Monday, October 7, 2019

G.I. Joe: Retaliation


2013's G.I. Joe: Retaliation is a bit of an odd movie from a production stand-point as it serves as both a sequel to 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra but, it also acts as a sort of reboot for the franchise. About half of the cast are holdovers from the first film but the leader of the 'Joes', Duke (played by Channing Tatum), is killed off early in this movie and replaced with 'Roadblock' (played by Dwayne Johnson). If it sounds a little confusing, don't worry. I watched the film with my wife and 7yr old son, neither of whom saw the first film, and they weren't lost during this one.

The key conflict in this one involves a villian named Zartan (played by Arnold Vosloo) using some nanotechnology to impersonate the President of the United States. The goal of this is to get the other world leaders to give up their nuclear weapons so 'Cobra' can rule the world. Oh, and the Joes of course are the only ones who can stop this. If you look past the exploding firefly robots, ninjas, and Dwayne Johnson's magnetic charisma, you'll find it's the pretty basic 'Good vs. Evil', 'the fate of the world is at stake' plot you'd probably expect from a G.I. Joe movie. 

Overall, while there are a few really cool scenes, this is little more than a big, dumb, action flick. However, if you're just in the mood for that type of movie (and I think most of us feel like that from time to time), then kick back with a bowl of popcorn and enjoy all of the gun play, explosions, and ninja fights G.I. Joe: Retaliation has to offer.
2.5 out of 5

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