G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is the standard formula summer action movie. It is mindless, cheesy, and yet still remains fun. While most expected a disaster, this is far from it. This is a film that does replace character development with nonstop action, but it’s in one the joke in that department.
The story revolves around soldiers Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) who must guard a case that contains nanomites, a very dangerous weapon that was developed by an evil weapons manufacturing company named M.A.R.S. Dealer. James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston) is the head of this organization and he has plans to sabotage this mission so the weapons would appear to be stolen. Leading this attack is the Baronness (Sienna Miller), who is also Duke’s former girlfriend. After the attack Duke and Ripcord are saved by a secret military team thats run by General Hawk (Dennis Quaid). After this rescue Hawk enlists them to be apart of team G.I. Joe which includes Scarlett (Rachel Nichols), Snake Eyes (Ray Park), Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and Breaker (Saïd Taghmaoui). Once all of them team up they must stop Destro before he causes destruction all across the world!
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The story is of course generic and a by-the-numbers plot line. It is the same old story of good versus evil. At first, the film starts off rather bland with a unintentionally hilarious flashback that is intended to set up M.A.R.S. Its unneeded scene, but that starts the film off a low note. Once Destro and Ripcord are introduced the film starts to get more involving. Their entrance includes a fantastic action set piece that is the ambush. Its a well done introduction and the first entertaining scene. The second act and the third act is mostly nonstop action, never becoming boring. The action is supplied with a decent enough story, but there are of course problems. The film uses countless flashbacks and many of them are unnecessary. The flashbacks mostly focus on many of the character’s backstories. Some worked and some didn’t. A few minor aspects of Destro’s grand schemes are also a bit hazy and not fully understandable. The same goes for Destro’s motivations, he doesn’t have any. He’s evil and thats it.
One of the stronger points of the film is some of the casting choices. Sommers has assembled a handful of talented actors who can handle the campiness without looking too bland. Tatum is decent enough as Duke, but he comes off overdramatic at times which doesn’t quite fit this film’s bubble gum tone. Unsurprisingly, he’s also not given a genuine character arc like the rest of his cast. He’s fine in the role, but he’s stuck to playing the least interesting character. Marlon Wayans also doesn’t fair too well in his role. As usual, he is used as the comic relief and most of his scenes fall flat. Wayans does handle himself during the action, but his comedic scenes feel forced and unnecessary. Many of the side characters end of stealing show since they’re played by an array of talented actors including Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Saïd Taghmaoui, and most notably Ray Park. The villain side also fairs adequately with Christopher Eccleston and Joseph-Gordon Levitt who deliver wildly fun, over-the-top performances. They all come off menacing and make for worthy opponents. All of them have to deliver a handful of cheesy and corny lines, and due to their talents they are able to handle them.
Stephen Sommers has proved himself as a filmmaker who can deliver fun action films with The Mummy, and this film lives up to that standard. One factor that Sommers gets perfectly is the action scenes. He provides a good sense of geography and every character’s whereabouts are actually known during each action sequence. All the characters are involved in the action whether it be them just on a computer or demolishing a henchman’s head. Sommers keeps the film moving at a brisk pace with hardly any dull moments. This is a non-stop action film that remains fresh for most of its running time. Unfortunately, Sommers does falter in his usual shtick of horrid CGI. Some of the special effects are impressive, but an array of effect shots seemed unfinished. From the airplanes in sunlight to a few parts of the pit, the CGI is laughably bad.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra contains nonstop action, plenty of eye candy, and a few fun characters. Many aspects that Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen got wrong G.I. Joe gets right. The action scenes are completely comprehensible, the pace runs quick, and even its faults can be laughed at.