2009 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 58 min
Director: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christopher Eccleston, Sienna Miller, Byung-hun Lee, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid
In the grand tradition of comics and cartoons turned big-screen blockbusters, this movie tries to capture the magic of the rebooted Transformers franchise with another American hero. I was not a G.I.Joe fan as a kid (I'm a girl, ok?) but I hear that the characters are all pretty much in line with the originals, so it's got that going for it.
Mostly, this feels overcomplicated. It's one big excuse to blow stuff up, but it wants you to take it seriously. This movie wants to be a real action/adventure when it grows up, not just a cartoon turned live action. And as one friend commented, the good guys kill more people than the bad guy. Speaking of bad guys, I could not take Joseph Gordon-Levitt serious in this movie. At. All.
It was a worthy effort, but at the end of it, GI Joe failed to pull me in.
I unapologetically love this movie for one reason. It perfectly captures the one upsmanship of boys with toys. "My guys have a car with rockets." "Well my guys have suits that make them run real fast." "Well my guys' car can transform to a scoop and throw cars at your guys." "Well I have a ninja who can dogs anything!" And so on. Never even played with GI Joes or saw the cartoon as a kid, but I totally got into this ridiculous thing.
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