GI Joe Retaliation : Review (Spoiler Free) The Good - Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson:
GI Joe Retaliation : Review (Spoiler Free) The Good - Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson: he’s a reliable film star. He’s entertaining, funny, and is a powerhouse when it comes to action films. He was really the reason I went to go see this. 'Cause he’s pretty awesome. And he did not disappoint in GI Joe Retaliation; he was the heart of the film and the much needed humourous reprieve as well. - The Action Sequences: director Jon Chu and fight coordinator Thomas DuPont did an AWESOME job with the action sequences. There’s the standard tank/heavy armour and hand-to-hand combat, but there are also some seriously badass wire-fu moments. There’s one battle done entirely on the side of a mountain with ninjas and I’ve never seen anything like it. It was the best part of the film. - Smart(ish) Plot: I actually liked the plot of film, as ridiculous and far-fetched as it was. Focused around nuclear power, it actually had some really poignant (and terrifying) ideas. - Byung-hun Lee: he played Storm Shadow and he was EXCELLENT. Like holy crap this guy can act. He was the surprising heart/soul of the film and his character ended up on a litmus-test of loyalty that was incredibly fun to watch. He’s also ridiculously fit and his action sequences were killer. I’m looking forward to seeing more from him in future projects. The Ugly - its GI Joe. Whenever someone in the film said “call in the G.I. Joes” or “we are the G.I. Joes” I snickered in my seat. Like really?! I suppose if you are a fan of the franchise, it wouldn’t bother you, but for me - someone who has never been into GI Joe, I found it a bit ridiculous - The Unbelievability Factor: connected to the above point, there was a lot in the film that pushed it out of the realm of believability. First off was their ridiculous nicknames - Firefly, Stormdancer, Snake Eyes, etc. It makes it seem like exactly what the franchise is; a throwback to the 80s. Additionally there were a lot of plot holes that had my eyebrows being raised in incredulity. -The Bechdel Test: I’m pretty sure it failed. There were two “main” female characters and on their own they were pretty good. The primary lady Joe, Jaye (played by Adrianne Palicki) clearly fell into the Smurfette Trope as she was 'just like one of the guys but with a vagina’. That said, I enjoyed her character and I thought the character was treated decently by the film (no overt-stupid sexism) and hey, my standards are low so I’ll accept it. The other female character was Jinx (played by Elodie Yung)- and I personally thought she was much more interesting than most of the characters in the film. I wanted to learn her backstory, how she ended up where she did. And she could hold her own in a mountain-side kung-fu battle of epicness. The two women did have one scene together, but I dont believe they actually spoke to each other. Overall: I liked it, even though it was ridiculous. If you enjoy action films with a light scifi twist and some humour, this is a movie for you. And as someone who is pretty alert for sexist/racist/etc crap, I found this film overall pretty non offensive. Grade: B- -- source link
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