Film review: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Taking advantage of Orange Wednesdays, me and Mike decided to go for two movies today, G.I. Joe being the first in the afternoon. I didn't expect an amazing, Oscar winning movie, thinking it would reflect the age bracket it was aimed at (under 12s, hence its certificate). I wasn't surprised.

The premise is that, in the near future, Dr Who aka. Mcullen/Destro (Christopher Ecclestone) is selling nano-technological arms to NATO and himself whilst fooling the world with a fake, lookalike President in an attempt to have the world turn to the President, who will then be controlled by him; ergo taking over the world. Fortunately there is an organisation, above any military, the GI Joes, who save the day, recruiting the two lead heroes, Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans). They join the other GI Joes and eventually, after watching the Eiffel Tower collapse, save the day. However, the film ends with the rise of the Cobra organisation and an obvious lead into the next film (which is about to commence production). Thats about it. There are some backstories to the characters and some interesting relationships but they're not really interesting enough to worry about once the film is over.

The special effects are alright, very dodgy at times (like the fish scene which looks alot like a Windows '95 screensaver) but do their job and the acting isn't terrible, as it could have been. I especially enjoyed the sword fighting scenes which were well choreographed but I wasn't so sure about the over the top futuristic guns. This leads me onto mt most nostalgic part of the film, the similarities with Star Wars! The obvious one here is the Doctor (eventually Cobra Commander(see picture)) who is pretty much Darth Vader, the family rivalries, the side-by-side missions to save a friend and have a huge aerial battle (which is viewed out of a very Death Star like bridge), the emotionless drone army (very stormtrooper) and acrobatic sword fights (I wish they were some sort of futuristic light emitting sabres). The obvious Star Wars influence was nice but didn't really capture me.

It was good to see Sienna Miller as a bit of a bad guy, looking very lovely with brunette hair (better than blonde I think...) and I'm sure that lead actor, Tatum, plays upfront for Leicester City (you never see him and Matty Fryatt in the same place...?!). I wasn't exactly impressed but I didn't think this film was a failure: it was two hours of childlike escapism with some petty cool explosions and fights.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra = 6/10