G.I. Joe: Retaliation Review

Let me get this out right now: I was super excited when I heard they were making a GI Joe movie back in 2009. I went out and saw a midnight showing of it...and was severely disappointed. After that, I had no faith that this franchise could be anything more than a bunch of campy dialogue and shitty non-plot related action sequences. I was partially wrong...but mostly right.

Apparently, someone realized that everything about G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra was horrendous and decided that none of it should be in this movie. That was probably the best decision ever. Yes, Channing Tatum carries over for about 15 minutes, but that doesn't count, and they kept the one thing that really made the original bearable: the ninjas. So, I basically am calling this a reboot. It is very loosely tied to the first film, but it is so independent that if you only saw this one, you wouldn't be asking what you missed. You just wouldn't hate yourself for having seen the worse film.

I think the biggest saving grace of this film was Dwayne Johnson. The Rock was the perfect guy for this role. He pretty much played himself, a super badass, who was trying to save the name of his group (the GI Joes.) The dialogue is as corny as you would expect, but somehow when it's coming out of his mouth, you just find it oddly fantastic. Without him, this 'reboot' wouldn't have been as successful.

While the dialogue wasn't fantastic, I found that the general plot of the film was pretty solid. As someone who used to watch the GI Joe cartoon when I was younger, I thought it really felt like a typical GI Joe plotline. And, even if that plotline feels campy in terms of normal action films, it works as a GI Joe action film. The writers really knew their genre and what kind of whacky stuff they could get away with. I applaud them for toeing the line so perfectly.

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While this movie wasn't terrible, it wasn't that great. It had a lot of camp to it, but it fit with what it was. The dialogue was a bit dry, but the plot made up for that. Parts of the film felt disjointed (everything in Tokyo seemed/looked like a completely different film), but it really didn't matter. This is a slightly-higher-than mindless action film that would be a great movie to see with a group of friends.

Writing: 4/10

Directing: 4/10

Acting: 5/10

Pacing: 4/10

Rewatchability: 5/10

Score: 4.4/10