CobraLike most kids who grew up in the 80′ and 90’s, I love me some GI Joe. I watched the cartoon and had the toys. Secretly, I wanted to grow up to be a bad ass ninja like Snake Eyes. I even went so far as to take karate lessons. Unfortunately, I had to give up on my dream. Turns out I am just not that flexible. Anyway, when I heard the news that we were finally getting a GI Joe feature film, I literally jumped for joy. It is about time. And so far, nothing has given me reason to doubt the film. I love the casting choices, all of the character’s look good. I like what has been leaked about the plot so far, because this film has serious franchise potential! Of course, most films in this genre are made with the hopes of starting a franchise, so that may not mean much. But my inner Joe desperately wants a trilogy. I even think the title is awesome! G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. Finally, some real American heroes! So as I count down the days until August 7th, 2009, I have been scouring the web for some Joe related news. But it has been relatively quite for a while.
Well things have changed, my friends. Four awesome character posters have been released, as well as news about a teaser trailer. If you just can’t wait any longer, scroll to the bottom of the post to see the posters in all of their glory, then come on back. I can wait… Back yet? Weren’t they great? Personally, I love the casting choice of Channing Tatum as Duke. And the poster proves that I am not wrong, at least, in my eyes. I am also particularly fond of the Snake Eyes poster (It’s now the background picture on my cell phone!) But I have already professed my love for Snake Eyes, so you probably guessed that. The other two look good as well, but as they feature characters that I was never particularly fond of, I do not have much to say about them. The release of these four posters has me excited that we may soon be getting some more character posters in the coming weeks. Personally, I really want to see Destro and Cobra Commander. That would be so cool. Or maybe Brendan Fraser as Gung Ho.
Enough of the posters, lets get to that trailer. There is a story over at NuketheFridge.com about a test screening of the first teaser trailer. It is just over a minute long, and it may air during the Super Bowl. Here is what the scooper had to say. I will leave out his personal opinion, for now.
The trailer begins with some jets zooming by and dropping some bombs. Then we see Dennis Quaid as Hawk talking to members of a new elite fighting force he says has been put together to fight terrorism. We see a couple of terrorist attacks, some G.I. Joe guys dressed like Snake Eyes jumping out of a plane, and the Eiffel tower being toppled by what looks like some green ooze. Next we see some quick shots of a number of characters like Scarlett, Channing Tatum’s Duke on a motorcycle, Sienna Miller as the Baroness sliding down a staircase railing, and a quick shot of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow fighting. Finally we get another quick editing job of some action sequences that go by really too quick to make anything out, and then finally there is this a CG sequence, showing a couple of rockets that are launched at some Joe’s dressed again to look like Snake Eyes. They do this dive / twirl through mid air where they some how avoid the rockets as they swirl by. The “G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra” title appears on screen followed by “Summer 2009.”
As you know, I am a Joe-aholic. So my opinion may be slightly skewered. But that sounded good to me. Not special, I will admit that. Some pretty generic war movie stuff there. But isn’t the point of the trailer to get as many people excited about the film as possible? It seems to me like the trailer, if this description is accurate, would do exactly that. Sure the hardcore movie fanatic and Joe fans such as myself may not be too impressed. But hardcore movie fanatics are notoriously hard to please and the Joe fans will be at the theater regardless of what is shown in the trailer. So it seems like the trailer will do it’s job. And it’s not even like the trailer is devoid of exciting things. As a Joe fan, hearing about the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow fight sequence was great. That sequence alone could be good enough to get me to the movie. Granted, I have not seen the trailer. I want to express again that I have not seen the trailer! This is all opinion based on the description of the trailer. Anyway, another sequence that sounded exciting was the terrorist attack on the Eiffel Tower with the green ooze. I don’t think it could be a good war movie without some landmark destruction. All in all, it doesn’t sound spectacular, but it sounds good to me.
Now, in fairness and in an effort to prevent my Joe-aholicness from giving you a one sided story, here is the scooper’s opinion. He was not too fond of the trailer. In fact, he described it as “worse than horrible.” He said that the fight sequence between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow was “about as bad as a fight from the Double Dragon movie from the early 90’s.” And he said the CG work in the rocket/sky diving sequence was horrible and the sequence as a whole was rather lame. And I can certainly see how ANYONE could have that opinion. Like I said, the trailer certainly wouldn’t be considered a good one as presently constituted.
Well there you have it. Two completely different opinions. I ask that you read the description of the trailer and decide for yourself. But as for me, I couldn’t be more excited about this film. I eagerly await August 7th of 2009. Finally some GI Joe action! There you have it. That’s the latest about G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. So now you know. And knowledge is half the battle.
Sorry, I had to do it. GO JOE!!!