Yo Joe!!

Warning! May contain spoilers!

(Click on the montage to go to the official movie site)

Finally! After all the disappointing purported summer blockbuster releases and the follow throughs (with the exception of Star Trek 2009 naturally) a movie adaptation which deserves two-thumbs up! G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra hit the silver screen. At least a special premier it did. I think it's due to be released on the 6th of August.

G.I. Joe is an acronym for "Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity"

The motivation for going for the movie is the nostalgia of reliving one of my favourite cartoon shows way back in the 80's. "Yo Joe!", the battle cry we are so fond of hearing and emulating. We all wanted to be Duke at one point. For me, I had always thought Snake Eyes was the coolest character in the series. I supposed it was reflective of myself way back then. I never said much...Snake Eyes didn't say anything.

For the uninitiated, G.I. Joe is fictional co-ed special joint task force comprising of the elite from all over the world, using highly classified and sophisticated, hi-tech military equipment and tactics. The man in the center seat is General Clayton 'Hawk' Albernathy (Dennis Quad). G.I. Joe does the job when every one else can't.

As General Hawk puts it,
"Technically, we don't exist. We answer to no one. And when all else fails, we don't".

I've always maintained a liking for Joe since grade school. Of course, back then, all we ever did was play soldiers with our cheap, plastic guns. But we understood the quintessential battle of good over evil as a universal acceptance.

The other side of Joe is Cobra, a highly organized criminal organisation which sole purpose is world domination. As corny as this sounds, the reminiscent theme of ages never fails to captivate me. I've always enjoyed special forces vs. criminal mind dichotomies. My favourite villain would be Destro, the Commander's 2nd in command. I won't divulge the backdrop of these characters since the movie's out. Basically, this movie paves the way for a sequel or a series of sequels, as the movie title suggests!

I did like the think the ninja characters (Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow) was incorporated seamlessly...else the characters would look corny. There is history behind these two as the movie unfolded....and then, there's the Baroness...I though her character brought back the "women are sexy in glasses" image....of course, I'm sure those in-build HUDs Incorporated lenses were hardly meant to be a fashion accessory...

Not surprisingly, CGI and special effects are the common tools for dramatic story- telling, but I still enjoyed the Joe and Cobra vehicles which is not too far off from the ones in the old cartoon series. Take the Night Raven (pictured above) for example. Wouldn't stealth aircraft aficionados think that its cool!! Almost dead ringer for the SR-71 blackbird at the heights of the Cold War.

The action, the drama and the suspense comes in less obtuse doses, unlike Transformers 2. I love a gradual build up rather than firing all and sundry at the audience. It feels a lot like the time I watched Independence Day back in 1996. There is a sense of victory and good-feel at the end of the movie. Though having the undertones of US of A propaganda, the movie does leave the audience (speaking of myself) a good 1 1/2 hour's worth of good old action-packed entertainment.

My personal rating: 8/10