Okay, take this with a watermelon-sized grain of salt… but movie site Nuke The Fridge has received a message from someone who reports that they saw an early screening of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and they provided a very positive early review of the film.
This review involves a few spoilers, so I will post the review itself after the jump.
As for the validity of this? Well, normally I wouldn’t put much stock in it, especially considering the fact that the “spoilers” the reviewer reveals are mostly things that could be ascertained from the trailers, and if they’re not, they good just be their own hypothesis based on what we know so far. But combine this report with the rumors that two endings are being screened and it gets just a bit more credible.
Then there’s John Chu’s mysterious Tweet that came through over night as this news was breaking. Yes, it’s practically nothing, but he posted a Tweet that simply said “Soooo0….”. On it’s own, this is totally innocuous, but combined with all of these early screening rumors…I don’t know. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but seems like there could be some meat there.
Now there are also some reasons to be very dubious of this. Even though the news is just “getting out there” now, this review was posted on Nuke The Fridge on April 6th. Jon Chu has Tweeted on April 11th that he is still “making important editing decisions” and he Tweeted on April 10th that he was working with Jackman on the score. So obviously the film isn’t yet in a finished state. I know these early screenings are often done with unfinished films, so perhaps that is meaningless, but something to think about at any rate.
Of course it could also be that Chu is making some changes based on reactions they got at the screening…anyway, take it all for what it’s worth, and check out the review text itself after the jump.
This post sort of ties in with some conversations I’ve had on Twitter lately, and also a very good Q & A session and discussion from our recording last night of the latest installment of What’s on Joe Mind.
Essentially the subject of the discussion is how successful can we expect G.I. Joe: Retaliation to be at the Box Office when Amazing Spider-Man is hitting theaters the following weekend? Should we realistically expect a big hit in Retaliation’s numbers? Does this mean that potential box office success for the G.I. Joe sequel is an impossibility?
You know, I’m not so sure.
Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below for my thoughts.
Total Film magazine spoke to Jon Chu about G.I. Joe: Retaliation a bit, and focused somewhat on the comparisons between Mr. Chu and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra director Stephen Sommers. The G.I. Joe: Retaliation director had some interesting things to say:
“We’re different filmmakers and have different views on what G.I. Joe is.”
“I love the reality of our Joes. They have relationships with each other, aspirations; they care about the people of the world.
“We’re trying to add a lot more of that rather than doing cartoon fights with laser guns: everything is very practical and we’re doing as many physical things as possible – it’s not all greenscreen.”
Very interesting comments, and I like what I’m reading here. Obviously there was a big focus on special effects in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, especially with the whole Paris chase scene and the fandom reviled Accelerator Suits. I think getting back to basics and back to a more “real world” feel is a great step towards bringing the fans back on board. Very cool little tidbits.
Interesting in the midst of fan hooplah about recent comments from Michael Bay about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it’s very refreshing to read statements from a film maker who seems to understand what the mythology is about and appears to respect the history and make a film that lives up to the spirit of the brand.
Apparently getting some good access somewhere recently, IGN (who just posted a video interview with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) has just posted a new “flipcam” interview, this time not only talking to Johnson, but also to Retaliation director Jon M Chu and producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura. Check out the embedded video below.
That’s been a bone of contention among fans for quite a while now…just how threatening IS Cobra Commander? If you can get past his numerous bodyguards, mercenaries, ninjas, and leather clad females, is he ripe for the taking? So far, the answer has really been “yes”. Sure, he had his trusty battle armor in 1987, but you figure anyone who needs layers of titanium and kevlar to fight back just might be a bit of a wuss.
Well, that may not be the case in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Cobra Commander just might be a mastermind, and a powerhouse. MTV spoke with Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson, who referenced “Cobra” a few times during the interview. Of course, it’s uncertain whether he was talking about Cobra Commander specifically, or more likely Cobra themselves as a whole. Check out that interview here, or embedded below.
Along with The Rock, MTV also interviewed Jon Chu, who had several things to say about reinventing Cobra Commander. It sounds like the production team behind the G.I. Joe sequel certainly understands the importance of a well done Cobra Commander to the franchise and chose to essentially rebuild the character from scratch. It certainly sounds like they’ve got some interesting ideas with his voice, too.. check it out right here, or embedded below.
