Ok, I saw this today at a free sneak-peak. I'd pretty much lost interest in this movie until just a couple days ago, when I'd heard they were going to show it for free, just a couple of miles from where I live.
And make of this what you will, but this was shown in a modified auditorium, and it was filled to capacity. There were several hundred people in there, of all ages. I think people will go out in droves to see this movie, just like Transformers.
I haven't read any reviews, yet. However, I did read the two AICN user reviews linked from one of these threads, and those pretty much summed up how I felt while watching this, all the way down to the strong "Star Wars" vibe near the end. I was thinking the exact same thing. I don't have a whole lot to add. It's a very fast-paced, almost nonstop action flick, with loads of cheese all throughout. It was silly and cartoony, violent, a little bit sexy, and loud.
There's a ton of CGI going on, here. Some of it doesn't look so good, but the vast majority of people who go to see this will not care.
Somebody here complained about an apparent lack of vehicles, but there's no shortage of high-tech vehicle action in this movie. The 10 year-old kid in me loved it. The accelerator suits saw a lot of action in one long sequence, and that was basically the end of it. I just kind of rolled my eyes at this. I know that the tech is part of the fun, but this felt like something entirely different.
Heavy Duty and Breaker had larger roles than I expected. They served their purpose well. Same goes for Hawk and Scarlett. Channing Tatum was horrible, though. Ripcord was even sillier than I'd expected, but hell, the whole movie is just plain silly. The audience loved him. [BLACKOUT]I wasn't expecting to see Brendan Fraser in there. Was he supposed to be Flint?[/BLACKOUT]
The Baroness was a total mess to me, but she had some genuinely cool action moments, and she looked great in costume. Destro and Zartan were too cheesy for me. As for "The Doctor," I was willing to go along for the ride, and I actually liked his voice acting. [BLACKOUT]That is, up until the very end, when he put his new mask on. Then it just became unbelievably, jaw-droppingly cheesy and ridiculous.[/BLACKOUT]
Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow's shared history was shown via several flashback scenes spread over the course of the film. This was a joke. They should've given mention to it, and just saved it for a sequel. Nice fight choreography, though. I still don't care for Snake Eyes's half-finished, molded costume and mouth. I found it ridiculous and distracting.
The kids are going to eat this up, though. As we were leaving the theater and walking thru the parking lot, all I could hear was kids from all around me raving about their favorite scenes and begging their parents for movie-related toys and merchandise.
It's not the G.I. Joe movie that I would've liked to see...as a fan from way back when the comics first came out. At any rate, it's going to be a huge hit.
Cosmic, do you live near Cherry Point, North Carolina? Cause I got back from a free sneak preview of G.I. JOE that was sold out (1,800) and it too was a modified auditorium.
oh noes!.
