With the incredible success of the first live action Transformers movie it was inevitable that other properties of the 1980s would be mined for the live action treatment. The most obvious choice was G.I. Joe -- not only is it a title with a profile to match Transformers, but it is also another Hasbro property; meaning the path was already open between Paramount (the studio behind Transformers) and the toymaker. Now here we are, the arrival of the first of another potential Hasbro-generated movie franchise. I wonder what could be next? We have already had rumors of Monopoly, but how about My Little Pony? You never know.
When I first saw the trailer for this I was positive it was going to be terrible. I mean, they did not have a great director at the helm, the casting seemed a little odd, the costumes are quite different from the originals, and the trailer looked like a watered down combination of Transformers and Iron Man. On top of that, the trailer featured some wonderful dialogue that surely revealed some fascinating characters (read that bit with a good dose of sarcasm). So, off I went completely expecting a terrible movie, I had no choice based on what I had seen.
Here I am, suffering from the after-effects of the experience and prepared to eat my words. In a word, this movie is fun. To add a few more words, this movie does not have a brain in its head. It has a shallow story, even shallower characters, and is just so goofy it cannot be denied. This movie gets a lot of things right that Transformers failed to even fathom.
This movie did something that I had not even considered. It seems that Stephen Sommers and the writing team embraced the inherent corniness of the original series and made sure that the film had a healthy dose of it. This is in stark contrast to the Transformers films, which waver between stupid slapstick and an unfounded air of self-importance. Everyone needs to pay attention — if you want to make a goofy, fun action picture, this is a good way to do it.
The story is a simple one. A Scottish weapons manufacture, McCullen (Christopher Eccleston), has developed nanite technology and has sold the weaponized version to NATO. What follows is a back and forth battle over control of said weapons, told with the backdrop of a couple of new Joes being added to the fold, as well as the emergence of Cobra (as per the title). If you want anything in depth, I suggest you write some fan fiction and fill in the blanks.
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