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

Today's Movie: Moana (2016)

I had mixed expectations going into this one as I'm not a fan of the last few Disney animated feature films. I was unimpressed with Zootopia (2016) and Frozen (2013), and Big Hero 6 (2014) had some fun moments but I wouldn't call it a great movie. Nevertheless, I wasn't going to skip out on Moana just because I didn't care for those others.

I've always found Disney movies to be more memorable for their characters, quality and style of animation, and music rather than the details of their plots. So, I'm going to approach this review a little differently and examine those three elements individually without giving the story away.

The Characters: The film's focus is on Moana (played by Auli'i Cravalho) and Maui (played by Dwayne Johnson) and I really liked both of those main characters. I liked their personalities, thought they were well written, and had a good chemistry. Even in a voice-acting role Dwayne Johnson's charisma is a force to be reckoned with, and I found Moana to be a really well-rounded, likeable character that I enjoyed much more than I expected.

The Animation: Wow. There are moments in this film that are absolutely breathtaking. The animation is solid, vibrant Disney quality throughout, but there are some moments in particular that are just incredible to look at. This is one of the very rare instances that I recommend seeing the film in 3-D if you have the opportunity.

The Music: The music is a little bit of a mixed-bag. I don't think any of the songs in this one will become one of those super memorable Disney melodies like 'When You Wish Upon a Star', 'Under the Sea' or 'Be Our Guest', but I did think the music was solid for the most part. Most notably, I thought 'You're Welcome' and 'How Far I'll Go' were both pretty catchy tunes.

Overall, I really enjoyed Moana. I thought the film was a ton of fun and it did exceed my expectations. Any issues I have are just little nitpicky things. So, I give this one a 4.5 out of 5.


Have a suggestion for a review?
Leave it in the comments below.