Saw Retaliation tonight and was surprised at how much I liked it. I liked this waaaaaaaaaaaay more than the first one, but that isn't saying much. It still has its problems, but it's an average film unlike Rise of Cobra, which is just a bad film. I liked that the Joes were a military team this time, and not some stupid global police force wearing tacky outfits like in the last one. And mercifully, the CGI was much better this time around. Probably because they didn't have to create stupid shark submarines and things of that nature. And thank god they got rid of the stupid mouth they put on Snake Eyes' mask.
What I didn't like:
- I actually would have welcomed Duke's death in the last one, but I've warmed to Channing Tatum since then, so I would have rather had Duke stick around.
- No explanation whatsoever about what happened to the rest of the Joes from the first one besides Duke and Snake Eyes. I guess we can assume they're all dead? For the record, the only one I would have wanted to come back was Scarlett.
- "Destro, you're out of the band." Why? Did Cobra Commander consider Destro a threat? Or did he just have no use for him? Either way, I'd like to see Destro come back in the third one.
- It's never explained how Storm Shadow survived his encounter with Snake Eyes in ROC. Yeah, we get that he can use his ninja skills to stop his heart, but that doesn't explain him surviving a fall into below freezing water after getting STABBED THROUGH THE CHEST WITH A SWORD.
- They could have shown Zartan's actual face more often.
- RZA, we get it. You like Asian culture. That's cool. But your accent was ridiculous in this.
- Exactly how much time is supposed to have passed between films? You'd think that it would have been a couple of years, but in the scene where Lady Jaye is comparing the two Presidents, she says that the President's been acting differently "since August", and since Zartan assumed the identity of the President at the end of the first film, this would imply that no more than a few months to a year has passed. So you mean to tell me that Duke becomes leader of the Joes mere months after joining them? Huh?
It's still an entertaining popcorn flick, and it's rejuvenated my interest in the G.I. Joe franchise.