G.I Joe: Retalitation movie review

The first G.I Joe movie came out in 2009. That was four freaking years ago. Admittedly that movie was a complete letdown for an action movie so it was no surprise that it took them so long to come up with the sequel which wasn't really much for a sequel. Of course, then again, the release of this movie was delayed for over eight months from its original date in June 2012.



Courtsey of ChurpChurp

Gist
The only sense of plot continuity that you get going in for G.I Joe: Retaliation was that the President of US was replaced with a Cobra impostor Zartan who orders the elimination of Joes to start world domination. Other than that, I suggest treating it like a new movie altogether.

Why? Because other than Duke (Channing Tatum), Snake Eyes (Ray Park), Mr President (Jonathan Pryce), Storm Shadow (Lee Byung-hun) and Zartan (Arnold Vosloo), everyone else is a new face to the movie franchise including the director. Step Up director, Jon Chu embarked on this action pack movie with the same treatment he gave the Step Up franchise. Loads of dazzling action sequences to pave the way for a predictable storyline.

Verdict
Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis helmed the cast this time, taking over the lead roles from Tatum's character but it was Adrianne Palicki who stole the screen with her character, Lady Jaye's determination to reset the standards of a male-dominated field of warfare without loosing too much of her femininity. After all, what is more sexy than a girl who knows her way around a gun. However Lady Jaye also seemed to have daddy issues which the director played off during her interactions and need for approval from the original and older Joe (Bruce Willis)....which is a bit creepy.

On a side note to Mr Willis, as much as it thrills me to see you still kicking ass in all your shining glory, having you as an another badass character that so closely resembles John McClane or even Mr Church from the Expandables just demonstrates that type-casting will follow you till your veteran years.

In true Dwayne Johnson style, his character Roadblock just singlehandedly beats the crap out of everyone that crosses his path although nothing was quite as epic as his fight with Vin Diesel in Fast Five. Speaking of which, Johnson will be having a good year this 2013 with several action movies lined up for him.

Moving on to the action scenes. What can I say. Jon Chu knows his action cinematography well. The fights are nicely chereographed especially the snowy mountain scenes between Snake Eyes and Jinx (Elodie Yung) versus red-cladded ninjas. You'll get explosions of cars and buildings (and people) and rapid combats that hardly leaves you with space to digest the plot and I think that was his objective.

The plot was as aforementioned predictable and does not explain how or why none of the original characters like the Baroness or Scarlet returned or where Jinx, Lady Jaye and Roadblock came from. It was for this reason that I asked you to treat it like a new movie rather than a sequel.

Would I watch it again?
Hell yes! I am in fact, watching it again today at the relaunch of TGV One Utama. But more on that later. G.I Joe: Retaliation makes up for where the original movie has fallen in terms of action sequences and eye-catching cast. You go in expecting mindless actions and that is exactly what you get.

G.I Joe: Retaliation hits the big screen this 28 March 2013.