I'm pleased to announce that the new GI Joe movie is much better than either of the Transformer movies. Granted, that's not saying much. Still, as a huge Joe fan from way back, I felt this movie got the job done. Instead of creating a pure origin story, the movie jumps right into the action, telling all substantive back stories in flashback sequences. I thought this was a great way to fill-in-the-blanks, getting the audience up-to-speed on the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow rivalry as well as the history between Duke and the Baroness. But the core focus of this film is the origins of Cobra, and I thought this was handled very well. We get to see who Cobra Commander is and how he came to be. Destro is also a central figure in this story, with an equally compelling back story. There's also some interesting ancillary characters thrown in, such as Dr. Mindbender and Zartan. It looks like the Hasbro folks included a lot of little tidbits that only Joe fanatics would notice too, such as Breaker's obsession with bubblegum. Oh, and an uncredited actor makes a small cameo as Sgt. Stone. Overall, this isn't a great film, but it's definitely a fun popcorn movie worth checking out, even if you do wait until it hits DVD. But if you want to get deeper into the Joe story now, I highly recommend the IDW reprints of the Larry Hama comics from the '80s. Surprisingly, they still hold up and are much more fulfilling than any live-action film could ever be.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra
I'm pleased to announce that the new GI Joe movie is much better than either of the Transformer movies. Granted, that's not saying much. Still, as a huge Joe fan from way back, I felt this movie got the job done. Instead of creating a pure origin story, the movie jumps right into the action, telling all substantive back stories in flashback sequences. I thought this was a great way to fill-in-the-blanks, getting the audience up-to-speed on the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow rivalry as well as the history between Duke and the Baroness. But the core focus of this film is the origins of Cobra, and I thought this was handled very well. We get to see who Cobra Commander is and how he came to be. Destro is also a central figure in this story, with an equally compelling back story. There's also some interesting ancillary characters thrown in, such as Dr. Mindbender and Zartan. It looks like the Hasbro folks included a lot of little tidbits that only Joe fanatics would notice too, such as Breaker's obsession with bubblegum. Oh, and an uncredited actor makes a small cameo as Sgt. Stone. Overall, this isn't a great film, but it's definitely a fun popcorn movie worth checking out, even if you do wait until it hits DVD. But if you want to get deeper into the Joe story now, I highly recommend the IDW reprints of the Larry Hama comics from the '80s. Surprisingly, they still hold up and are much more fulfilling than any live-action film could ever be.
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