G.I. Joe - La vendetta

This sequel may have a few flaws like most sequels, but G.I. Joe: Retaliation is much more charismatic and an improvement upon its predecessor.

This second G.I JOE film doesn't have much in terms of a well thought out plot but it does have some great visuals and is packed with loads of well staged action sequences so action movie buffs should have a blast. For those also seeking more of a character story it's still best to look somewhere else.

The acting is however surprisingly good given the film's plot. Dwayne Johnson and Channing Tatum both bring a certain likability to their characters and I enjoyed watching them the most and of course Adrianne Palicki who was very friendly on the eyes.

Overall, The film might not have much of a plot but the great visuals and the well made action sequences keep it from becoming a total bore. Those who want more of a character driven plot might not think very much of it.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra feels like it belongs to a different age of blockbusters. It had a hard time fitting in to the modern generation thus most moviegoers never find it as appealing as the other films that was released on that year. Those rants can be true only in some reasons. The film is undeniably silly and dumb but it was never boring and has its own quality. Since people are now asking for darker and much serious blockbusters, this sequel reduces all the silliness that was displayed on the original. G.I. Joe: Retaliation is cooler and less cartoony. Unfortunately, it is also less exciting and terribly uninspired. The action may be better looking but the lack of fortitude and creativity made it fall short into another visual showcase stress.

"Awesome" is the main goal of this sequel. While the original was too corny to impress, this film darkens the tone and made it a bit down to earth. It abandons the silly gadgets and the ridiculous laws of physics that was shown in the original. But the film fails to be both dark and realistic. Not only because of those robotic fireflies and the mass annihilating missiles but the secret prisons and the government are unbelievably dumb to manage their job. Well, it's a blockbuster based on toys so it will never be too realistic. Deal with it while we are here for the fun. The dark aspects aren't dark at all. What they only do is to be serious. This seriousness blocks the potential joy and turns it into standard blockbuster bland.

The storytelling is quite messy. It's like an uninteresting version of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol with uninteresting characters. The storytelling from the first movie wasn't great either since it is cluttered with cheesy flashbacks. But it's worse here because it takes some twists that are absurdly incoherent. And so, it's all pretentious. The characters are boring and even the performances can't bring them to life. Dwayne Johnson is the only good thing among them though, Bruce Willis is trying to make fun of himself again as a crazy grandaddy, and the villains ham it up which isn't suppose to be a bad thing but they can't give enough personality to them.

The action scenes are acceptable enough to call awesome at least. With all the explosions and the none CGI-ed machines, it seems to be really exciting, but it's not. It does a fine job to be pretty but there's a difference between good looking and exciting. There's only a little suspense. If there is actually suspense and joy then it would be found at the mountain ninja fight but it's just mild and still glosses some slow motions in it. For the rest of the action, the heroes are always superior. Plus more explosions and slow-mos. The action is stylishly directed anyway. The fight between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow remains to be the only action that excites and one part of the climax has a nutty scene with The Rock riding huge vehicles and shooting like a badass. The production designs, special effects, and costumes gets better. What else to talk about it?

The absence of the Joes' ridiculous transportation and weapons, holograms, and other snazzy gadgets may please our modern viewers but it also forgets why this material is interesting anyway. Now we only get typical military stuff. It still has some crazy devices but it's limited compare to the first film. Rise of Cobra wasn't a classic. It's nothing more than a simple guilty pleasure. Same with Retaliation except this one can't even be completely pleasurable unless you want some endless visual coolness. Cool is not a bad thing but it could have been creative and much more exciting instead of showing off slow-mos on screen. To be fair, it's mildly entertaining and good to look at. If the film wasn't this visually awesome, it would have been an empty cinema. The series still fails to justify its source material.

The first G.I. Joe film was a surprise. I had expected to hate it or at least just enjoy it as a no brainer, but it wasn't so at all. I really liked the special effects, the villains, the story. The reason why I had made the effort of watching it was the appearance of Retaliation, which had really nice trailers.

So, after much waiting, I was able to watch G.I. Joe Retaliation... and I found it lacking in every respect. The jokes lamer, the effects cheaper, the story linear and impossible and the script bad, the acting worse, the fighting stupid. My conclusion: a failure that not even the presence of Ray Stevenson could not save. Arnold Vosloo practically did not act in this film, while some of the characters were killed outright for no other reason that I can see except that their actors didn't want to play this film.

Don't watch this. It's a waste of time.

First of all, I am so happy to see The Rock and Bruce Willis joining the cast, the movie suddenly looks so huge with them. But I still hate how they trimmed almost all of the original cast, I like Ana and Scarlett, and it definitely will be more amusing if Ripcord is in this sequel. Luckily they kept Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, they are just as awesome as they were in the previous film, really enjoy the rival show of these two character.

The story line is average, the plot is weird, doesn't have ups and downs, only a parallel line from beginning to the end. There is no climax in G.I Joe: Retaliation, but if you say the movie is excited at all time, it would be hard to argue.

There are not much advanced and cool weapon stuffs in this sequel, probably to fit the story, I'd say it is actually kinda boring compare to the previous G.I. Joe movie. However, some of the scene is pretty entertained tho.

Overall, with good actors and good special effect, G.I. Joe: Retaliation only needs a better screenplay to be a better movie.