Flickchart Preview: ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’
This sequel has been a long time coming, but a couple of funny things happened on the way to G.I. Joe: Retaliation‘s original July 2012 release date: Paramount got greedy, and decided to do a 3D post-conversion, and Channing Tatum suddenly became a bona fide star. Thus, more things were reportedly added into the film for him to do. Check out the trailer below:
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLR3HrV71yM’]
Retaliation picks up where its predecessor, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, left off. A shapeshifting Cobra impostor has replaced the President of the United States (Jonathan Pryce). Framed for crimes against their country, the G.I. Joe team has been targeted for elimination, and must find a way to stop Cobra from using a deadly doomsday device for world domination.
Just another day at the office for a movie based on a line of toys. Just like Transformers or the board game-themed Battleship (both Hasbro properties, like Joe), The Rise of Cobra made copious use of CGI and explosions, and Retaliation appears to be much of the same, so fans of these types of movies should be satisfied. However, director Jon M. Chu‘s highest-ranked film on Flickchart is Step Up 2: The Streets, and he’s responsible for directing a Justin Bieber concert movie. Perhaps potential viewers should be cautious…
Adding a measure of promise for those who weren’t fans of the original movie is the fact that there have been a few changes in the cast. Tatum, as Joe leader Duke, is really the only major character among the Joes to return for the sequel, other than Snake Eyes (Ray Park), and this time he’s teaming up with the likes of Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis… who is, of course, the original Joe that the team is named for. Cue a series of Willis wisecracks that have, unfortunately, been spoiled over too many trailers as Paramount has attempted to maintain interest in a movie that has essentially been complete for nearly a year.
Whether the studio has succeeded in maintaining that interest will be decided by the box office figures when G.I. Joe: Retaliation opens today. It’s ready to rank on Flickchart for those who catch it on opening weekend.
Predictions:
G.I. Joe: Retaliation should just manage to fend off all the Twi-hards who are turning out for The Host, based on another book by Twilight author Stephanie Meyer. (The fact that audiences are becoming weary of 3D won’t help; 3D only accounted for 30% of ticket sales for box office champ The Croods last weekend.) Of course, the majority of the audience will be composed of males under the age of 25, and when they realize that they can get just as much action – on a more interactive level – from a video game, it won’t have any staying power.