Cinematic Releases: G.I. Joe Retaliation

This second franchise offering suffers almost the exact same fate as the first. The film relies too heavily on nonsensical action and brand new characters that have absolutely no back story. The second G.I. Joe entry completely writes off ninety five percent of the characters from the original with absolutely no explanation while it skips ahead in to another story about Cobra Commander and his evil plans for world domination. Where the movie fails to capture the essence of the classic cartoon, it at least tries to be entertaining. There is one mountain top ninja battle that trumps anything else in either two movies.

There have only been a few attempts at capturing a toy line on film. The only worthwhile one was probably the first Transfomers film, although that has its naysayers too. The problem with these G.I. Joe movies is that they have no heart and try too hard to deliver constant fighting sequences. A live action Joe movie could be made worthwhile if they would try to introduce some actual character development in to the story. At this point, I'm guessing this will probably flop and we'll get a complete franchise reboot down the line.When and if that happens, it needs to be a completely different direction that tells the back story of the G.I. Joe world while giving the audience a foundation for the characters.

If you're looking for something brainless that's loaded with questionable plot devices, Retaliation might be for you. It's not that it's the worst thing ever made. It just could have been so much better if they had a real writer develop the story. Also, the tinkering they've done with the movie for months on end is noticeable via some terrible editing choices. This movie did not need the post production 3D treatment. What it needed was some heart and a better story.