G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Rated PG-13 / Runtime 1 hr 30 min / Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy

This is the sequel to G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra which was a bit of a disappointment to me.  Yes it had some decent action, and some good special effects.  The script was terrible though.  There were so many cheesy moments that made me want to cry they were so bad.  Marlon Wayans was grossly misused, and everyone else was just there as eye candy.  This time around we have the welcome additions of The Rock and Bruce Willis.  Cobra has taken over the White House, and Zartan is impersonating the President of the United States.  This is bad news for the good guys.

The acting in this one is vastly improved.  The Rock does his usual action hero job, and he does it well.  Bruce Willis is there to add depth to another character who otherwise would just be eye candy.  Byung-hun Lee gets a chance to shine as Storm Shadow, and he does a decent job of it.  The biggest improvements were made by killing off or not bringing back most of the forgetable cast from the last G.I. Joe movie.

Once again the script leaves something to be desired.  There are a bunch of scenes where people are asking Snake Eyes questions that aren't easy yes/no answers.  He doesn't talk.. like..  ever. Thankfully no one expects a response, and they just move on.  The scenes with RZA as the blind master were just terrible.  That being said, this movie is a vast improvement over the last one in nearly every aspect.  Even though the script isn't great, it is not so bad that you groan out loud.  There are even scenes that make some of the characters likable which is an improvement over the last one.  They changed Cobra Commander's voice to make it more menacing.  The action sequences and special effects were the highlight of the first film, and they are done even better in this one.

Overall this is the first really good action movie I have seen this year.  It's not a great movie.  There is still a lot of room for improvement, but it is still worth a watch if you like action movies.  There are some issues with the script.  At least there aren't plot holes large enough to drive a Brinks truck through like most of the other action movies that have been in theaters so far this year.