This second attempt at a live action G.I. Joe feature falls short and fits squarely into the ridiculous. While the first Joe film, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra had a romance and character plot that made me grown. Retaliation, much like the cartoon series, simply jumps from scene to scene with little explanation on the motivation. There seems to believe a massive amount of this movie was cut.
In early action, the Joes must secure warheads in Pakistan before they fall into the wrong hands. While it was a very cool action scene, it was filled with awful stereotypical terrorists and I have to say this is where the movie lost me. The comic relief is heavy handed and over the top most of the time. Jonathan Pryce has wonderful though and Ray Stevenson is perfectly cast as Firefly, Cobra’s saboteur and explosives expert.
As you see in the trailer London is destroyed. 8.2 Billion people die. No mention, no sadness, just smiles and congrats once our band of Joes takes down Cobra’s evil plot.
So while as a Joe fan I was excited to see a second movie. And loved the tons of fan service, and the classic Joe comic book and TV show feel – It felt flimsy.