G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra. 80’s HC Fan Review.

Baroness6 G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra. 80s HC Fan Review.
After 25 years and a year and a half waiting, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra has finally hit the screens. The film had a strong start as they introduced the characters whom brought the cartoons, comic books and action figures to life. Although there were changes and other alterations from the actual characters—some of these changes were improvements on the originals.  Others were destructive.

As a fan since the beginning I’ve offered up some reviews of the current and past action figures; the animated movie and even a sealed specialty—rare Headman figure. I’m sure you, the reader is curious to discover my opinion or basic review of the film. My plan is to give a general description of my feelings as the other reviews will say what they want to say.

On the characters: The basic, yet classic characters are pretty much balanced as the original concept in the 80’s. A lot of the backgrounds seem to be based on the comic books. The ones that stand out are Arnold Vosloo: Zartan—he is cold and just plain evil, his few scenes are just great! Byung-hun Lee: Storm Shadow—I was never a fan of either Snake Eyes or Storm Shadow, but I am a fan of Storm Shadow now. While everyone is probably hating on how they changed him, I am loving every second of it! Lee did a great job of being a heartless assassin and he is skilled to go up against Ray Park. The fact that his face was exposed and that he had other changes of clothes made him one of the better characters in the movie. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is just excellent! JGL is going to be one of the most memorable actors of all time—he made a great Cobra Commander. Christopher Eccleston: Destro, he is the movie in a whole, he is one of my personal favorites so I may be one-sided on choosing him over the rest, however the 9th Doctor Who, is one hell of an actor and it was great to see him starring in the depiction of my favorite child/adult-hood property.

Fans: Fans are going to be mad with how they told the story of Snake Eyes and even madder with Storm Shadow not looking like a ninja in every scene. Personally, I am pissed about what they did to Baroness. Destro and Baroness are my favorites and I was satisfied with Destro, but man oh man, my poor Baroness! When the story was a plan/action scene she was great, but when it went into her back story…NOT HAPPY!

Hardware and effects: The hardware is all the props, sets and costumes. To put it simply, the hardware was excellent, everything well made and fun. From the weapons to the outfits, all were so well done.
As for the effects: The stunts were great, however the massive amount of CG was not, I would say the CG is in the mid-range and hopefully in the next film they will get the team from the Transformers movies. A film of this magnitude should not have crappy CG.

Story: I remember when Marvel put out the comic, I remember when the cartoon first aired, I have seen Resolute and I love the animated movie. I’ve read most of the file cards over and over again and I have to say for most of the movie I was excited, on the edge of my seat and maybe shed a tear or two…Then the last 10 minutes came and destroyed all of my hopes for this being the movie that topped Batman Begins–for me. The ending was rushed and the story was trashed with using pseudo-comic book story lines that should not have been used in the first film. I left the theater feeling empty and disappointed as though for the last 10 minutes a noose was being slipped around my neck to leave me hanging for the next 2 years.

All in all, I recommend the movie to people who don’t know what G.I. Joe is, or someone who doesn’t care about the heavy changes. The comedic moments are very funny, the action is bitch’in and most of the acting is great—plus a cameo or two. For me, well, I guess I have until December to choose if I want it on DVD or not.

Grade: B+

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