Baroness/Duke/ Commander connection

[Matt.S99]

Uh, did I say that was the only way??
It is ONE way(though I dont care for the brother and sister route), but not the only way.

So in the future, read the comment you are responding to before you go and shoot off your mouth.

 

[DACrowe]

That's sort of ******** and it shows that you clearly know nothing about these characters if the only way to create "depth" is by making Baroness' Duke's lover and Cobra Commander her kid brother.

Perhaps but the only dramatic weight (which was very light) that the movie had was from Baroness and Duke once being lovers and why did she go "to the darkside" and then is she going to help Duke. Cliche? Sure. But it was the only character underpinning to the whole movie. Also, Tatum is terrible, but Miller was at least to have some form of emotion. Which is more than Sommers' last two movies.

 

[TheVileOne]

Perhaps but the only dramatic weight (which was very light) that the movie had was from Baroness and Duke once being lovers and why did she go "to the darkside" and then is she going to help Duke. Cliche? Sure. But it was the only character underpinning to the whole movie. Also, Tatum is terrible, but Miller was at least to have some form of emotion. Which is more than Sommers' last two movies.

Where was all this fantastic dramatic weight?

 

[Matt.S99]

It just gives the movie more of a story. I guess you can say it makes you feel more for the character of Duke.

Is it the best storyline? No, and it is pretty cliche, but I guess it's better than no backstory.

 

[TheVileOne]

Here is your problem. Your faulty logic assumes that without this element there is no story. While the 25 plus years of history begs to differ.

 

[Matt.S99]

Ok, wrong choice of words there. what I was trying to say is that it gives more of a connection and it gives a little backstory to these three characters. I think it works better interms of film. It has a little bit of a connection between characters. And you can even say it gives Duke a little dilemma since he is fighting against his lover.

 

[TheVileOne]

Not really since she's been brainwashed and is doing it against her will.

 

[Matt.S99]

Well, before that was brought up of course. It did feel like the whole story went out the window when we find that out.
But maybe something will happen in th next movie...

 

[DACrowe]

Where was all this fantastic dramatic weight?

Did I say fantastic? I called it cliché and said Tatum couldn't act. Hardly "fantastic" praise.

I simply said it is the only character or dramatic underpinning to the explosions (beyond, "We need to save Washington guys!"). I understand there is more there in the source material, but I don't know it and judging from Sommers' track record with Mummy 2 and Van Helsing, this cliche writing was still a step up to no character development at all.

Her being bad after disappearing from Duke 4 years ago and the question of what happened to her and why did she become a villain and whether she still loved Duke, while weak and cartoonish, gave the movie some character interaction beyond banal "We need to do this because of [insert McGuffin here] so mount up ladies!"

Yeah, she may not be good in the cartoon or whatever but her conflict and turmoil made her the most interesting character on screen and made Rex/Commander/Doctor/whoever the **** he was more sinister. It gave some dramatic reversal in the third act and put more at stake at the end (revenge, redemption, etc.) than just good guys blowing up bad guys--which is all the story is without this subplot (not counting the ninjas).

Should Sommers have gone more to the source? Sure. Do most fans want that? I think most fans would have been happy had she stayed evil and it played out the same with no flashbacks for them. I think it would have just made the movie duller.

That is all I am saying. For this B-movie which is entertaining mediocrity, it was one aspect that actually worked. Source material or not.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I'm like you DA Crowe I have no idea of the source material, but it was one of the most interesting aspects of the story, and i wouldnt be so sure that Baroness is a good guy yet, she still seemed dodgy at the end.

 

[Timstuff]

So, these changes didn't bother me. I honestly was fine with Duke and Baroness teaming up at the end. It was entertaining in a cheesy kind of way and fun. Her being a femme fatale is fine, but it was an okay twist I thought. I would have loved for Sommers to do his Bond movie wink and nod further and have Duke shack up with Baroness in the mini-sub after the end a la The Spy Who Loved Me (complete with Hawk and co. stumbling in on them).. But I love Bond movies, so that's me.

That would have actually been pretty cool, but I imagine the kid-friendly nature of the movie would have been a hinderance to it. One thing I appreciated about GI Joe is that unlike Transformers 2, it was aware that there were a lot of kids watching. I suppose it would have been possible to imply what was going on while keeping it over the kids' heads though.

 

[DACrowe]

Kids go to Bond movies too. And TSWLM is considered mild compared to modern ones as well.

 

[javi1024]

Kids go to Bond movies too. And TSWLM is considered mild compared to modern ones as well.

well back in 1975 im sure people would have considered Spy Who Loved Me inappropriate for children- it was PG before there ever was a PG-13 rating. pretty much EVERY movie from back then is considered mild when compared to what film and tv are doing today (look at CSI, Law and Order, and pretty much every original series of FX).

 

[DACrowe]

True, but it's considered mild today and Bond gets with what, 4 women in that movie? And the new Daniel Craig movies while there is less sex it is far more frank about it and they are WAY MORE violent than the Moore films or even the Brosnan films (which were very recent). I think they could have gotten away with it in GI Joe which already featured countless people dying rather graphic (for a kids movie) deaths, like a guy getting impaled by a lifter among others.

I don't think the movie needed it, but since the movie was pretty much a cartoon sold on CGI and sex, why not? Oh well.