G.I. Joe: Retaliation is an action filled thrill ride from beginning to end and does the franchise proud.

Seems a little early in the year to talk about huge blockbusters but even though we are barely into April we get a film that could easily run with the big boys of summer. G.I. Joe: Retaliation is an action filled thrill ride from beginning to end and does the franchise proud. Normally there would be excuses made for plot holes, script issues and over acting. But not this time around. Every aspect of this film can stand with its head held high.

When the Joe's are ambushed on a routine mission they have to once again face their enemy Cobra as well as find out who is pulling puppet strings in their own government. If they do not succeed it could be a nuclear holocaust like no other. This one has many of the familiar characters and even if you aren't up to speed on who is who you can still enjoy the ride along with the pros. Die-hard fans have even more reason to celebrate as the movie gives them a nice dose of G.I Joe action.

The cast was engaged and treated the script with respect. Dwayne Johnson (Roadblock) especially has a lot to do in this film and balances military with humility and humor. Sure there a few too many testosterone oo-rah moments but the film is called G.I. Joe so it is expected. But it also over powers that with comic styled characters so that you feel you are watching a superhero film more than an army flick. Bruce Willis may be getting old but he still has that steely gaze that helped propel his role. At the same time he acted his age and didn't try to convince us he can do the same moves as the youngsters. This made it real and helped the sense of believability.

Like your adventure wall to wall? This one has it. The choreographed fight scenes were as good as any Ii have seen. The mix of armory, martial arts and sword play gives something for everyone. Normally 3D is horrible in a non-animated film but not here. It was crisp and added depth. The on location shots were stunningly vast and awe inspiring. These are words rarely associated with films of this genre and especially in this series; so kudos to the movie makers.

G.I. Joe is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of combat violence and martial arts action throughout, and for brief sensuality and language. This is mainly due to action violence. There is a lot of gun play, sword fighting, and hand to hand combat that might be a little too realistic for your younger viewers. The language is not as big an issue with only a few mild expletives popping up from time to time. This film really does fire on all cylinders and even with all the rumors of rewrites, filming issues, and cast problems it manages to succeed greatly. You can’t rate this movie on a normal scale because it is totally intended for the action, superhero, fan boys out there. For the genre I give it a solid 4 out of 5 ninja poses. A nice addition to the action adventure family.

Matt Mungle

Review copyright 2013 Mungleshow Productions. Used by Permission.

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