The G.I. Joes are not only fighting their mortal enemy Cobra; they are forced to contend with threats from within the government that jeopardize their very existence.
While “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” made over $300 million at the worldwide box office in 2009, it was not well received by critics or fans. Four years later, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” arrived in theaters, and while it made north of $375 million worldwide, once again, critics and fans, overall, were not happy with the film. It seems like the G.I. Joe series runs on mediocrity, even the latest iteration, “Snake Eyes,” while it has received more favorable reviews than its two predecessors, all things considered, was not well-liked by the core audience it was aimed at. Maybe at some point down the line, the producers will get their act together and put something together deserving of the fans.
“G.I. Joe: Retaliation” takes place after the events of “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” and finds Duke (Channing Tatum) and the Joes on a secret mission into North Korea to retrieve a defector. After successfully saving the apostate, the Joes are attacked by the US Military in an airstrike that appears to kill the entire team. After the smoke has settled, the only remaining Joes left standing are Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Flint (D.J. Cotrona), and Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki). They manage to sneak back into the US where they track down the original G.I. Joe, General Joseph Colton (Bruce Willis), who agrees to supply them with weapons. The Joes quickly discover that the President of the United States, (Jonathan Pryce), has been replaced by an impersonator who is actually Zartan, who answers directly to Cobra Commander and who labeled the Joes traitors and had them replaced with his own premier U.S. special forces team, secretly Cobra operatives. Roadblock, Flint, and Lady Jaye learn that Zartan, under the guise of the President, has invited the world leaders to a summit at Fort Sumter, where he plans to blackmail them into disabling their nuclear arsenal so he can take control of the world. Now it is up to the Joes to infiltrate Fort Sumter and destroy Cobra before it is too late.
While “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” is a big improvement over its predecessor, it is not by much. While the action setpieces are, at times, impressive, the story and character development, or lack thereof, are what impede the movie. Even within the confines of a fictional action film, character progression and story exposition are vital if you want your audience to connect with the characters but the producers seem to think that flash over substance will suffice, and that is their biggest mistake. Action, explosions, and lots of gunfire will only get you so far, in the end, if the characters are not relatable, and you find yourself not caring about what happens to them, then you have lost half the battle. While Channing Tatum appears in the beginning, he is killed off quickly and this was at the star’s behest. He did not like working on the first film and agreed to appear in “Retaliation” on the understanding that he would die in the first act. Dwayne Johnson takes over as the team leader and carries the movie to its predictable conclusion. Ultimately, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” adds nothing new to the G.I. Joe mythos and while the film is occasionally enjoyable, it still never manages to rise above the unremarkableness that has accompanied each big-screen adaptation.
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