‘G.I. Joe’ is My Newest Guilty Pleasure
-----The ‘G.I. Joe’ trailer promised one of the year’s premiere action extravaganzas. And unfortunately, it doesn’t quite live up to that claim in all aspects. On the bright side however, despite being silly, over-the-top, melodramatic, campy, outrageous, and maybe a bit forgettable, it’s also one of the year’s most entertaining films yet. Just kick back and watch them kill each other.
-----‘G.I. Joe’ follows the story of military men Duke and Ripcord. After they’re ambushed while transporting dangerous advanced weaponry, they are suddenly saved and taken away with a group of mysterious military individuals. Turns out, the team is an international strike force composed of the elite military operatives from a number of nations, and Duke wants in.
-----The now semi-famous Channing Tatum plays driven military enthusiast, Duke. Here he plays a role pretty much like any role you’ve see him in before, but it works for the character of Duke. Marlon Wayans plays his pal Ripcord, in a role teeming with slapstick comedy that falls flat. Fortunately, through the many bad jokes, he still manages to be likable. Rachel Nichols plays a fun character known as Scarlett, and provides one of the more entertaining fight scenes when she gets into it with the evil Baroness, played by Sienna Miller. Miller also finds a way to make somewhat campy dialogue fun and entertaining, as long as you’re willing to shut your brain off. The always brilliant Ray Park plays the silent ninja Snake Eyes. Known best for his roles as Darth Maul in ‘Star Wars’ and Toad in ‘X-Men,’ Park once again manages to make an awesome character without the use of dialogue, and with his face hidden throughout the whole film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is adequate in his role of a scheming villain, and joining him is Christopher Eccleston as the evil arms dealer who becomes Destro. Finally, rounding out the primary cast is the very talented Dennis Quaid, providing some much needed experience and suave to the film, which is composed mainly of young stars playing action hero archetypes.
-----‘G.I. Joe’ is not a film that can be taken very seriously. This is too bad, because I hoped it would have the full package of a memorable story and explosive action. Thankfully however, the story is adequate, and the talking between action scenes is just shameless enough to work. The whole film has a feel that is in no way offensive or mean spirited, and this validates many of the sillier moments of light action fun, where unlikable characters could have spoiled the movie. There is a moment here and there where the campiness is brought to an extreme, but this is all forgiven easily if you accept that you’re going to get an old school tale of good guys vs. bad guys, and just enjoy the action along the way. And just as the title is extended to, “The Rise of Cobra,” the movie is completely blatant in its attempt for a franchise. And unlike most serious moviegoers, I love big budget summer flicks that spawn sequels. Even so, the movie still stands alone, and I hope to see more from the franchise. It certainly has lots of room for improvement, but it just might be able to tap the hidden potential and grow into something classic. When push comes to shove, ‘G.I. Joe’ may be hard to digest for anyone hoping for anything gritty and/or at all serious, but for me it was some of the best escapist fun I’ve had all year.
-----Technically the film is pretty awesome. The music is nothing that stands out, but is ultimately adequate. The action on the other hand is consistently fun and outrageous, with the effects work being solid and entertaining. Many of the environments are composed solely of ridiculous but bold CG work that gives the whole film a feel of being a no-holds-barred action extravaganza. It really brought me back to the days when I would make up any sort of scenario to have my own G.I. Joes beating down the bad guys; so young boys and those keen enough to remember their childhood should have a great time with the epic proportions and extreme environments. Throw in likable characters and shameless, numerous explosions that absolutely toss bystanders and you can’t help but be entertained.
-----This film will not be "cool" enough for many people. Nearly everyone at the screening I went to hated the movie. For me, it was just plain fun. It’s kind of similar to the reason I loved the Kilmer and Clooney Batman’s as a kid, except ‘G.I. Joe’ should hold up with older audiences looking for light fun too. I quickly realized that it would not be an intense action drama that you can take seriously, and after that I just sat back and watched the campy fun and huge action with the air of someone who comes to the movies to escape the trivialities of real life. There are certainly missteps here and there, whether it is a rubber muscle suit or a goofy line of dialogue, but I had fun none-the-less. Director Stephen Sommers knows what he’s dealing with, a movie based off of action figures, and doesn’t try to make it something that it’s not. Sommers, who directed “The Mummy,” even throws in a fun cameo for Brendan Fraser and a small role for Arnold Vosloo (both stars of “The Mummy”). It’s this go-for-it sense of nonchalance towards what everyone thinks a movie should be that makes ‘G.I. Joe’ the unabashed action flick it is. I often ask, “What’s wrong with a film being just an action movie?”, and ‘G.I. Joe’ replies with a resounding, “nothing!”
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