GI-Joe (2009)

Okay before you say another word yes I payed to see this. I have a seven year old boy who seems to like action flicks, so I was destined to see it. I loved GI-Joe when I was growing up, and a lot of the time those GI-Joe's with the kung fu grip became my actors in some pretty primitive stop motion action. But that was a different Joe. The GI-JOE I remember were adventurers and protectors. There was NO Cobra to fight against. I believe only in the 80's did that come about, and then the action figures went from 12 inches tall to mini-action hero's.

No more kung fu grip or fuzzy type hair or beard. So Paramount pictures has me in their cross-hairs, and since I've got two boys it's all about the merchandising. I can only thank that my youngest isn't fazed by the JOE franchise. He'll stick to his dinosaurs thank you. But my oldest well he certainly is caught in the hype, and his favorite is of course Snake Eyes who is played by Ray Park.

So did I loath this film or did I like it? I can't say it was horrible. What I didn't like was that the movie was or is trying so hard to make sure that there is a second JOE movie in its future. That I felt a little too forced and didn't buy the plot lines as much. There are some character developments in the film, but not too much. I like what Marlon Wayans did to the character of Ripcord, and what Rachel Nichols did for the character Shana 'Scarlett' O'Hara. Sienna Miller looks fantastic, and does a pretty good job here too. I was a bit surprised at the love angle they took here between Duke and the Baroness. Guess they had to warm it up for the ladies in the audience. Duke is played by Channing Tatum and he's a bit wooden, but again he looks good. Other players which I wanted more from was from Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje who plays Heavy Duty, and Byung-hun Lee who plays Storm Shadow. It seemed that the writers could have gone into more detail about these characters and given the GI-JOE team some depth.

DEPTH! You say? Why isn't this an overgrown live action cartoon? In a way yes, but remember it's audience. My son marveled at the JOE's equipment, and his favorite was the Sigma suits, which accelerated the person using it. Listen some critics have labeled the special effects cheesy, but actually I thought they weren't too bad.

Listen I'm not saying GI-JOE is high cinema, but it is some FUN entertainment, and watching my boys watching the movie made me feel good. Yes it has gun's and it is violent, but I try to explain all of it. The movie leaves you a bit hanging, and does leave you with some questions, but I'm sure that's on purpose. Paramount is trying to build a franchise, and I see no problem with that. I just hope that they get writers who fully love the world of GI-JOE and take it to the next level. The movie shows promise for a franchise I just hope the studios don't mess it up.

If you want a good time and have nephews or sons that like action hero's I don't see how you can't pass this movie up. It's fun.