Oh well, what IS on display is pretty impressive, even if (let's be honest) it doesn't look all that different from Stephen Summer's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra ('Hey look, we blew up London this time instead of Paris!'). The two trailers are pretty identical, save for some added beats in the international trailer to emphasize the worldwide threat. The color-scheme looks slightly darker and muted, the location work feels more realistic, but it's still the kind of crazy stunt work and reckless action beats that made me rather enjoy the unfairly maligned first picture. Of course, since I liked the first film I'm glad they didn't make too much of an effort to fix what's broken. Dwayne Johnson in hard-ass mode is always a treat, Bruce Willis hasn't been in a big action film like this since 2007's Live Free Or Die Hard, and the center-piece 'ninjas attack on a mountain top' sequence looks like (in the mind of my eight-year old self) the greatest thing ever! And in a world of instant reboots, I'm glad Paramount and Chu had the guts to actually make a real sequel that acknowledged and respected the continuity of the first film (I'm glad they kept the eye-popping cliffhanger from the first film). Anyway, pundits and fanboys will likely scream about how different this film is from the first. From what we've seen I would disagree. And for that I'm a little grateful. G.I. Joe: Retaliation opens on June 29th (same day as Channing Tatum's Magic Mike, natch). As always, we'll see.
Scott Mendelson