G.I. Joe: Retaliation Review.

Thoughts: After G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra butchered everything good about the G.I. Joe franchise, my expectations for the sequel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, was considerably low. To my surprise however, the movie was a ton of fun with awesome action scenes and a healthy dose of nostalgia. While G.I. Joe: Retaliation is nothing remarkable, it is certainly entertaining and a blast to watch.

The Rise of Cobra managed to really sucked, even with two great actors, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Christopher Eccleston. When I was a kid, I was a fan of all those old G.I. Joe TV shows and characters, fortunately, the Retaliation captured the spirit of the franchise and delivered some seriously awesome action. Despite what critics say, the first Transformers movie was a lot of fun, and the G.I. Joe captures a similar feeling that Transformers did, in terms of dumb fun that appeals to the viewer's nostalgia.


Directed by: Jon M. Chu
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi,
Release Date: March 28, 2013
Running Time: 110 minutes
MMPA rating: PG-13


The Good: Tons of action, Absurdly fun, Vast improvement over the previous film, Impressive action set pieces, Snake Eyes was finally cool, Good sense of humor, Well filmed action scenes,

The Bad: Really dumb plot points, Clichéd,



Plot: 5.2/10- G.I. Joe: Retaliation's plot is simple, but gets the job done to deliver a story with fun action. There are a few really stupid plot points that that do not make sense, although what do you expect from a movie like this. Despite some dumb plot points, the pacing is great, rarely slowing down and almost always fun. Also there is a twist that I did not expect.

Action: 9.5/10- The action in Retaliation is surprising well directed and framed. Except for a few darkly lit scenes and outlandish parts, the action is excellent. The ninja battles are freaking awesome, and the gun fights are a ton of fun. The mix of action is varied, which works well for the film.

Acting: 5.0/10- Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock gave a fun performance, although nothing special. Adrianne Palicki was solid as the attractive Lady Jay, and she is the only character with any character arc. Bruce Willis kind of phones it in, but Bruce Willis is still awesome in his limited role. The other actors are all OK, but not particularly great.

Special effects: 8.0/10- A few of the effects are not the most impressive and obviously CGI, but there was a surprising amount practical effects and stunt work used.

Soundtrack: 7.6/10- The rock/metal themes were perfect for the movie and made the action scenes even more fun.

Comedy: 7.8/10- Fortunately, the movie does not take itself seriously and the humor is usually quite good.

Would I Watch This Again: Typically, movies like Retaliation are not something I would care to see again, but I actually would want to watch it again.

Overall: 7.3/10- Overall G.I. Joe: Retaliation is good dumb fun, that will satisfy fans of the old show/comics and action junkies alike.

Closing comments: G.I. Joe: Retaliation certainly has its problems, but it is a lot of fun and that is what the movie needed to be.

Recommended for: Fans of the franchise, Action fans,


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