I was pleased to find that G.I. Joe Retaliation contained an entertaining story line, exciting action scenes, and superhero-like characters. Oh, and the adrenaline-junkie, testosterone action sequences were de rigeur for this movie sequel.
The G.I. Joes start the current movie in North Korea where they infiltrate a high-security prison to nab a defector. That's the end of that story line and the defector has no bearing on the rest of the story.
Next the Joes are sent into Pakistan to recover nuclear bombs from a large facility. Much gunplay ensues. As they wrap up their mission, choppers come from out of the night and massacre all the G.I. Joes (except four who jumped into a well to hide). When those four emerge from the well, Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson) becomes the leader of their ragtag group. They suspect they have been set up by their own government.
After a long, hot hike across the desert (which thankfully the movie doesn't drag out), the remaining Joes find an airport and fly back to the U.S. With the help of sympathizers and their retired general, General Joe Colton (who started the G.I. Joes), they figure out the president has been replaced by an evil, look-alike imposter.
General Colton outfits the remaining G.I. Joes with all the weapons they could possibly want. In fact, the scene is quite funny. The general has guns in hidden compartments all over his house: cupboards, drawers, under the stove cooktop, and in the walls.
The COBRA organization (bad guys) want world domination and power a la the bad guys in James Bond movies. There's satellites, bombs, and a nasty demonstration of what COBRA is capable of.
A particularly good action sequence takes place in Japan when two G.I. Joes go to a ninja training facility to kidnap Storm Chaser and take him back to the United States. The action takes place on vertical rock cliff faces with the ninjas ziplining from cliff to cliff, and fighting as they "walk" and swing sideways across the cliff faces. Pretty exciting stuff. I was riveted watching the stunt work.
If you've watched any superhero movies, you can easily figure out the end of the movie. For me, the movie provided entertainment and air conditioning. Sure it was formulaic, but at least I knew what to expect. My expectations were not sky high.
Welcome to Linda of Linda's Lens, our newest blog follower. Linda is an Oregonian like us. She enjoys photography, camping, skiing, running and hiking.
