G.I. Joe Retaliation review

G.I. JOE RETALIATION: 
AN ACTION-PACKED IMPROVEMENT OVER ITS PREDECESSOR, THOUGH FLAWED!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES, MGM, AND HASBRO    

Ray Park kicking ass as Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe Retaliation

Remember the 2009 Stephen Sommers action movie, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Remember how loud and thinly written the movie was? Well, you won’t have to worry about bland characters or thin storytelling in the sequel, G.I. Joe Retaliation, after all when Rise of Cobra fails, Retaliation doesn't. 

Directed by John M. Chu (Step Up), produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Red), and by executive producer Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) is more superior than its predecessor, and a little more entertaining too. Retaliation also has a new cast led by Dwayne Johnson (Snitch, The Mummy Returns, The Fast & the Furious) and Bruce Willis (Looper, Red, The Expendables 2), pretty much the only returning cast members from the first film are Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, 21 Jump Street, Side Effects), Byung-hun Lee, Jonathan Pryce, and Ray Park (Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra).

Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey) has escaped from prison and plots to take over the world with a new device that can destroy all the planet’s countries at the push of a button with his partner in crime, Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) who now has the power to transform his appearance and took the body of the president (Jonathan Pryce). Meanwhile The G.I. Joes are wiped out due to a surprise attack on them, except for Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Snake Eyes (Ray Park), Jaye (Adrianne Palicki), and Flint (D.J. Cotrona) who vow to avenge the fallen Joes and defeat Cobra, with a little help from Snake Eyes’ rival brother, Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) and a retired member of the team, Joe (Bruce Willis).

I enjoyed G.I. Joe Retaliation as a whole, though the film does have a few flaws in the story, like the fact most of the characters from the first film never appeared nor were they ever mentioned, plus the removal of Dennis Quaid as General Hawk, but that’s just nitpicking. Bottom line, it’s an entertaining and goofy adventure based on the Hasbro G.I. Joe toy line that will most likely satisfy long time fans of the action figures and people who either liked or didn’t like Rise of Cobra, you just might enjoy the sequel, lots of explosions but plenty of story to go with it.

It’s not a great movie, but it isn’t terrible either, it can get a little silly at times but it’s all part of the fun. It should satisfy moviegoers, at least until big blockbusters like Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness come out later on this year.