Movie Review: G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA

Yes, Star Wars, Transformers, He-Man, Voltron and G.I. Joe made me the man I am today, a fanboy.

In the last 10 years, we've seen some really cool fanboy projects brought to life from a comic book page, action figure or a video game to the big screen. In the last three years alone, Transformers was brought to the big screen in a way no one would've ever imagined just a decade ago.

As a kid who grew up in the '80s, I've looked forward to seeing some - and by some I mean not all, like I don't want to see Thundarr the Barbarian on the big screen, well, maybe I would, it would depend - of my childhood cartoons translated to the big screen and G.I. Joe was definitely one of them.

Yesterday the folks over at Paramount arranged for me and my girls to watch Stephen Sommer's big screen adaptation of G.I. Joe on the Paramount lot, and boy was I excited!

Before they started shooting the film, I read three screenplays including Stuart Beattie's draft which ended up being used and his was not my favorite, at that point, I preferred Skip Woods' take on G.I. Joe that came previously. It was very Jason Bourne.

I felt that Stuart Beattie's version was too cartoony and not for the 30+ year olds who grew up with the franchise, but nonetheless, I was still very excited to see the film.

The movie starts in 1641 laying down the foundation of McCullen clan, a family that's in the weapons trade. An ancestor of Christopher Eccleston's McCullen, James McCullen, is caught selling arms to both his King and to his opponent and is shunned for life and made an example by being forced to wear a metal mask (think Man in the Iron Mask look) for the rest of his life.

Something I caught onto, which I hadn't previously, is that David Murray who was originally cast as McCullen/Destro but was unable to take the role due to some Visa issues, plays the McCullen ancestor, so he got to be a McCullen afterall.

Cut to the "not too distant future" and we meet Duke, Ripcord and the Joe team battling it out against an as-of-yet unknown force and the action ensues!

Did I like it? Yes, hell yes!

The movie is exactly what it needed to be. A non-stop fun action film for the 12-year old in all of us. The movie captured the essence of the original cartoon just as well as the first Transformers film did.

Bottom line it worked great. The cast looked great, the costumes looked good on screen, the weapons were awesome and the story moved along pretty smoothly without any major plot holes. There were enough references and cameos to keep die hard G.I. Joe fans happy. But if this film is your first encounter with the Joes, no worries, it did a great job introducing the core team to newbies.

I can use three of my daughters that came to the screening as an example. They are aged 5, 7 and 14 and have never seen a single episode of the G.I. Joe cartoon (my bad) and they were glued to the screen. They absolutely loved it. Even my 14 year-old who doesn't think anything I like is cool said, and I quote, "That was badass!"

Ray Park as Snake Eyes was my favorite part of the movie. I swear I am going to get an Arashikage tattoo on my arm, he is so awesome.

G.I. Joe is exactly what this summer needed after all of the disappointments thus far. It's easily the best action film of the year.

Some of the our readers chimed in early on regarding Marlon Wayans as Ripcord. Yes, I too cringed when that announcement was made. But guess what? He was great, his humor wasn't over the top as it usually is plus he has one of the best lines of the film involving the famous G.I. Joe kung fu grip!

The casting worked 100% including Joseph Gordon Levitt and Sienna Miller who, based on early feedback, were the characters fans were most worried about.

I am glad the filmmakers took this path over the darker version of that earlier Skip Woods draft. Even though I liked it, kids, who are the main target demographic for this film, would have not been able to grasp the story.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty elements that adults will like. The eye candy was great. For the ladies you have Channing Tatum and the rest of the boys looking like well built action figures and for us guys you've got Sienna and Rachel looking extremely hot in their tight black outfits.

So with that said, you must go see G.I. Joe. For the fanboys who have been waiting over 20 years for this film to the new recruits who've never heard of G.I. Joe, come August 7, this film delivers what every summer blockbuster should have, 110% action and 110% fun.

Now you know...and knowing...is half the battle...

Yo Joe!

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA opens in theaters August 7