GI JOE: Retaliation

[Archer]

Son of a motherf#$ker

Well that is such a dick move, I might think about dl'ing it sometime after now, meh. Well done mofos.

[Reaper2051]

Just got back 2 hours ago from IMAX and all I can say is that I was right my expectations didnt change they really made this movie for the hardcore fans while dissing the fans who enjoyed the first film which gave it the foundation to build up on.

Spoiler (hover to show)

First off my brother and his 2 friends grew up with the cartoons while my cousin and I grew up with both the comics and the cartoons including the later incarnations of G.I. Joe and we all came to the same conclusion that it was just an action film not a genuine Joe film.

Another item we agreed on is that they treated Destro and Duke like utter crap, Duke got a big improvement from Rise of Cobra but instead of continuing it they kill him off what a load of bullshit. Do not get me started with Destro I felt sorry for him being left behind by Cobra Commander and you can see the fury in his eyes when he was discarded.

For the new Joes Roadblock, Flint and Lady Jaye they earned their stripes in my book but they should have kept Duke to explore of his friendship with Roadblock instead of showing them playing Survival in Modern Warfare 3.

Lady Jaye (cute ass when she took off the dress) was pretty good would have loved to see her team up with Scarlett. Flint was here or there nothing big. Roadblock was well Roadblock too bad they didnt show him cook since he is a Chef.

I will admit i was happy to see Snake Eyes on the big screen and while I was not bothered by the suit in the first movie cause it's still Snake Eyes I did like the new look.

As for Jinx.........well at least she wasnt bad luck like her Animated movie counterpart haha.

Speaking of the main team from the first movie WHERE THE BLOODY HELL WERE THEY? Cause I am sure as hell they were NOT in that base when Cobra helicopters attacked. Chu you better bring back Hawk, Heavy Duty, Ripcord. Breaker and Scarlett in the 3rd film(if it gets the greenlight)

As for Cobra? Glad to see Rex back head wounds an all to take up the mantle of Cobra Commander, I give them credit for still showing Commander's first outfit and did the small upgrade pretty nice touch the only problem is he didnt do jack shit throughout the movie except stay behind the scenes. Cobra Commander you aint no Sith Lord get your ass out of the shadows more often instead of waiting till the final part of the film.

Firefly was a mixed bag I mean yea he loves to blow shit up but arent you a specialist in sabotage instead of demolition? Sucks that he bit the dust and didnt keep the mask on much.

Zartan was one of my fav characters from the first film along with the Doctor and I am glad Vosloo came back to reprise his part I am also saddened that he bit the dust also.


Destro and Baroness got the bad end of the deal an I hope they come back in the 3rd film UNCHANGED and stayed the SAME.

Storm Shadow? jury is still out since he has no allegiance anymore........or so we think. But at least he got his Retribution against the man who framed him for Hard Master's murder.

I have nothing to say about Blind Master portrayed by RZA

Was this an improvement over Rise of Cobra? Yes but it didnt have the same feel as the first movie and how it treated it was extremely upsetting. If they had stuck with the original cast and improved them just like they did with Duke and Snake Eyes and incorporated only Flint Lady Jaye and Roadblock Retaliation would be an 8 just like ROC but I was left disappointed.

Spoiler tags mon.

[Berzerk]

Man spoiler tags in future please.

[Reaper2051]

thanks for that, was falling asleep an forgot to put that

[AvatarTT]

Movie was meh...6/10. Liked the first one more.
Snake Eyes had the best scenes.

On the other hand, I'm digging the OST

[Arcmanov]

THOROUGHLY enjoyed this.  WAY better than the 1st film.
Was expecting a lot of camp.  Imagine MY surprise.

This movie spoke to the 10-year old in me...and that ain't a bad thing...at ALL.


Plot was wafer thin, but WGAFF... there were lots of 'splosions, man.
Enough narrative loose ends to almost guarantee a sequel.




A solid 8 falling ninjas out of 10.

[TriniXaeno]

lol @ 8 falling ninjas

good enough for me

Added to the priority list.

[Reaper2051]

this guy sums up my point exactly why this movie was such a let down

Spoiler (hover to show)

Originally Posted by TFXProtector

Hmph.

A mixed bag, definitely.

My wife and I finally went to see Retaliation and that's the same reaction we both had when it was finished.

Let's just say it, the first movie, while not the greatest, was definitely over the top. So over the top that it went into the "So bad it's cheesy good" category. Granted, not everyone feels that way, some just outright hated it, but a few, including myself do like it.

That was what was established in the first movie, and this is the same universe. This movie doesn't continue that trend, except in small doses. In fact, it's when it DOES go over the top, that it saves itself.

Firefly's extraction of Cobra Commander? Bad ass. Over the top, ridiculous and a lot of fun. The satellite weapons platforms? Bad ass and over the top. The Stormshadow extraction? Bad ass and over the top.

And that's pretty much where it begins and ends. The rest of the film is a slightly confusing, muddled mess, honestly.

Let's start off with one piece that bothered both me and my wife.... Roadblock is Duke's best friend? No. Ripcord is his absolute best friend. He was there through it all. He was there when Rex was "killed", he was there when all the M.A.R.S. shit went down, THAT is an absolute best friend. Roadblock? Some dude he plays XBox 360 with and babysits his kids every now and then? That makes him the absolute best friend? Bullshit. I need more than that. Oh, wait, you can't provide that because you're in too much of a mad dash to distance yourselves from the first movie.

And that's what grinds my gears. The characters, as a whole, weren't terrible in the first film. Some of them worked quite well, honestly. Killing them off was pointless. In fact, they weren't even mentioned prior to the attack, like they never existed.

They excised so much of the first film's characters, locations, story to semi reboot, that they left gaping holes and universe problems that can't be fixed for me. The movie opens with them putting Duke front and center, and mentioning the capture of Cobra Commander and Destro and then that's it. Nothing about nanomites, the Baroness, nothing about The Pit, or anyone else. Just a few random holdovers from the last film, flung into another that just barely ties in.

It felt very much like watching a TV series. Follow me for a sec....

Okay, you have this universe that's already begun to be fleshed out. You have characters that make you laugh, shock you, entertain you, you have sets and special effects and all kinds of gadgets ready to go.

Ratings are going down. Audiences are dwindling. (much like the hatred for the first film, once the initial wow factor wore off) So, they reboot or redirect the path midseason, or at the start of the next season and go with it.

Season 2 starts, you're immediately met with "Who the hell is this guy?" and how he's always been there for the main character, completely ignoring the other best friend he had. (terrible idea. Really friggin' horrible idea.) Less special effects, more practical (not a bad thing, just a little jarring.) None of the first season's cast can be found outside of a handful of people, and what's left is now mixing with a new cast of characters, none of whom we know. But, we're expected to just take it as is, because it'll be awesome. "Trust us, just you wait and see!"

The storyline, just as you'd expect, is your random story of the week, but told with new characters. Where's the follow up we were promised? Where's that "Oh shit!" story line that tells it all, fills you in, and sells you on the adventure you're about to take?

That's exactly what happened in Retaliation. It was like a bad TV show. It was more realistic than the first one, I'll give it that, and people do want some semblance of realism. However, that massive scale felt in the first one, just wasn't here. I realize it was supposed to be barebones and grittier, but damn. This was as bare as you can get.

There's a dude with a metal HEAD in a prison cell. A METAL HEAD. That surely must be worth a use, right? WRONG. Let's just leave him there and do jack diddly squat with him.
They wanted to be so realistic and so far away from the first film that they went to the trouble of bringing key components back, only to leave them useless. WTF would you even do that for?!

And one would think "Bruce Willis? As a Joe? AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!" right? WRONG. His character's inclusion was pointless. His "team" was in the film a total of what...a minute? I would've thought a badass vet squad would be awesome and school the youngin's on how to do this right. *BUZZ* How wrong I was.

Yet, with all I found wrong in it, I still enjoyed it enough that I'd add it to my video collection when it hits Blu-ray.

I did like their take on Cobra Commander. I wish he had more to do in the film, other than stand there and look pretty and remind us that we're finally seeing a childhood memory come to life. I thought Firefly was excellent, though that southern accent was strangled and a bit tough to swallow in some scenes. I liked the warden in the prison, I thought he was excellent. (A bit weird to hear him without his current trademarked Kentucky backwoods twang from Justified.) He just chewed up the scenery. Loved every second of it.

The vehicle that Roadblock drove? Awesome. The H.I.S.S.? Awesome. There were elements that did work, and worked well, and when they did, they were just enough to keep me satisfied for the time being. The barely over the top moments helped the rest of the way.

I did enjoy Zartan playing Angry Birds. That was the shiznit. Heh. The entire theater laughed at that. That was a scene of over the top goofiness that should've been embraced more throughout the film. Much like it would've been in the first film.

But, for the most part, it just seemed like your run of the mill action flick, with some recognizable names attached to it. Whereas the first one was anything but. It was meant to be ridiculous, much like the cartoon it was based off of. This kinda sucked the fun out of it. At least, for me it did.

RZA? Don't even get me started. Just...don't. Ugh.

If you liked the first one, you might not like this one. If you didn't like the first one, you'll LOVE this one. I do have to recommend everyone go see it and experience it. Plus, if it makes money, we'll see a sequel. (and I have high hopes that the sequel will find the right balance between Rise Of Cobra and Retaliation)

Oh and two other things....

Colton clearly says he served WITH Lady Jaye's father. He is NOT her father.
And, I must agree with everyone else... the London destruction? Not a damned word. That wasn't merely a terrorist attack, that was devastation, the likes of we haven't seen in possibly eons.

When Pompeii was ravaged by the eruption, it was left behind, frozen in time for future generations to see. The Japanese bombings in WWII, look at Japan now. But here? Nothing, not a damn thing was left standing in London. Not even an intact, yet fallen building, no. Not one thing was left standing or complete. It was eradicated and not so much as a single word about the whole damn thing. Who the hell writes that shit?

[Q]

^ YEAH Reaper... I feelin that.

[Arcmanov]

...and yet he still wants to 'add it to his Blu-Ray collection'.  :/


It's either you like it, or you don't.
He basically lists all the reasons why he thinks it 'sucked', but then still wants to buy it?

That 'review' is about as useful as a DVD-rewinder.

[Reaper2051]

if he is a completionist why wouldnt he? I have every single retail edition of Call of Duty on PC and I have all the G.I. Joe toons from Sunbow straight to Renegades, have the Animated movie, Resolute and Rise of Cobra. I would get it also but I dont expect to watch it that often. Would rather watch Rise of Cobra again instead of Retaliation an just let it sit there an collect dust.

[Archer]

My sentiments exactly, the first was more entertaining yea liberties were taken but bleh. To each his own yes thas all.

[Q]

Indeed @ Reaper.

For example, I thought that EVERY SAW movie after the first one was utter trash but I made sure to see them all... Just for that sense of completion.

[Berzerk]

Ok now took this in. Went in with extremely low expectations and came away very very satisfied!

This was heads and tails better than that campy original. I literally bawl when I saw the Cobra Water Mocassin and the Hiss tanks... and that cobra commander outfit...winning!...and firefly was a bawse!

 (yesss I was a massive Gijoe fan)

Spoiler (hover to show)

what sealed the deal? they killed tatum!!!! 

Loved it! 8 miniplosions out of 10.

[Arcmanov]

Agreed.  NONE of that signature GI Joe stuff was in the first one...but somehow it's 'better'.

Man, allyuh GTFOH wit that, yes.




Samsung Galaxy Note 2 | Omega v17 | SwiftKey | Tapatalk 4 Beta

[Red Paradox]

IMHO I am highly critical of both films Retaliation is better. It's funny because I watched the first one a week ago again (making it the second time I watched it) and honestly it was a little tough to watch because it was a bit childish and boring, It's even worse because I watched the Blu Ray quality version and you get to see how awful the visual effects were, I mean Jeez and ages.... Retaliation was a bit darker, loaded with nice action sequences, better visuals and had better star power (ala The Rock and Bruce 'Die Hard' Willis) but it was still a little slow at some points.

Honestly I'm not gonna lie, I only watched Retaliation to see The Rock kick some candy @$$ lol