G.I. Joe

It's rare that I look forward to a new movie coming out. Often times I'll see a preview and think "I would like to see that," but it's more of an "eventually" versus an "as soon as possible" feeling. However, I grew up addicted to G.I. Joe. I had damn near every toy you could imagine. Until an age that I would rather not disclose I didn't keep many clothes in my closet, because they got in the way of the various bases I had set up around my room. So, when I saw the previews for a live-action movie, I was pretty excited. The movie looked good, but also I just wanted to make sure they didn't end up shitting all over my childhood. When they announced that the film makers were not going to pre-screen the movie for the press, I did not take that as a good sign.

Still, I was going opening day, come hell or high water. Now, I'm not such a dork that I went to a midnight show or anything (at just under 2 hours, I'm not sure that I would have stayed awake watching it until 2 am - it sucks getting older). I didn't even go to the first show of the day... I had the restraint to hold out until the 2nd showing. The cinema at Patriot Place is quickly moving up the list as my go-to theatre: 1:20 in the afternoon, the day the movie opened and there were only about 30 people in the theatre. Not sure if this speaks more to the movie or the theatre, but I'll take the space when I can get it and I had most of the row to myself. It's better than the alternative of being surrounded by people who insist on talking. I got there admittedly pretty early (and I got a free movie poster out of it - go me) and braced myself for what potentially could have been a bad experience. Happily, I was way off.

This movie was fucking fantastic. It had a ton of action, wasn't too reliant on the green-screen technology and the story moved at a pretty brisk pace. As with all of these kinds of movies (based on comic books and so the dork half of the theatre is way ahead of the other half), they had to take time to tell the back stories of some of the characters, but they worked it in pretty well, not holding the rest of the story up too much. To further keep the dorks happy they snuck in enough elements of the TV show and the comic books, with references to kung-fu grip and knowing being half the battle, to make my inner geek jump up and cheer. My only complaint is that, again, with most comic book movies, it almost felt like this movie was just a set-up for the sequel. It doesn't really end, just more like it takes a pause. You can tell the sequel is already green-lit by the fact that they had guys like Brendan Fraser in for 2 scenes - he wouldn't have agreed to such a small part unless he has a bigger role next movie.

Now, I won't be surprised when the critics kill this movie. But, I would just like to say in its defense that this isn't a movie made for critics. Of course these people won't like G.I. Joe - it's not trolling for an Oscar. But, unlike Benjamin Button, things actually happen. If you like tons of action, then my advice is that you ignore the critics and go check this movie out. Hell, I'll go with you, cause I would gladly see it again.