G.I Joe

G.I Joe is by no means a good film, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. What I really appreciate about it is that it does not take itself seriously at all. It is exactly what it set out to be. A live action, big budget, Saturday morning cartoon. One that requires the viewer to suspend all disbelief, lighten up, and just enjoy the show. Transformers 2 did quite the opposite, it forces us to try and invest too much emotion into something that should just be a fun time at the movies . . . or at home with a nice TV and a Blu-ray player. That in essence is what really makes a bad movie isn’t it? Something that tries to be one thing, fails, and ends up being something completely different. Be it a comedy that is not funny, or a drama that ends up being laughably bad. G.I Joe is none of these; it succeeds at what it is trying to be.

The highlight and lowlight is the cast. Lee Byung-hun (a personal favourite actor of mine) and Ray Park easily steal the show. Their sub-plot could have been its own film. Dennis Quaid may not have turned in his best performance of his career, but he sure looked like he was having a good time! On the other hand Channing Tatum is just . . . not a good actor at all, and having Marlon Wayans at his side most of the time did not help. Joseph Gordon-levitt pulled of the kind of performance that could only suit a film like this. He was the perfect cartoon villain. Very Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face.

This is not Christopher Nolans G.I Joe, this is Stephen Sommers after all, the guy who brought us The Mummy, Van Helsing, and a Huck Finn! So if you can try and enjoy it for what it is you may get more out of it then you think. Remember it could have been worse; it could have been Micheal Bay's G.I Joe. . .

6.5/10

A Film by: Stephen Sommers