Movie Review - GI Joe Retaliation

I was a huge fan of the GI Joe franchise as a kid. When the first movie was released I was so eager and happy to see a GI Joe movie, that I didn't judge it too harshly on its story line. Sadly when this movie was released, it was just a big disappointment. First lets talk about the main storyline, Why.. why.. WHY!!??? Would they kill off the majority of the GI Joe Forces. Seriously, this movie would of worked just fine with killing off a single main character (as they did DUKE), and could of had the other Joes framed or on other missions. But instead they kill off all our main characters and I have to ask why? Do they not expect to make a 3rd or 4th movie? And the story doesn't match the movie, sure in the first 30 minutes its all about retaliation and getting revenge for Duke and the other Joes, but by the middle of the movie it was about saving the Presidency and pulling Cobra Commanders claws out of the White House. I personally would of named it GI JOE: Operation Stronghold, implying that there was a stronghold situation that had to be broken, which in the end is what the movie was about. My title would of also allowed for new movies to use other GI JOE characters, and not worry about being in linear order, always using the word 'Operation' in the title.

Now the actors... I want to say that I don't think Bruce Willis had any business being in this movie. It was a step backwards for him, he's an established 'Action Hero', and the mediocre storyline arc of the "Original GI JOE" that his character was on was unbelievable and poorly written. In fact if you watch the movie closely you can pretty much remove Bruce Willis story arc from the movie and with only minor tweaks, the story works just as well.

Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) is a great actor when he's given a good script to work with, this was not it. There are some actors that we will always associate with a character in a movie, Carrie Fisher: Princess Leia, Bruce Willis: John McClain, John Wayne: Rooster Cogburn, Robert Downey Jr: Iron Man.... etc. Dwayne Johnson like the aforementioned actors is very talented, and I thought this movie would of been his to own when it was announced he'd be in it. But again, the story and writing was just so simplistic that it was a shame to see such a great actors talent go to waste.

Don't get me wrong, this was a decent movie, with some ok action scenes. Unfortunately that's all it was, action. Yes they tried to add some substance with the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow revelation, but it just didn't work. After I left the movie, I had all but forgotten a few of the characters. Lady Jaye was a kickass part of the GI JOE Universe and yet her character in this movie was shallow and predictable. Adrianne Palicki shined in Legion, in this movie she... well did the best with what she had. As I write this I can barely remember the scenes or the actors that played Flint and Jinx... that is just bad writing. The fact is this movie was a disgrace to the GI JOE Brand, it was just a studios attempt to cash in on Name Recognition, hoping we wouldn't notice the pathetic storyline by throwing in some 'Big Name Actors'.

This movie was a joke and I'm feel ripped off for having to pay to see it and the time I'll never get back that I spent watching it.