Shallow Thoughts on the G.I. Joe Movies

So, again, while browsing in some store I came across a two-pack of the two G.I. Joe movies for a reasonable price. I had remembered watching “The Rise of Cobra” and not minding it, but couldn’t remember ever watching “Retaliation”. As part of my regular Friday night movie watching, I decided — on two separate weeks — to watch the movies and see what I thought of them.

“The Rise of Cobra” was the most interesting, mostly because this was the first time I was watching it after having watched the original cartoon series. What struck me is just how many references there were in that movie to the cartoon. This gave it an added charm that made it much more enjoyable this time around. However, I had never liked setting up the Baroness as Duke’s former fiance, and liked it even less this time around, mostly because her character didn’t strike me as being at all like the Barnoness. She was far less coldly competent and calculating, and so far less interesting as a character, and the love relationship also led to her getting at least a potential moment of being redeemed which worked against the character. Still, the movie itself was moderately entertaining and, again, the references worked.

“Retaliation”, though, was a disappointment. Not because it was bad, mind you, but because it was pretty much a standard action movie that had little to do with the actual G.I. Joe mythos other than some of the names. It had an impressive list of stars that I do kinda like — The Rock, Adrienne Palicki, Bruce Willis — but, again, it’s pretty much an action movie, not a G.I. Joe movie. Even the character plots and personalities don’t really relate to the original characters. So, ultimately, it’s an action movie with the G.I. Joe name slapped on it, which is going to disappoint G.I. Joe fans.

I might be willing to watch the first movie again. It’s unlikely that I’ll watch the second one again unless I decide to watch it after rewatching the first one.