G.I Joe: The Rise Of Cobra review

Release - 2009
Country - USA
Rating - M
Runtime - 118
Director - Stephen Sommers
Cast - Channing Tatum, Ray Park, Dennis Quaid, Christopher Eccelston, Sienna Miller, Marlon Wayans


It all started in 1964 with the toy company Hasbro, after seeing the popularity of the Barbie range they decided to make a military figure for the boys. The popularity of this spawned a cartoon in the 85's, then a movie in '87. Thirty two years on we see the live action release, G.I.JOE: Rise of the Cobra.
If you're a fan of action movies, you're going to love this. From the very beginning, to the end credits there is very little that isn't exploding. Complete with ninjas, submarines, jets, car chases and a myriad of flashbacks, this movie still fails to break any new ground.

G.I.JOE is a secret international military organisation, with the task of protecting the world from terrorism. When all else fails, they don't. An evil organisation rises from within America led by a Scottish arms dealer, James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston), who has created a new weapon capable of destroying entire cities. He plans on using this weapon to essentially bring about world peace by attacking major cities in China, America and Russia.

New to the Joes, ex-military Duke (Channing Tatum), and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are part of a group tasked with taking down this menace.

The story follows a pretty predictable path, the good guys gets the girls, the ninja gets revenge, the bad guys are locked away and we fade to black for credits and the inevitable sequel. This movie is plagued by inconsistencies, and jokes that don't make you laugh. The scoring and soundtrack for this movie aren't terribly noticible and the special effects, though impressive in parts, fail in others. All these problems still don't stop the film from being somewhat enjoyable though. If you're tired of thinking and just want to switch off and watch stuff blow up, i can recommend this, however. If you don't like action, stay away from this one, because it offers little else.

5/10


-Morgan Gilmour