And knowing is half the battle

As a child of the 80's (actually late 70's but close enough) I was obviously a huge fan of GI Joe. The cartoons, the characters, the toys, it was all good. The plot was simple. GI Joe (America) vs the Cobra (the bad guys). That's all you needed to know. Cobra was always going to have some crazy plot involving weather dominators or red rocket burgers and the Joes were always going to be there to stop him.

Then came change. Two new characters were added: real life Sgt. Slaughter and Serpentor. I liked these two, but I missed the days when Cobra Commander was running things. This was followed by an abysmal animated movie featuring Cobra LA and Cobra Commander turning into a snake. What had happened to my Joes?



Soon GI Joe returned with new episodes by a new production company. The show was turned into a cheaply animated comedy and beyond ruined. At the same time the toyline completely ran out of gas with crappy characters like the Ice Cream Soldier.

I was done with GI Joe... or so I thought.

It was around this time that my brother Tim and I discovered GI Joe comics. This was during the gulf war and the body count was through the roof. This was definately not the cartoon show. I soon refell in love with these cool characters especially Snake Eyes. All thanks to one man Larry Hama.

And that is why I'm giving the movie a chance. Larry Hama served as a consultant on the film. He has given the movie his blessing. He wrote every issue of the GI Joe marvel comic run. Everything you love about GI Joe is because of him.

Sure people hate the accelerator suits in the movie. But there was a lot of silly sci fi going on in the old cartoon, so lets overlook that.

Check out the cast: Dennis Quaid, Ray Park, Mr. Eko, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sienna Miller, Arnold Vosloo. That's a heck of a cast. On the other hand you have Marlon Wayans... but I think the good outweighs the bad.

Now some (myself included) have complained about how Cobra Commander looks. Well apparently this is just a temporary suit and he'll have his classic duds in the next movie.

So what am I saying? Give this movie a chance. Will the movie be perfect, no. Will you have fun, probably. We could be seeing the birth of a really cool franchise here but it will never happen if no one goes and sees it. I for one would love to see the dreadknocks, Shipwreck, BATS, Serpentor, the twins, Springfield, and more. But we'll only get that if we get a sequel.