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
3 comments:
I really disliked the first film because what you enjoyed about the cartoony action within the first film I was just bored by. The shoddy CGI despite such a large budget kept pulling me out of the movie. However, I'm very excited for this movie because the execution seems far greater while still keeping the tone of the first film. Rather see this than Amazing Spider-Man surprisingly. Ninja action on top of the mountain is what I'm most looking forward to also and it looks real instead of some computer creation.
Also agree that Duke will probably revealed to be captured/coma/alive all along near the end of the film. They wanted to separate this so much from the first film that its not surprising he'll have a glorified cameo.
I've seen the film at a test screening. They are definitely kicking themselves in the ass for losing Tatum. The Rock and Willis are the highlights of the film, followed by some very well done action sequences. (Some very silly looking CGI vehicles were thrown in; obviously meant to sell toys.) The rest of the actors in this film are either chewing scenery with abandon or can't act their way out of a wet paper sack. Spent the entire movie missing Tatum. Missing Channing freaking Tatum. I'll let that sink in for a minute.
The second film was ok. For killing tatum was dumb. The director of the first film should of made the second gi Joe. I hope the third film is far greater than the first two.
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