Happy Monday, and we’re going to brighten your Monday lunch with an invasion of a mute ninja commando celebrating reason #11 why G.I. Joe: Retaliation will be great! Twitziller brings the lumber this time, going right to the meat of the G.I. Joe mythology.
#11:
As much as G.I. Joe fans are probably sick of the Snake Eyes infusion, he is a central part of the G.I. Joe mythology, like it or not. If you enjoy G.I. Joe, you will be inundated with Snake Eyes and those folks associated with Snake Eyes. Certainly he played a big role in the Rise of Cobra, and had some very cool scenes as well. I still geek out hard when he jumps on the roof of the vehicle in the Paris Pursuit chase scene… I mean, seriously, who doesn’t love this:
Still, as cool as that sequence was, the whole cliffside battle sequence looks like it could redefine the character. His uniform is 100% better than the first film, and the presence of the Blind Master, Jinx, and Storm Shadow only proves that this character gets some serious focus this time around. As the most popular G.I. Joe character, it only makes sense.
Twelve days left! Twelve very long days as we approach the finish line. We blast into the dirty dozen in violent, explosive fashion thanks to Twitziller who provides this very compelling reason to catch G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
#12:
First Paris, and now London… by the time G.I. Joe 3 is done, all of Europe will be a crater!
In all seriousness, I found this to be a pretty bold and dramatic move on the part of the film makers, who essentially turn London into a parking lot as a show of Cobra force. Slamming a tungsteon rod deep into the heart of Britain, Cobra demonstrates their ruthlessness and their willingness to push the envelope. I think a certain amount of destruction is expected in these big blockbuster films, but I found this to really be impactful, and by using one of the world’s most famous landmarks that only makes the impact even more potent.
Cobra is not playing around. This isn’t the “world class buffoon” we’ve seen in previous iterations. G.I. Joe has to take the fight to Cobra and quick, or there may not be much of a world left to save.
Less than two weeks…is this even possible? I think it’s really going to happen this time. Twitziller thinks so, too, and he gives us the 13th reason why the film will be worth the wait.
#13:
I think Twitziller has been trying very hard to avoid throwing Rise of Cobra under the bus during this process, and I appreciate that. Rise of Cobra was certainly far from perfect, but it had its fun moments as well. Even the most ardent Rise of Cobra supporters, though, will agree that the costume design could have used a LOT of help. I’m a huge fan of Sigma 6 as folks know, but that uniform design really should not have been considered for the first ever representation of G.I. Joe on a movie screen. I didn’t mind the reactive armor look, but it just didn’t scream “G.I. Joe” in my eyes. The combination of spandex and khaki pants on Snake Eyes really didn’t work either (not to mention the lips) and don’t even get me started on Cobra Commander.
I should say that I actually really loved the design of the Rise of Cobra Cobra Commander, but as the first installment of the G.I. Joe franchise, they needed something more traditional.
Well, from all appearances, G.I. Joe: Retaliation has taken many of the complaints about costume design from the first film and completely scrubbed them from people’s minds. The almost seamless transition of standard military combat uniform and state of the art layered body armor works extremely well in all cases. These soldiers look like they’re soldiers, but they also look separate from more “normal” soldiers, much in the way you’d expect a real world G.I. Joe organization to look. And, again… Cobra Commander this time around is pretty much perfection. The battle helmet is down perfectly, and his black leather trenchcoat offers just the right amount of sinister bad ass. I didn’t even mention Snake Eyes, who looks infinitely better than he did in the first film as well.
It seems like just yesterday we were starting at the number “40” and counting down the reasons to see G.I. Joe: Retaliation when it hits theaters… and now here we are, with only two very short weeks left to go. Amazing. Twitziller goes in a very blunt and clear direction this time around. As he has been doing every Friday, today is all about a particular character:
#14:
You’ll notice there is no fancy title and no thorough description of a reason for this choice. Do you want to know why?
Cobra $%#$! Commander, that’s why.
Keep following Twitziller on Twitter for the latest updates, and keep it here on GeneralsJoes as well. Previous entries can be seen below!
After the massive influx of video and images yesterday, you can’t help but know that the movie is fast approaching! Twitziller is keeping right up to date as well, bringing us the 15th reason, and it’s one that we are all very familiar with at this point.
#15:
Popular sentiment at this point, especially among G.I. Joe fans, is that there is a tendency for ninja overload in the G.I. Joe universe. The marketing angle for G.I. Joe: Retaliation has been very Arashikage focused, and that’s hit the fandom a bit the wrong way. But like it or not, the ninja elements are huge in A Real American Hero. The entire foundation of the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow dynamic depends on it. Certainly I’d agree that tying in Firefly and even Destro and Baroness to an extent, was overkill, but the base ninja fundamentals are pretty critical to G.I. Joe lore.
For that reason, I’m glad there is a very specific Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow duel planned in the film, even if we have seen a lot of it already through various clips, trailers, and TV spots. These two characters have a long and varied history, from blood-enemies to sword brothers, and they need to be closely linked. The duel accomplishes that nicely, from what we’ve seen.
