the action scenes are impressive, but the highlight has to be the chase through Paris with the accelerator suits. We have car chases, car crashes, people dodging missiles, trucks flipping, people jumping through trains, and more. This is the highlight of the film, and features some truly remarkable action.

The cast is mostly impressive. I am not a big fan of Channing Tatum or his "acting" ability, but I have to admit he makes a good Duke. He was believable as a soldier, even if he is not the most charismatic actor. He worked well enough. I also liked Marlon Wayans as Ripcord, although I wish he had dialed down the obligatory comedic relief one-liners just a bit. He mostly worked well. I was also surprised how much I liked Sienna Miller here. I typically think she's awful, but she was good in the role. I also appreciated Dennis Quaid, although I felt like he was slumming it a bit.

Christopher Eccleston did good work as the flashy bad guy, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt was an unconventional but strong choice. Rachel Nichols did good work, and I loved Ray Park as Snake Eyes (probably the coolest character in the film). Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was a welcome presence, although I wish he had more to do. The rest of the cast was good, especially Byung-hun Lee and Said Taghmaoui. I smiled when I saw Brendan Fraser in a pretty pointless appearance.

If you think too much about the plot, it easily falls apart. The dialogue is occasionally atrocious. It is easy to hate this movie because it is a typically mindless summer blockbuster. However, this is still an entertaining movie, if you can shut off your brain and just enjoy the ride. While I didn't love this movie, I was impressed because I was expecting worse and I wasn't particularly excited about it at all. Despite that, Stephen Sommers injected enough life and intensity into this film that I found myself getting caught up in it, and enjoying myself despite my better notions.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is still disappointing, but it gets close enough to being good that I actually wouldn't hate to see a sequel. This movie isn't quite a guilty pleasure because it wasn't quite pleasurable, but I felt a bit guilty that I didn't hate it. Hats off to Sommers, who took a cheesy, stupid idea for a movie, and nearly pulled it off.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



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