G.I. Joe: Retaliation

PLOT:
Duke (played by Channing Tatum) is now the leader of the elite team the G.I. Joes, the greatest heroes that America has to offer. But sometimes the best there is just isn't enough when the team is set-up by Cobra. Where they where once trusted and loved, the Joes are now on the run from the government that they fight for. With events leading to the destruction of the team, a new leader takes Dukes place and it's now up to Roadblock (played by Dwayne Johnson) to figure out a way to clear the names of the Joes from criminals to being once again heroes.

ACTION:
I had to put a different category in the list for this movie because after all this is a G.I. Joe movie. Based off the toys of the same name where they are the elite military force that is always fighting against Cobra with some really cool equipment and vehicles. So of course this movie is going to be just as action driven as it is character driven. Sure the characters in this movie are just as big of a factor as the action is with such names as Snake Eyes for a ninja, Roadblock for someone that's a big dude, and many others. But the action is what brings in the people to watch this movie, it was for me and my friends.

For me, the ninja fights is what I was looking forward to the most in this movie and I was only partially fulfilled. When the trailers came out for this movie (over 2 years ago), I was pretty excited to see that there was going to be this grand ninja duel on a side of a mountain with Snake Eyes. When I finally go to watch this fight scene I wondered what had happened to it. It was good, it was cool, and there was some cool action sequences going on but for a ninja fight it was just not all there. It was over too fast, there where moments that I wondered why it was supposed to be a hard fight, and when exactly did Snake Eyes need machine guns? As for the rest of the guys doing the fighting, it was what I expected it to be. Dwayne Johnson aka the Rock, does the same fighting that he does in all his movies. Though it doesn't matter that the fight scenes don't bring nothing new to the screen because it's just plain fun to watch.

ACTING:
When it comes to the acting portion of this movie it's split in half between the real story and the action actors. Even though the movie is about the G.I. Joes getting their name cleared for a crime that they didn't commit, the real acting comes from Jonathan Pryce who plays the President of the United States. His character is actually two characters, one is himself as the real President and one as the President who is really Zartan. He does a good job at being these duel personalities while being the same guy. He's by far the best actor in this movie, he's funny, he's evil, and even though you want him to lose it's hard not to like him. As for the rest of the cast, well Dwayne Johnson does his normal tough guy, take out everyone character as he beats up the bad guys and looks all tough. Though the worst of the actors is also the biggest named actor of the movie, Bruce Willis. He seems to be playing his role like he just barely wants to do this movie. Luckily though he's really not in it that much so I didn't have to worry about him being too stale with his character. And I can't say much for Ray Park consider he don't talk but he still does some amazing marital arts while looking really cool.

STORY/PROGRESSION/CINEMATOGRAPHY:
This is a sequel where it picks up after the events of the first G.I. Joe movie where Zartan has disguised himself as the President of the United States. What happened in the first movie was just a set up for what Cobra really wanted to do and that is to take over the world. In this story we get some answers that wasn't given in the first, like what happened to make Storm Shadow turn evil and what the Cobra Commander was planning. I liked this movie a lot more over the first because there is a real plot going on that seems fit for the G.I. Joe franchise. They are supposed to be this elite team of military forces that can take on anything and in the first movie it didn't seem that way. In Retaliation it was what the Joes would actually be doing, or at least in my mind.

However, some points I didn't like about this movie was how the men who was are protecting the President are wearing Cobra pins on their jackets. Now I can understand how most people wouldn't know what that symbol was but this is supposed to be the highest ranking members of the government who would know that symbol so exactly how did they get away with wearing them? I also didn't like how they had Snake Eyes used guns in his fights. He's a ninja, he don't need a gun.

I know there were some people upset over the fact that the original cast from the first movie wasn't used, except for Channing Tatum who wasn't in in for that long. When I first heard the rumors that the movie was going to head in that direction and then it was confirmed I didn't care much for it. But once I gave it some thought and then watched it I came to the conclusion that I liked it. If you know anything about the toy line you know that there are a whole lot of G.I. Joe characters in the line up so it only stands to reason that there would be different characters being used in the sequel. By having a new team, a team of characters we know from the toys, this movie actually did what a sequel is supposed to do, progress the plot. If they had stuck with the same characters and actors this movie would have most likely been the same as the first.

CGI/EFFECTS:
Ok, the CGI used in this movie was pretty impressive, especially one scene that really did look like everything was blowing up. There of course is a whole lot of big combat scenes that involve a lot of explosions, fire balls, and of course slow action walking by the characters. It's well done and entertaining but I got to say that I was most impressed with the vehicles being used. What was missing in the first movie was the look of the toys but in this one we get that look. It's not many of them but there are planes, boats, and other such vehicles that look like what was the toys. This is why I watched this movie, I wanted to see a live action movie of the toys I played with growing up and this is the one that comes the closest to that.

BLU RAY:
Man I can't tell you how awesome this movie looks on Blu Ray, ok well actually I can tell you cause that's what I'm going to do right now. This Blu Ray has such a sharp, clear, and highly detailed picture that it's simply amazing. When there are closeups of anything you can see the detail in crisp clearity. The fine weave of the mask worn by Snake Eyes, the make up that is being worn by Lady Jaye (played by Adrianne Palicki) is all seen in fine sharp, well detail. This movie looks really good, the colors are bright, the sound is clear, and it looks like what Blu Rays have been told to look like, amazing. Only problem this Blu Ray has, not enough bonus features. Sure the deleted scenes where cool but I want more than the little that's given on it.