G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Blu-ray Movie Review

For it's a jolly good Blu-ray...

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 2, 2009

When all else fails, we don't.

Save for the names of the characters and the title of the movie, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, or GINO ("G.I. Joe In Name Only"), barely resembles the Saturday morning cartoon millions of red-blooded American boys and girls grew up with in the 1980s. In fact, the film is barely distinguishable from most any other big-budget, moderately kid-friendly, summer blockbuster action fare. This is the absolute ultimate in mindless entertainment, and while it may have hardcore G.I. Joe fans screaming about ruined childhoods and what not, the film works well enough when taken at face value. It's loud, fast, violent (but not too bloody), and packed with the latest in make-believe special effects that create new technologies, weapons, and underwater cities in the digital realm that allow practically seamless interaction with the film's human characters. While the action is repetitive but a lot of fun, the film does have its flaws, namely a weak cast, poorly developed characters, and a sluggish pace. In the end, though, it delivers about what one would expect of a re-imagining of a fan favorite in 2009: a passably entertaining but somewhat disappointing two-hour thrill ride.

It just wouldn't be G.I. Joe without explosions and...accelerator suits?

In the not-too-distant future, James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston) has created a weapon of enormous power. Based on nano-technology, the weapon is capable of laying waste to everything in its path until a "kill switch" is activated, stopping the destruction immediately. When N.A.T.O. purchases his weapons, the shipment is almost lost while in the protective custody of U.S. soldiers Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) in an attempted hijacking led by the Baroness (Sienna Miller). The shipment is saved at the last moment by a foursome of elite Special Forces soldiers -- Scarlett (Rachel Nichols), Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Breaker (Saïd Taghmaoui), and Snake Eyes (Ray Park) -- hailing from a secret organization called "G.I. Joe." Duke and Ripcord, having first-hand knowledge of the weapon, the enemy, and G.I. Joe itself, request entry into the elite organization and after passing every test with flying colors, they are made a part of the team. No sooner are they greeted into the fraternity are the weapons stolen by the Baroness and Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee), leading the Joes on a worldwide chase to recover them before it's too late. Meanwhile, a man known only as "The Doctor" (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), is aiding McCullen with his work in nanotechnologies and slowly creating an army of super soldiers -- or "Neo-Vipers" -- that feel no pain and follow any command without regard to their physical well-being, a potent combination that, combined with the stolen weapons, spell certain doom for a world unprepared for the rise of Cobra.

Director Stephen Sommers' (The Mummy) G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is an updating of an American classic for a new millennium, and the results are decidedly mixed. Gone is the original toy line and cartoon's most distinguishable feature, the differentiation between characters. While the Cobra characters in the film are either easily recognizable or, in the case of two, recognizable by film's end, the heroes seem completely generic and barely distinguishable one from another. It's not that viewers won't be able to identify Duke, Ripcord, Heavy Duty, Scarlett, Hawk, Breaker, or Snake Eyes at a glance, but none of them really do anything that differentiates them from any other collection of Action movie good guys. They talk a good game, know their equipment inside and out, and are skilled fighters all, but the movie doesn't do anything with them that makes them better choices than any other collection of figures from the G.I. Joe archives -- say Lt. Falcon, Lady Jaye, Gung-Ho, Crazylegs, Mainframe, or any of a dozen other characters -- available for portrayal. No longer a "real American hero" but instead a "real international coalition hero," the characters' nationalities or accents are neither a help nor a hindrance to the picture; like the characters themselves, it just doesn't matter who they are or what they say as long as they look good during the movie.

Several other weak aspects include a generic script, mediocre performances, and a runtime that's a good 10-20 minutes too long. The story of the creation of a secretive evil organization, its elite super-soldiers, and the requisite doomsday scenario weapon seems rather cartoonish, but one must give it credit for being something that could very well likely exist in the realm of the Saturday morning cartoon on which the film is based. Perhaps the story would have worked better in that regard had the film been treated a bit more like the cartoon itself, but here, it simply plods on with a predictability and general lack of urgency and enthusiasm that drags the film down more often than it elevates it to the level of respectability. As it is, the plot is no different than any other garden-variety action movie. In fact, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra recalls the abysmal Street Fighter in several areas of its story, but thankfully this is a far superior picture. The acting throughout is hit-or-miss; it should come as no surprise that the Cobra characters are played with more vitality, particularly by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Christopher Eccleston, thanks in large part to enjoying far better-developed characters. As mentioned earlier, the Joes are but a shell of what they were in the cartoon, and the performances suffer as a result of identity crises that plague everyone but the mute Snake Eyes. Channing Tatum is particularly dreadful as Duke; he delivers his lines with a listlessness, line-by-line reading that lacks both purpose and heart, even in the more crucial and, for his character, personal moments in the film. Finally, the film's reliance on extensive filmed backstory only slows the movie down. The Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow subplot in particular seems redundant, as if the movie needed reason beyond them being two skilled swordsmen on either side of the battle lines to pit them one against another. The other major collection of flashback sequences plays pivotal to the plot and comes as something of a surprise, and if nothing else it will be interesting to see what the sequel does with the two characters that are the subject of a peculiar connection.

Still, there are plenty of things to like about G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Unlike another major summer blockbuster -- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen -- G.I. Joe's comic relief is limited, painless, and halfway funny. Marlon Wayans is the film's biggest positive surprise, handling his role with just the right mixture of seriousness and goofiness, playing the part straight rather than over-the-top in either direction as either a stalwart and unstoppable fighting machine or as an annoying sidekick sort of throwaway character. The film also incorporates some nice little touches from the cartoon series, but again updates them for a not-too-distant future setting and for 2009 movie-going audiences. For instance, Scarlett is seen carrying her character's traditional crossbow weapon, though this one features some snazzy smart darts that can home in on a particular target even when fired from cover and in a direction opposite the enemy. On a more sweeping scale, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is an unmistakably slick production. The movie looks great; the action is well-staged, intense, and exciting; and the plethora of special effects may not be as seamless as those seen in either of the Transformers movies or the summer's best movie, Star Trek, but they're certainly spellbinding in most every scene.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra storms onto Blu-ray with a strong 1080p. 2.39:1-framed transfer. It's usually easy to review a disc like this: summer blockbuster, Paramount new release, and high-octane Action and special effects extravaganza usually adds up to a stellar visual presentation, and that formula holds true for G.I. Joe. About the only complaint is that a few of the effects shots look rather fake, particularly under the 1080p spotlight, but considering Director Stephen Sommers acknowledges as much in the commentary, it's hardly a concern. The image also goes slightly soft in a few places, but again, such is a minor complaint in the midst of an otherwise stellar presentation. The film's first act is rather dark in its major sequences, but detail resolution, color, and black levels all hold up remarkably well anyway. Blacks are excellent throughout, delivering good, deep shadows that don't destroy background detail. However, it's in the film's brighter, daytime scenes that the transfer shines. A chase through the streets of Paris in chapter 11 appears practically three-dimensional with breathtaking levels of fine detail on bricked city streets, cars (particularly those suffering heavy damage), and shattered glass. Color reproduction excels throughout, again in the brighter scenes in particular where every shade pops off the screen. Even Snake Eyes' and Baroness' black uniforms and Storm Shadow's white gi are nicely reproduced. Also featuring spot-on flesh tones and a natural layer of film grain, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra makes for a satisfying and film-like 1080p Blu-ray transfer.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra explodes onto Blu-ray with a dazzling DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. As expected, the track delivers a full surround-sound extravaganza that makes excellent use of each speaker in the configuration, with special mention going to the hard work of the subwoofer in every action scene. The film's musical presentation is flawless, with crisp notes and a solid low end in every instance. Of course, G.I. Joe isn't about music; it's about hard-hitting sound effects, gunfire, explosions, and prodigious amounts of bass, and that's exactly what this track delivers. Such sound effects are consistently scattered -- but still precisely placed -- all around the listening area, creating in each action scene a breathtaking sonic assault that places the listener next to every explosion and in the midst of every firefight. Gunfire in particular is prodigious; shots explode from every inch of the soundstage and the devastating results as bullets impact their targets engenders consistently punishing blows from the subwoofer. The finest shootout, at least form a purely sonic perspective, comes during a flashback scene that takes the audience to an Eastern Africa military engagement found in chapter nine. Foregoing the energy weapons that populate other action scenes for purely conventional gunfire, the scene delivers heavy machine gun fire spraying through the living room while more distant shots work in conjunction with the up-close running gun battle to create a seamless yet frighteningly realistic atmosphere. A missile launch in chapter 15 is perhaps the track's most powerful moment; it features a booming, all-encompassing explosion of power that pushes the subwoofer to its limits and is sure to bring a smile to home theater aficionados everywhere. Rounded out by generally clear dialogue reproduction that's only once or twice lost under sound effects, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra represents another fantastic soundtrack from Paramount.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra features an array of extras spread across two discs. Disc one features only a commentary track with Director Stephen Sommers and Producer/Editor Bob Ducsay. They deliver a good but somewhat unremarkable commentary that delves into the frenetic pace of the production and the writing thanks to the impending writers strike, the cast, shooting locations, the work of creating a big-budget Action movie, the extensive use of visual effects and the many fine details therein, Snake Eyes' outfit, their influences, working with Hasbro, and much more. Disc two is a DVD that features The Big Bang Theory: The Making of 'G.I. Joe' (480p, 29:34), an excellent piece that looks at how the early 1980s-era of G.I. Joe influenced the film and moves on to examine the massive endeavor that was the creation of a live-action G.I. Joe film. The piece details the challenge of pleasing both hardcore fans and newcomers alike, the rapid pace of the shoot, the unique costumes, set design, crafting the special effects, the importance of Snake Eyes' character, and more. This is a rapid-fire piece that moves from one topic to the next in quick succession, but it does convey plenty of fascinating material, making it well worth watching. Next-Gen Action: The Amazing Visual FX and Design of 'G.I. Joe' (480p, 21:08) takes an even more in-depth look at the creation of the film's numerous effects shots that bring the movie to life. This disc also contains a digital copy of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Sampled on a second generation iPod touch, the soundtrack is surprisingly full and engaging, with excellent clarity and directionality across the two channels. The video quality is average, with solid colors, good depth, and strong detail, but it does suffer from the expected blocking throughout.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra accomplishes what it sets out to do, namely rekindle a franchise, set up the obligatory sequel, and showcase plenty of good versus bad mayhem created primarily in the digital realm. A summer blockbuster Action picture in every sense of the term, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is loud, action-packed, and for the most part, fun. Though it has several glaring flaws, none are fatal to the film, and for those that can put aside any creative differences regarding the presentation of the characters, many viewers should enjoy G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra well enough. As expected, Paramount's Blu-ray release is fantastic. Featuring breathtaking video and audio presentations but lacking a more extensive supplemental section, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra comes recommended to fans, Blu-ray completists, and home theater aficionados looking for another reference-quality technical presentation.