the net raiders

I was fortunate enough to get a sneak preview of the movie Thursday night (however, at this point the movie is out in full force). And I have to say that G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was a good movie. And I think the main reason why it was good is because it wasn’t the pile of crap we all expected it to be.
Now I know there are a lot of critics out there ripping this movie a sufficiently large asshole, but let me explain my logic and break it down… If this movie holds true to anything, then I would have to say it follows the cartoon. Maybe not so much with the character’s origin’s, after all those need to be spiced up for Hollywood’s sake. But more or less the suspension of disbelief. The movie has explosions, lots and lots of explosions. Plenty of clanking Ninja blades. And of course, silly plot holes. Something old school Joe fans will appreciate, and something that high-profile critics will despise. The G.I. Joe cartoon was about kicking ass and saving the day. And G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra does exactly that.

Just sitting back and enjoying the ride is the ONLY way to enjoy G.I. Joe, and someone like a critic, who’s job it is to be critical about a movie… will obviously call this movie a waste of time. If you just accept that this movie is pandering to Joe fans, you will have one damn good time. I sure as hell did. ‘Nuff said.

Channing Tatum as duke does as good of a job as anyone with mediocre acting skills can. But it works because he sort of has been molded to be a war movie character in his last few movies. One of them being Stop Loss with Jason Gordon- Levitt. So when they are doing the back story on “Cobra Commander” I could of sworn that some of the footage was taken right out of that movie. None the less Gordon-Levitt really suprised me with the ability to be as convincing of a Cobra Commander as anyone really could. They probably could of cast someone a little darker, but he was a good choice for the “fall from grace” storyline. Seinna Miller was georgous as The Baroness. That’s all I can really say about that right there. I definately didn’t mind looking at her for two hours. She is probably even hotter with dark hair. And Marlon Waynes really irritated me as the wise cracking Ripcord. Mainly because every movie he is in, it’s his job to be the token black guy who spouts some one liner that causes the audience to chuckle a little bit. It’s just hard to take the guy seriously, and believe that he really is a Joe with amazing marksmanship. G.I. Joe is hard core. It isn’t funny. It can have funny moments, but it was really a stretch with him keeping a light hearted personality with people dying all around him. Stormshadow and Snake Eye’s conflict really won the movie over for me. It wasn’t just minature face off, much like Sub-Zero and Scorpion in the Mortal Kombat movies. It was a continuous on going grudge between the two from the beginning to the end of the movie. I loved, their flash backs and everything. It really helped flesh the plot out a bit more, since Snake Eyes doesn’t say a god damn thing. Stormshadow was hands down my favorite character. He was ruthless and arrogant, a perfect raging yang to Snake Eyes cool collective yin.

So in summation? G.I. Joe is a great movie if you were born in the ’80’s and loved the show. G.I. Joe is a good movie if you are a fan of any sort of action flick. And G.I. Joe is a poor movie if you are looking for anything more than being entertained. So go check it out. And even bring a date (my girlfriend enjoyed it suprisingly). This one is entertaining enough for the cash.