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G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra: The Comic Vine Review

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Check out what we think of the movie before you see it.

Have you seen the movie yet?  Are you planning on seeing it this weekend?  Were you a fan of the comic or cartoon?  I tried not to have high expectations and hoped it wouldn't be a complete bomb.  Here's our take on the movie. 
 

   
If you've seen it, what did you think?  What was your favorite part?  What character did you like best?  Do you think we'll see a sequel?
Filed under:
Snake-Eyes
COBRA
Rip-Cord
Hawk
Duke
Zartan
Storm Shadow
Destro
Baroness
G.I. Joe
139 Comments
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Posted by Namor1987

Storm Shadow & COBRA kicked ass  
Posted by Gambler

I hated the Accelerated Suits. Its funny, I had no problem with the underwater base, in fact that was vintage GI-Joe. But the suits were garbage (in my opinion). There's so much I wanna say but since you guys didn't spoil anything I wont either :P Baroness is straight up SEXY!! I loved her character. I thought she nailed the Baroness (minus the accent). All in all it was a good flick, but I hate how movies now a days are all set up for sequels. Storm Shadow was my fav character next to Baroness. I'd give it a 3.5 almost 4 outta 5.

Moderator
Posted by The Psyentist

Haha...Babs mentioned Namor in the G.I. Joe movie review...

Posted by Drafta

Awww.  I usually agree with Babs (minus 5 minute shirtless guy scene) so that's a little disappointing.  I'm still seeing it of course, but still. 
 
BTW, the accelerator suits were cool?  That was the big thing I was iffy about, so if those are cool, I feel less worried about it.

Posted by GERALD

what's with the music lol

Posted by mattydeNero

I'm having a real hard time trying to debate on whether to see this or not.  All I can think is "crapfest", but too many peeps I know already are like, "Dude, you almost have to see the movie so you can establish a good opinion.  I've heard thatit's better than Watchmen, which I thought weas weak.  STAR TREK: still the movie of the Summer thus far.
Posted by Shipwreck

It was far better than Wolverine, Marvel, Devil Due, and IDW Comics now have new fans lining up to buy Joe comicbooks and stuff. Though I didn't agree with certain things, it was beautiful breath of life into the something I enjoyed as a child. 

Posted by MoonKnightFan123

awww the plot was suckish? i knew it, but it prolly had good action scenes right? kinda like X-Men Origins Wolverine, good action scenes, not so good plot

Posted by Joe Venom

Hey was Zartan in the movie he was my favorite bad guy.

Posted by Gambler

Tell me the underwater battler at the end didnt remind you of Star Wars when they attacked the Death Star. Same damn battle I swear to god.....

Moderator
Edited by FoxxFireArt

Interesting tidbit. In the opening credits for the movie "Hitman". They had scenes from the Jessica Alba's show Dark Angel. I always wondered about that. They were too cheap to film their own opening? It was still a pretty cool movie.
It seems lazy though for a movie like G.I. Joe that spent so much money on special effects.
 
I would love it if they would make just a Snake Eyes movie, but you have to image that it would be hard to make a movie where the lead doesn't speak.
 
I enjoyed the review. I'm waiting to rent the DVD to see this movie. (Just to see Snake Eyes.)

Posted by Babs
@mattydee007 said:
" I'm having a real hard time trying to debate on whether to see this or not.  All I can think is "crapfest", but too many peeps I know already are like, "Dude, you almost have to see the movie so you can establish a good opinion.  I've heard thatit's better than Watchmen, which I thought weas weak.  STAR TREK: still the movie of the Summer thus far. "
It was better than Wolverine and Transformers 2. If you paid to see those two movies, then your money is worth it seeing this.
Staff
Posted by Babs
@The Psyentist said:
" Haha...Babs mentioned Namor in the G.I. Joe movie review... "
You love it.
Staff
Edited by johnjcoe9198

     To me, the animated movie that aired on Cartnoon Network a while back is SO much better than this garbage.  Its like the HUGE improvement between Mission Impossible 2 and MI3.  MI3 was so much better, it felt like a very real, grounded movie.  They should've gone with a more real-world approach, like how Marvel smoothly integrated Stark's story during the Iron Man movie.  I didn't use Nolan's Batman as an example because its to obvious a reference at this point.  Strangely, the acceleration suits are actually based on a real example, namely a powered exoskeleton being developed in Japan.  Believe it or not, Iron Man powered armor isn't that far off in the future.  But they still went way too over-the-top in the movie's example of it. 
     The reason the first Transformers movie worked is because of the physics of the robots themselves was believable.  It was violent, and the danger the Decepticons posed to the human race was hammered home to the audience.  In the sequel, I think Spielberg just handed the franchise over to Bay completely, and he just became lost in it like a kid in a toystore. 
     It seems to me like the producers and the director had a lot of enthusiasm for the project, but didn't take the subject matter very seriously at all.  It may have originated as a toyline, but IDW's run on the comics really brought home the fact that these are SOLDIERS in a WAR.  That's never a subject to be taken lightly.  In this modern era of guerilla-style terrorism, I can't think of time when soldiers fighting a terrorist organization couldn't be more poignant. Because when you get right down to it, that's exactly what COBRA is:  a TERRORIST organization.  We're living in a world where this shit happens everyday. 
     Everyone was baffled when Peter Berg signed up to direct THE KINGDOM a few years ago.  But, to everyone's surprise, he turned out an amazing movie.  That's the template to follow.  Just like Mathew Vaughn did with MI:3.  It just felt real.
Posted by Babs
@Gambler said:
" I hated the Accelerated Suits. Its funny, I had no problem with the underwater base, in fact that was vintage GI-Joe. But the suits were garbage (in my opinion). There's so much I wanna say but since you guys didn't spoil anything I wont either :P Baroness is straight up SEXY!! I loved her character. I thought she nailed the Baroness (minus the accent). All in all it was a good flick, but I hate how movies now a days are all set up for sequels. Storm Shadow was my fav character next to Baroness. I'd give it a 3.5 almost 4 outta 5. "
I had no idea the underwater base was vintage G.I. Joe. And I still loved the accelerator suits. I loved when they crashed into things and didn't get hurt.
 
Hulk smash.
Staff
Posted by mattydeNero
@Babs:
I saw Wolverine, but haven't seen TF2 for some reason(prob. because the first was so hard to capture the action on a big screen.  So much going on).  When I saw Wolverine, I thought it was entertaining as an action movie...but it's based on a comic book character with a solid backstory.  That's my fear with Yo Joe(but also with every cool comic/cartoon adaptation that comes out).  I'm not a skep, but we've got proof that dissapointments are on the regular.  Buuuuuut there's Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.  Fighting.   
 
Yeah, it's part of childhood.  All boys were Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow on the playground at one point.
Posted by Shipwreck

 @John
 
I think it that it's the Origins story to how the movie universe Starts Cobra. Dan isn't a issue here. Which would have made more sense. They didn't take complete liberty with the characters. Not the way Fox did.  and I have said it once and say it again. Read G.I Joe Rise above for the back Story.  IDW and Hasbro did  a lot of work in establishing it as a Alternate Universe in order not to tick off the fans. Everything fit with the movie. You could tell the actors cared! Not ike in Wolverine, where you can tell it was all about the pay check because none of them were convincing. I think we will see more of Terrorist organization in the next movie. I think this movie was merey to explain how Cobra Commander came to power with in the Universe.  

Posted by The 502 Kid

I thought it was a good movie Great effects, The acting was pretty good and Baroness was HOT!!! so I cant complain too much about itXD

Posted by Knightwraithe

OK...for my two cents w/o too much spoilers...
 
Overall...movie was good, it was a very good action flick...as a GI Joe move...hmmm...not bad...not great...but not bad (it's kind of like the "original" first Star Trek movie...as a sci-fi movie it's OK...as a Star Trek movie...well let's just say it could've been better).   I was generally OK with the background development/origin things...the accelerator suits were great fun...Snake Eyes was the TOTAL badass he should be...Storm Shadow was equally great...even Destro was excellent...and Baroness was DAMN sexy...(as a side note from another post here about her as Catwoman...no way...she should be Wonder Woman...VERY hot as Baroness/exactly as Baroness should be).
 
That said...action was great
 
My biggest hang ups were the FAR drift from GI Joe cannon/tradition... 
 
W/O doing real spoilers...I had some major problems with both Scarlett (regargind relationships & a little more character development for her would've been nice) and Baroness (what's up with her relationships also...that was lame).
 
Biggest problem with the movie...which all things considered isn't much...and I can not worry about spoilers here 'cause there are pics all over the internet (or you can see to toys) for those who want to look...WTF is up with the mask for Cobra Commander?!?!?!?!!!  I mean seriously...even if I wasn't a GI Joe fan I'd be looking at the mask they gave him and think "That is just F-ing stupid"...how in the WORLD did Hasbro approve THAT???  The hood would've been fine...the "traditional" silver faced helmet would've rocked...the pimpled skull faced mask that was in the move...LAME LAME LAME!!!!
 
Nonetheless...It had some problems...and wasn't NEARLY as good as Star Trek...but it was still fun to watch and I'm gonna see it again...

Posted by Gambler

The kid who played young Storm Shadow is the same kid from "Tropic Thunder" lol

Moderator
Edited by Darkchild

i really enjoyed it the ight scenes were sweet, and ALL scenes with SS and SE were badass. Specially the ending
 
Altho Destro and Cobra looked f@#king stupid

Posted by Gambler
@Darkchild said:
" i really enjoyed it the ight scenes were sweet, and ALL scenes with SS and SE were badass. Specially the ending  Altho Destro and Cobra looked f@#king stupid "
Agreed.
Moderator
Posted by E.I.S.A.M.

It seems people are pretty okay with this movie across the board. 
"Dumb, but fun." 
My problem is this.... Whenever a comic book movie comes out that takes one two many liberties, fans, including myself, trash it. But with something like GI Joe, we just shrug it off and say, "it's based on a toy that's based on a cartoon that's based on a comic." (I don't know if that was the correct order, but you get my point.) 
Why are people making an excuse for this movie to be stupid? Dumb summer film, I know, but who said summer films have to be dumb? Iron Man, the Dark Knight, Harry Potter atootp, etc. Wolverine was a dumb summer action film, but instead of people saying, "Hey, it's just a movie based on a comic book", they hated it, and made no excuses for it. Is it because it was based only on a comic book? Is the GI Joe fan base not as rabid as the comic book fan base? Or are we just not giving GI Joe enough credit? GI Joe Resolute was an animated movie that seemed to stay pretty true to GI Joe's source material, and it was written as a gag by Warren Ellis. He phoned it in as he said, and it was still good. Why can't a movie that costs millions of dollars, made by professionals do the same thing?  
I'm not trying to say I hatted the movie, I haven't even seen it yet, I'm just raising a point.
  
Babs.... "Stormshadow was a little too serious"? Well heaven forbid an actor takes his role seriously. Just kidding.... kinda....

Posted by Riezner

Channing Tatum should be locked away for his terrible acting. Best (being generous with that word for this movie) parts were Sienna Miller and Snake Eyes. That's about it. And the Black Hawk Down footage is ridiculous. I'm pretty sure it's when their in East Africa, when Duke (that was his name, right?) and Rex were together. Also, the CG was terrible. It was like I was watching Mortal Kombat the movie. Starship Troopers had better CG. The explosion stunts made it blatantly obvious that they were on wires. It's a "fun" movie and I suppose worth the $6, but overall, it was mediocre-at-best from start to finish.
 
Good seein it with you two today.

Posted by Darkchild
@Gambler said:
" @Darkchild said:
" i really enjoyed it the ight scenes were sweet, and ALL scenes with SS and SE were badass. Specially the ending  Altho Destro and Cobra looked f@#king stupid "
Agreed. "
I was going to my buddy "The movie was badass right up until this point"
Posted by reaper2923

So other people does this movie suck or is it worth six bucks

Posted by Gambler
@Darkchild said:
" @Gambler said:
" @Darkchild said:
" i really enjoyed it the ight scenes were sweet, and ALL scenes with SS and SE were badass. Specially the ending  Altho Destro and Cobra looked f@#king stupid "
Agreed. "
I was going to my buddy "The movie was badass right up until this point" "
Yeah even with the masks I really liked this movie. Sure it wasn't true to the cartoon or whatever but it was still pretty good.
Moderator
Posted by Darkchild
@Gambler said:
" @Darkchild said:
" @Gambler said:
" @Darkchild said:
" i really enjoyed it the ight scenes were sweet, and ALL scenes with SS and SE were badass. Specially the ending  Altho Destro and Cobra looked f@#king stupid "
Agreed. "
I was going to my buddy "The movie was badass right up until this point" "
Yeah even with the masks I really liked this movie. Sure it wasn't true to the cartoon or whatever but it was still pretty good. "
yeah i know the movie was alot better than i thought it aws going to be. Not a big Tatum fan and my opinoon still hasnt changed, but he did well.
 
Loved some of Ripchords lines tho
Posted by Babs
@E.I.S.A.M. said:

  
Babs.... "Stormshadow was a little too serious"? Well heaven forbid an actor takes his role seriously. Just kidding.... kinda.... "
It's possible to over-do it and look fake! 
 
@Riezner said:
 Good seein it with you two today. "

Yes it was fun. Especially the Black Hawk Down part. LOL.
Staff
Posted by Gambler
@Darkchild: I'm the opposite. Duke was okay but Ripcord was f'n annoying. Plus he aint suppose to get wit Scarlett. What the F part of the game was that? She's Snake Eyes' old lady lol.
Moderator
Posted by Darkchild
@Gambler said:
" @Darkchild: I'm the opposite. Duke was okay but Ripcord was f'n annoying. Plus he aint suppose to get wit Scarlett. What the F part of the game was that? She's Snake Eyes' old lady lol. "
YES!!
 
I know!! I dismissed it simply cause i love Marlon hes hilarious (not as funny as his brother Damon) but he cracks me up.
 
I was hoping for more Snake Eyes but i got my fill.
Posted by jefprice
@Babs: It's ok, the suits aren't as vintage, but they did have them in the early 90's. Really everything in this film was right off the Hasbro toy line. My buddy and I missed so much of the movie laughing about how much of it was directly from the toys.  
Posted by jefprice

The only issue I took with this film, was ... 
 
1 Duke was an awful actor. 
2 Snake Eyes had a weird freaking mouth  
3 CC's Mask was a bit to much like the troopers 
4 the troopers and some of the Joes were too generic  
5 Brandon Fraiser needed more screen time, seeing him as who he was made me happy.  But he should have thrown down in the invasion part 
6 Storm Shadow like Duke over played everything 
 
7, we may not get a 2nd, and it really deserves it. 

Posted by Jotham

I haven't seen it yet. I wasn't planning on seeing it since all signs indicated it was going to be terrible and I was a huge fan of the comics. This review gave me a little more hope, though. I can take it being somewhat bad, just not extremely bad.

Posted by Chocolate Lantern

I knew this movie would suck. I'm sure it was entertaining (just like Transformers 2) but suck at the same time

Posted by inferiorego

Review of movie: 5
Music playing during the review: 5
Cute doggie under the desk: 5
This move sounds like a 1, I can't wait to see it and giggle.

Staff
Posted by Selty

PUPPY!!!! 
 
I love the fact Babs mentions Namor. HAHA.

Posted by FoxxFireArt
@Selty: 
I like the dog too. I'm quite the dog lover. Big dogs are the best.
 
German Shepherd is my all time favorite breed.
Posted by E.I.S.A.M.
@Babs: @Babs said:
" @E.I.S.A.M. said:

  
Babs.... "Stormshadow was a little too serious"? Well heaven forbid an actor takes his role seriously. Just kidding.... kinda.... "
It's possible to over-do it and look fake!
That's true, plus, I haven't seen it yet, so I don't know....
Posted by Kurrent

I loved the movie

Posted by jefprice
@Kurrent said:
" I loved the movie "
Me too man
Posted by Bruce Vain

I loved the sh#$ out of this movie. I didn't think I would but watching it felt like I was watching the cartoon again. Made me feel like a kid again wearing my Batman pj's like in the old days . LOL
 
POSSIBLE SPOILERS
 I thought Zartan and Cobra Commander were great. I loved how Vosloo added his own thing with Zartan whistling For He's A Jolly Good Fellow. Joesph did a phenomenal job as Doctor aka C.Commander. Was happy they showed Dr.Minderbender in it and how he taught Commander how to use the nanobytes. Hopefully, Dr. Mindbender will return for the sequel.  Though , I didn't like how Scarlett was falling for Ripcord. But I think they did that so they can have a love triangle between her,Snake-Eyes and Ripcord. Cause you do see Scarlett holding Snake-Eyes at times when they're being debriefed. I thought Tatum was surprisingly good as Duke, I thought I was gonna dislike him. But that wasn't the case at all and acted the leader that Duke is. I wasn't crazy about the idea of how Baroness became good and was really being mind - controlled. Though I do recall a G.I. Joe issue where Dr.Mindbender were doing mind control experiments on Baroness and S.Shadow.So I don't really have a grudge over that concept. I loved the whole underground facilites and lair it reminded me of the old James Bond films. I thought those Neo-Vipers were badass and were like unstoppable drones, so with that in mind I can't wait to see the B.A.T.S. I liked the way they did the flashbacks that way we didn't have to spend soooo much time on everyone's origin and we can just jump right in the action. I don't think Storm Shadow is dead I think he'll back, honestly I HOPE he'll back. LOL. Too bad Covergirl was killed by Zartan, even though her role was small. But it's always nice to see a pretty face. With Snake Eyes taking a vow of silence I was ok with but I would much rather they did it like it was in G.I, Resolute. Where he was shot in the throat by Zartan, but I'm still cool with the vow of silence deal. Nice touch btw where you barely see Snake-Eye's eyes when he sticks Storm Shadow with his blades. The only I was upset with was Cobra Commander BEING Cobra Commander at the end the same with Destro. But I like how they set it up for a sequel where they have Zartan as a sleeper cell agent with him being the president.  So in the next sequel definitely need to bring in Firefly,Major Bludd and the twins Tomax and Xamot preferly played by those Matrix Twins. For the G.I.Joe I would like to see Wild Bill,Beachhead,Flint, Lady Jaye,Gung-Ho and Shipwreck. Bottomline I give this movie 3 1/2 stars out of 4. Definitely waaaaay better than Transformers 2 and Wolverine. Certainly the best summer movie for me and most likely would see it again.
Posted by Shatterstar

Can't bring myself to pay to see it. 

Moderator
Posted by ComicCrazy

I just finished watching this movie and honestly I thought it was pretty good,but then again i never really watched the show or read the comics but duke,ripcord, and snake eyes were the best and baroness was pretty good as well.So I don't really know why people give this bad reviews because the story was fairly good and the characters were well done so i thought it was good .
Posted by Jamiracles

I'm pretty sure the problem with the movie was the acting lol. And this is just from what i've seen of the trailer. I really do want to like this movie though :(

Posted by Selty
@FoxxFireArt said:
" @Selty:  I like the dog too. I'm quite the dog lover. Big dogs are the best. German Shepherd is my all time favorite breed. "
Irish Wolfhound for me :D 
 
That dog is so cute, though!
Posted by FoxxFireArt
@Selty: 
Those are those giant dogs that are so huge they are cute. They are so big it's almost  
Hound of the Baskervilles big.
 
German Shepherd Puppy
For me, nothing will ever beat German Shepherd puppies. Especially, when they get to that mid level between newborns and adults.
Posted by MysterioMaximus

I think I'm going to go see it tonight, but I'm still iffy. I'm not a huge Joe fan, but I do love Cobra. I'm always a bad guy person. Hah. I've always loved Destro and Cobra Commander. I'm very curious about how they're going to give Destro his metal head. I know Zartan is so different and that bothers me some... 
 
Namor would totally make this movie so much better. I so don't have to see it to know that.
Posted by dreadmaster

The parts with Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes were awesome, except for the guy next to me in the movie theater who had to say something each time Snake Eyes did something >_<' 
 
The ending was badass though, i'm going to be whistling for a long while now lol

Edited by CrimsonComedian

I really don't wanna waste my money on this film... Why can't they just make an action movie, where they don't over do it with effects and CGI? Transformers 1&2 worked really well, along with Iron Man. I think they're the only action type movies that have worked out in a LONG time.

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