The Rise of Cobra is not your grandfather's G.I. Joe. It's more like C.G.I. Joe with explosive special-effects action sequences that provide the film with a surplus of "Boom Boom Pow" (to quote the Black Eyed Peas song that drives the end credits). This blast from the summer past is very much like the metal-munching nano-mite missiles a (literally) mad Doctor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt cashing in some of his indie cred) and McCullen, a Scottish weapons dealer (Christopher Eccleston), threaten to unleash upon the world. It never stops. Ever. The original G.I. Joe action figure was an all-American hero. These Joes are--all together now--"the best of the best," an elite multi-national squad. Two soldiers, Duke (a buff Channing Tatum), an "on the ground, in the fight" kind of guy, and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans), his wisecracking best friend, are rescued by the Joes after they are ambushed while transporting the missiles. These are no ordinary Joes. Snake-Eyes (Ray Park) is a silent ninja, Stella (Rachel Nichols) a bodacious brainiac, Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) the imposing weapons specialist, and Breaker (Said Taghamaoui) the techie. They are led by gruff Gen. Hawk (Dennis Quaid), who barks out lines like, "When all else fails, we don't," with polish. Duke and Ripcord are recruited to join the classified unit after Duke discovers that Ana (Sienna Miller), his former fiancée, is in cahoots with McCullen and now sports the sinister moniker the Baroness, not to mention killer cleavage-enhancing latex outfits. This being the first in a budding franchise, there is much backstory to cover. Flashbacks date back to 1641! But the order of the day is underground military command centers, underwater evil lairs, gleaming high-tech weaponry, breakneck chases, and cool gadgets, such as a speed-accelerating hydraulic suit. It's enough to make you want to dust off your original Hasbro action figures or, the studio no doubt hopes, buy the new ones. --Donald Liebenson
Stills from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Click for larger image) |
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 Entertaining |
| Review Date: November 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Superheroes fan, |
| I had low expectations of the film after hearing some of the many disappointments. But to my surprise, I found it very entertaining. It was a fun and had great martial arts sequences, good action scenes and a nice sense of humor to it. The story line for an action flick kept me attentive as well. The plot moved along well and didn't feel like there were any slow moments. I wasn't comparing it too hard to the original cartoon because it's a different time now and artists can have some creative liberty. It was still fun to see some of the old familiar characters. Great job with Snake Eyes. Overall, good entertainment. |
Surprisingly Good!
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| Review Date: November 6, 2009 |
| Reviewer: B. Smith, Denver |
| I was skeptical. I really despised Transformers, and while this looked better, I was afraid I'd be equally disgusted. However, I was SO wrong! There was a great mix of action and drama and humor. Like any movie, it had its flaws (and lack of any realism). Unlike most, this movie kept my attention throughout! After it was over, I immediately went back to the action scenes and watched them again. Great film! |
Pleasantly Surprised (Could have been so much worse)
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| Review Date: November 5, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Lance Ortiz, Colorado |
I grew up on G.I. Joe. I had a huge collection of the toys and watch the show every day it was on. When I found out they were doing a movie I was a little skeptical. I mean, they did ok with Transformers, but G.I.Joe is a different beast. When I saw the trailer I thought "this is going to be stupid, but I will probably see it anyway" So I finally went to see it in the theater with pretty low expectations.
I can say I really enjoyed it, not sure if it was my low expectations or what, but it was really good. Given the context of what G.I. Joe is, an over the top action adventure with near super human soldiers fighting and even more over the top enemy in Cobra this movie delivered. Yes, it defies reality an so many ways and is pretty campy in places, but it worked. I enjoyed action scenes, the back stories and the banter between the characters. The affects were good and the acting was not too bad, with the exception of Duke. The "yeah right!" and "O Brother!" moments were kept to a minimum, and that is an achievement for this kind of movie.
They also gave props to the show, the obligatory "Yo, Joe" and "Knowing is half the battle" are obvious. But small details like Breaker with the bubble gum and the mention of the Laser Artillery Weapon (L.A.W.) were nice touches.
I watched it again last night on Blue Ray and it looked and sounded great. And I still enjoyed it the second time. I recommend it if you want just a fun far out action flick that does not take its self too seriously, or of course if you are a Joe fan. |
A comedy with superb special effects
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| Review Date: February 17, 2010 |
| Reviewer: E. Sterling, San Diego |
COMEDY..... HILLARIOUS..... Marlon Wayans best work since Don't be a Menace......Acting... excellent.... oscar worthy performances.... really... watch it....
The action scene in Paris was cool. Denis Quaid hasn't been in a good movie since.. oh yeah Pandorum. Before that though? |
Put Me Down For An Accelerator Suit, Please!
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| Review Date: December 13, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Flap Jackson, State Road, NC |
If you need a movie that doesn't try to be anything other than what it is, that's also a pure action movie, then you've just described G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra perfectly. Coming from Director Steven Sommers, who after 'Van Helsing' stopped taking himself seriously, doesn't really take anything seriously in this movie. There is a plot, that tries to take itself seriously, but towards the middle of the movie I think it just gives up and throws in Cobra's story every once and a while. And yes, if you try to give the bad guys motivation, 9 times out of 10 it fails, and watching this film it's a 4 out of 4.
Channing Tatum, that "cute" guy with the Army haircut takes on the burden of playing G.I. Joe, sure, it's technically an organization, but he's basically an action figure in this movie, and his acting attests to that. But even with all this, I did find his character somewhat interesting in that he's this super soldier, but no matter what he does he's a screw-up. He tries to help his friend, his face gets Vadarized. He tries to save the Eiffel Tower, it's partially intact when it topples over and kills a ton of people. If the filmmakers care about character development in the sequel, this feature to the character would be very interesting to expand on. The rest of the Joe team is pretty good, but a little unmemorable. Except in a bad way for Marlon Wayans, who stayed away from his brothers' crappy movies, but gets saddled with all these awful jokes. Also, even though Dennis Quaid is shown in all the trailers and is given high billing, he mails it in for all of the five minutes he's there.
But wait, then there's Snake Eyes. Channing Tatum is the "star" of this film, but Snake Eyes is the most bad-a** dude here. First, he doesn't talk because he's taking a lifelong vow of silence, and he's an awesome fighter. Really, some of his sword-fighting sequences are some of the best I've seen in years. Even the child version of him is kicks butt. Snake Eyes looks cool, gets the job done, and is the film's breakout character.
Action-wise, it's like a best-of summer action films. There's chases in vehicles, underwater, in the air, with swords, with guns, with fists & feet. Did I miss any? Basically if you ask what kind of action this film has, I say all the above. For the most part, all of it works, it's all pretty cool, and it never overstays its welcome. Also, at home Blu-Ray & an awesome home theater system will mean everything to this movie, and it increases the experience ten-fold. And yes, perhaps the film's best sequence, and one of the best action sequences I've seen in a while is the Paris chase with the accelerator suits. It's incredibly self-indulgent with slow motion, but I loved every minute of it.
There are also two great unique elements to the movie I found enjoyable.
1. The movies makes very heavy use of the flashback sequence to give the backstory for all the main characters, and while it does slow it down some because there's not really any action to them, I applaud the effort and I found them pretty engaging.
2. Having seen a lot of these future technology weapons on the History Channel, it's pretty cool seeing the movie making heavy use of this advanced technology working the way it would really work, and not a Hollywood version of it. Somers says all the tech will be in use in 20 years, and I highly doubt it, but it's cool to see these futuristic weapons grounded in reality for once.
Overall, I enjoyed the film quite a bit, the action-phile I am, and it's a great way to lose two hours. It never loses it's welcome, and it provides a lot of satisfactory bones thrown to the audience. It never takes itself seriously, as it shouldn't, and you shouldn't either, because you'll wind up disappointed. For the G.I. Joe fans, if you're a fans of 60s/70s Joe, it's in name only unless you count the scar on Channing Tatum. As for the 80s cartoon Joe fans, you'll most likely find yourself highly pleased since the movie takes most of its universe from the cartoon series. |
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