Knowing Is Half The Battle

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is not a good movie. It is, though, a very entertaining bad one. Watching this film I could not help but think back to when I first heard that they were making a Transformers movie. It sounded like a good idea. My head was instantly filled with epic battles of massive robots fighting for the future of humanity. I had the opposite reaction when I learned of the G.I. Joe film. Keep in mind, I was a much larger G.I. Joe fan as a child, but I just couldn't see it.

For many reasons I really wanted to give The Rise of Cobra an extremely negative review. Marlon Wayons, as Ripcord, bothered me more on first viewing than Jar Jar Binks ever did (but don't worry prequel haters, Jar Jar did his damage over time). It did, however, make me appreciate Will Smith's performances in similar idiotic films. I hated Independence Day and both Men in Black films, but Will still had his moments. Wayons simply doesn't have that star charisma. Now, not all of it was his fault. The dialogue was mediocre at best. Channing Tatum, as my childhood fav Duke, was every bit as bad, but he was lucky to be playing the straight man to Wayons "comic relief." I won't even begin to start on the plot and how it closely resembled Swiss cheese.

So you might be beginning to wonder what exactly I did find entertaining. The action was generally quite inspired. It didn't fall prey to the same trap Transformers did. Transformers was a film the had such fast, albeit terrific, special effects that I found the action extremely difficult to follow. I had a friend of mine tell me how much they enjoyed slowing down a Transformers action scene frame-by-frame. I can enjoy that as much as the next guy (especially during any of the hundreds of worthy Jackie Chan fights), but not when it becomes necessary to follow it. In G.I. Joe they were smart enough to back up a little bit so you could see all the action taking place. The fights between Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes, along with the chase through the streets of Paris, are worth the price of admission alone (it was a matinee, mind you).

In the review of The Hurt Locker I had a difficult time imagining a "pro-war" film. Little did I know, the next film I would review would be exactly that. Just as suspected, it was completely ridiculous, unrealistic and certainly still very much a cartoon.