Category Archives: Movies

News related to the cinematic incarnations of G.I. joe.

JBL Review: Some of what is in the G.I. Joe Retaliation queue

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With G.I. Joe Retaliation dropping in just over a month it is an exciting time to be a Joe fan!  Product is back in stores, the media blitz has begun and the anticipation in the air is almost tangible!

Here’s a teaser image of some of what is sitting in JBL’s review queue in terms of Retaliation items.  Some of these pieces have been out for a while and others are brand new.  There are even a few things that wouldn’t fit in the picture!

retaliation review queue

The point is that I’m really making a concerted effort to make JBL a viable and useful G.I. Joe site for fans once more.

Keep watching JBL for more reviews all week!  In the meantime, feel free to stop by the G.I. Joe Retaliation Review Index!

YO JOE!

34 Days until G.I. Joe Retaliation – Zartan

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Twitter user Twitziller continues his “40 Reasons to Be Excited About G.I. Joe Retaliation” series with today’s image: Zartan!

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Sequels are tricky things.  Sometimes they emulate the source material too much with a sense of “been there, done that” and other times they divulge wildly from the original, with mixed results.  With G.I. Joe Retaliation, director Jon M. Chu was faced with a difficult task as the original film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra left many plot threads dangling at the end.  Zartan, altered by nano-mites, had successfully replaced the President of the United States.  (This was the entire point of the first film.)  Would the sequel acknowledge this rather big thread or go its own way.

It would seem that former approach was chosen as the trailers make no bones about the fact that Zartan is still impersonating POTUS– in a big way.  In fact, all of the events shown in the trailers seem to be a continuation of the plot lines that were begun in the first film.  Zartan appears front and center and we even get a glimpse of Arnold Vosloo (even if it is just a quick CGI morph) that shows audiences that the fact of Cobra’s “Master of Disguise” will be dealt with in the film.  Now, if only he keeps on whistling “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow…”

33 more days until this film EXPLODES on the big screen!

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35 days until G.I. Joe Retaliation – the HISS Tank!

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Twitter user Twitziller continues his “40 Reasons to Be Excited About G.I. Joe Retaliation” series with today’s image: the HISS tank!

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If Cobra has a signature vehicle, this is it!  Forget the CLAW, SNAKE armor, FANG, etc.  As a kid, the HISS tank grabbed my attention with his combination of perceived speed and firepower!  When you combine those details with the fact that I never owned one as a kid and you’ll fully understand my obsession with the vehicle.  In the first Joe film, audiences were treated to a modified Night Raven that was part of the M.A.R.S. arsenal.  This time around– we’re getting the full-blown Cobra treatment and it looks fantastic!  Just look at the shot– a series of HISS Tanks rolling on the U.S. Capital building.  Oh yeah, that’s not upping the stakes at all, he said sarcastically!

34 more days until this film EXPLODES on the big screen!

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36 days until G.I. Joe Retaliation – concept design

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Twitter user Twitziller continues his “40 Reasons to Be Excited About G.I. Joe Retaliation” series with today’s image: concept design!

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I find that I’m in complete agreement on this.  G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra took the film version of Joe in a definite sci-fi direction.  Sonic weapons, nano-mites, accelerator suits (*shudder*)– all of these were pretty far removed from the realm of reality.  Retaliation is opting for more of a “future weapons” look– especially when it comes to the Joes.  The use of the Ripsaw tank as the Tread Ripper and the incorporation of hi-tech body armor for the team members shows that this film is looking at things that are just on the cutting edge.  Even better– waves 2 and beyond of the movie toy line are shaping up to be pretty spot-on recreations of these designs.  So the studio and Hasbro seem to be walking hand-in-hand to give fans a much more cohesive and plausible vision of G.I. Joe.  Boo-yah!

35 more days to go…

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37 days until G.I. Joe Retaliation – Flint

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Twitter user Twitziller continues his “40 Reasons to Be Excited About G.I. Joe Retaliation” series with today’s image that’s dedicated to the team’s premiere warrant officer!  (Sadly a day of excessive meetings at work delayed today’s posting.)

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Once again, it’s a great reason to look forward to the film.  In the Sunbow animated series, Flint was one of the cornerstone characters.  Frequently , he was seen leading a team of Joes into all manner of dangerous situation and yet he always managed to bring his team back intact.  (Granted, it was a kids cartoon and so there were no character deaths but let’s just run with this, okay?)  The inclusion of Flint in the cinematic G.I. Joe universe is a welcome sight and another sign that director Jon M. Chu is staying more faithful to the mythos than Rise of Cobra did.

36 more days to go…

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38 days to G.I. Joe Retaliation – Desert ambush

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Twitter user Twitziller continues his “40 Reasons to Be Excited About G.I. Joe Retaliation” series with today’s image:

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I can’t fault his logic– this sequence looks like it will be intense.  (In the very way that the night attack scene in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra wasn’t.)  Regardless, he’s right– this is going to be quite the sandbox indeed!

March 29th– you’re so far away…

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39 Days to G.I. Joe Retaliation – Mini-Tank

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Counting down to G.I. Joe Retaliation?  You’re not alone —  Twitziller has updated his “40 Reasons to be excited about G.I. Joe: Retaliation” with today’s installment and it’s a good one!  In fact, it’s extremely appropriate as I just snagged the Tread Ripper at Kmart yesterday in anticipation of a review!  (Also, because my Retaliation HISS needed something to shoot at it!)

Check out today’s “kernel of wisdom”:

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It’s going to be a loooong 39 days…

We now return to your regularly scheduled day.  After all, “the world ain’t saving itself!”

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New G.I. Joe Retaliation trailer and TV promo spot debut online

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The next 40 days until the debut of G.I. Joe Retaliation are going to be a whirlwind of activity in the media!  New TV promotional spots, new viral advertising and, thanks to Paramount Pictures’ International YouTube Channel, a new trailer.  Geared toward the Asian market, these new spots offer increased exposure for returning star Byung-hun Lee as Storm Shadow!  As more footage is leaked it appears to be increasingly likely that Storm Shadow may end up on the “side of angels” after all.  (Check out the kitchen sequence– both he and Colton appear to be in the same room!)

Here’s the trailer:

And the TV spot:

Is it March 29th yet?  The more I see of this film, the more excited I get!

40 days of G.I. Joe Retaliation – Color

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You’ve heard of the 12 Days of Christmas but have you heard of the 40 Days of G.I. Joe Retaliation?  Apparently Twitter user Twitziller has because he’s bringing us just that– 40 days worth of reasons why he (and the rest of us) are looking forward to the G.I. Joe movie set to debut in theaters on March 29.  Every day he’ll be providing fans and non-fans alike to look forward to the next cinematic installment of our favorite Real American Heroes.

It’s a great and original idea– and one that is sure to give us all a lot to think about in the next two score days!

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For more information, visit GIJoeMovie.com!

JBL Review: G.I. Joe Retaliation Firefly!

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G.I. Joe Retaliation Firefly

When G.I. Joe Retaliation hits theatres in just shy of two months, fans will see the return of Duke, Snake Eyes, as well as the introduction of several new faces for the Joes in the form of Flint, Lady Jaye, and Roadblock.  Cobra, on the other hand, only sees one familiar character make his cinematic debut: the mercenary Firefly!  A long time favorite of fans, the Cobra Saboteur is brought to life by actor Ray Stevenson– recently seen in other genre films like Thor and Punisher: War Zone.

The good folks at Hasbro included Firefly, complete with actor likeness, in Wave 2 of the G.I. Joe Retaliation toy line which is just now hitting toy shelves.  So, is this new incarnation of Firefly, complete with Blast Board, worth adding to any Joe collection?  Check out the review at the G.I. Joe Retaliation Review Index and find out one Joe fan’s opinion!

On a side note, I’ve finally got most of my photo set-up put back together post-move so expect more reviews of Retaliation figures in the coming days!