G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

GI Joe:Rise of Cobra was better than expected, at least in my view. It is far from a masterpiece, the story is often thin and unfocused, Channing Tatum is bland and painful to watch sometimes and the quality of the script is uneven, there are some smart and witty lines but there are also some really bad howlers as well. That said, I did enjoy it for what it was, and I have seen far worse movies, some of which didn't promise much(Disaster Movie) and some of which did look as though it would be entertaining but it was actually a pile of rubbish(Dungeons & Dragons). The sets, scenery, costumes, cinematography and special effects are wonderful to watch, the music is memorable and suitably bombastic, the action is thrilling, the film is decently paced, the finale is the epitome of the term epic and Dennis Quaid is quite good in his role. Overall, far from perfect but for me not a pile of buffalo dung either. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I just saw G.I. Joe, and I must say that I actually enjoyed it. This is NOT a masterpiece. This is a fun, Summer action flick. The so-called professional critics who obviously miss that point do not deserve their cushy jobs. The action is unbelievable, non-stop, breathless, and requires a total suspension of disbelief. The critics that have a problem with that should remember one thing. This is a movie based on a cartoon that's sole purpose was to sell a set of toys to 5-12 year old boys. Nothing more. Expecting "War and Peace" from this source material shows a lack of insight and intelligence from most of the reviews that I have read. If you like action films, you will enjoy this one. If you want angst-ridden characters stopping every five minutes to discuss their feelings... pull the stick out and move along to a sappy low-budget romance; this isn't your kind of film.

Please, take note that I rated this film 8 only because of it's value as an action film, but that's exactly the point I came here to get across. Everybody seems to have the same argument when they trash this film.. "it's all effects and no brains or dramatic undertones". OK, that is true, I've got to admit, but then again what kind of movie were these people actually expecting to see? Huh?!

G.I. Joe is as pure as an action film can possibly be and most importantly, it doesn't pretend to be anything else. Look at the poster. Check out the trailer. After those, were you perhaps waiting to see an Ingmar Bergman film? IT'S G.I. JOE, for Christ's sake! And I must say that in it's category, it isn't that bad. Sommers can direct good action sequences (the pursuit on the streets of Paris is stunning!) and although the film is obviously overblown with ridiculous gadgets and over the top plot lines, it doesn't matter because Joe succeeds in it's ONLY primary mission: to be entertaining. It's never boring and it's the silly fun it was always going to be.

So in a nutshell.. if you want a serious film to watch, check out There Will Be Blood or Doubt, but if you just want to forget for two hours the mess your leaders have left your nation, nay, the *world* and just have fun, check out this action film. Thank you.

Let me first say that I knew absolutely nothing about the GI Joe franchise except that they were (are?) toys. But that did not hinder me from enjoying this movie.

What do you get if you mix a few parts James Bond, a few parts Transformers and a few parts Star Wars? Well, you get G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra! Basically, if you like the aforementioned movies you will probably enjoy this one. Things explode constantly, shiny things glimmer past the screen and hot chicks in tight outfits show up now and then.

If you are the type who crave realism in your movies then do not - I repeat, do not see this one. Realism does not even come within shooting distance of this movie. But if you can enjoy a popcorn summer movie then this is not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

And yes - there is a Wayans brother in this, but strangely enough, he did not annoy me...

G. I Joe: The Rise of Cobra is really dumb, full of bad CG and has some terrible character designs but it's still good fun that's extremely over the top and action packed. Channing Tatum gives a really good lead performance and Dennis Quaid, Sienna Miller, Marlon Wayans, Rachel Nichols and Byung-Hun Lee are all good. Stephen Sommers' direction is great, it's extremely well filmed if a little reliant on CG. It's well paced and the music by Alan Silvestri is good.