History YMMV / GIJoeRetaliation

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: [[spoiler:The ''entire'' city of London being nuked looks nothing short of awesome. While usually cities being destroyed in various movies involve mushroom cloudes or any sort of big cloud, here you can actually see it being leveled with many buildings being destroyed. The rest of the movie also doesn't look too bad either.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: Adrianna Palecki and Creator/ElodieYung would later go on to star in the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]] via ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' and ''[[Series/Daredevil2015 Daredevil]]'' respectively. Even better in Palecki's case as ''G.I. Joe'' was originally an expy of ''ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}'' during its earlier run.

* NarmCharm: Cobra Commander's extremely deep voice renders lines like "I want it ALL." and "Destro, you're out of the band." hilarious, but it also does bring him a new shade of personality.

* WTHCastingAgency: Some fans felt this about Wrestling/DwayneJohnson playing Roadblock, mainly due to the fact that in the film, [[InNameOnly his characterization was wildely different from the source material,]] and that a wrestler playing as him was just plain weird.

* ContestedSequel: Better actors, no cheap gimmicks, the costumes of Cobra Commander and Snake Eyes were impressive, the effects were really good, all around it made more of an effort to be a ''G.I. Joe'' movie this time around. But while the ''G.I. Joe'' fanbase was pleased, critics deemed it as even worse than ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' and casual fans are also divided on if ''Retaliation'' is an improvement.

* HilariousInHindsight: Adrianna Palecki and Elodie Yung would later on star in the MCU on ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' and ''Daredevil'' respectively. Even better in Palecki's case as G.I. Joe was originally an expy of S.H.I.E.L.D.

** RZA as the Blind Master. The awkward expositioning ruins what would have been some otherwise pretty cool scenes.

* OneSceneWonder: Walton Goggins as the Warden of Cobra Commander and Destro's prison, who utilizes every second of his screentime.

** Then Paramount postpones it by nine months to add 3D...in addition to extending the scenes between Roadblock and Duke, providing character development for both.
* WTHCastingAgency: Some fans felt this about Wrestling/DwayneJohnson playing Roadblock, mainly due to the fact that in the film, [[InNameOnly his characterization was wildely different from the source material,]] and that a wrestler was playing him was just plain weird.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Even though he is only in the movie for about 10 minutes, [[BigBad Cobra]] [[EvilSoundsDeep Commander]] is the master of ChewingTheScenery.

* CharacterRerailment: Cobra Commander actually acts and looks like Cobra Commander in this movie (in the previous film he was more like Dr. Mindbender.) Despite the fact he sounds like [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]], it's still an improvement over how he previously looked.

* ContestedSequel: Better actors, no cheap gimmicks, the costumes of Cobra Commander and Snake Eyes were impressive, the effects were really good, all around it made more of an effort to be a GI Joe movie this time around. But while the ''GI Joe'' fanbase was pleased, critics deemed it as even worse than ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' and casual fans are also divided on if ''Retaliation'' is an improvement.

* HilariousInHindsight: Adrianna Palecki and Elodie Yung would later on star in the MCU on ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' and ''Daredevil'' respectively. Even better in Palecki's case as GI Joe was originally an expy of SHIELD.

* WTHCastingAgency:
** Some fans felt this about Wrestling/DwayneJohnson playing Roadblock, mainly due to the fact that in the film, [[InNameOnly his characterization was wildely different from the source material,]] and that a wrestler was playing him was just plain weird.

** Lady Jaye's speech about not being respected in the military because of her gender and standing up to her sexist father is undercut by the scene she delivers it in where she strips to her underwear. The gratuitous fanservice played against the YouGoGirl message is hilariously inept.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: If Zartan murdering Cover Girl from [[Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra the first film]] wasn't bad enough, then him '''destroying London''' is an even bigger one.]]

* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Zartan, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and Firefly steal all the scenes they're in.
** Even though he is only in the movie for about 10 minutes, [[BigBad Cobra]] [[EvilSoundsDeep Commander]] is the master of ChewingTheScenery.

* HarsherInHindsight: Zartan, while posing as the US President, threatens to destroy North Korea with nuclear weapons. In real life, the 45th President of the United States issued a similar threat four years after this movie was released.

** Some fans felt this about Wrestling/DwayneJohnson playing Roadblock, mainly due to the fact that in the film, [[InNameOnly his characterization was wildely different from the source material,]] and that a wrestler was playing him was just plain weird.

* CompleteMonster: See [[YMMV/GIJoeTheRiseofCobra here]].

* NarmCharm: Cobra Commander's extremely deep voice renders lines like "I want it ALL." and "We're kicking you out of the band, Destro." hilarious, but it also does bring him a new shade of personality.

* InternetBackdraft:
** Oh boy, the internet practically exploded in rage when the film's delay and 3-D conversion were announced, [[http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-paramount-from-delaying-and-converting-g-i-joe-re.html a petition]] and [[http://www.facebook.com/MessageToHasbroStopTheMadnessWithGiJoe a Facebook page]] have already started over this. That said, the backdraft calmed down a little when it emerged that another part of the delay was to add more scenes with CharacterDevelopment for Duke and Roadblock.
** If you think the fans were pissed, imagine Hasbro. The toys had been on the shelves for about two weeks, with more set to ship soon after. They had to take a massive loss by rearranging the shipping schedule. More ''Avengers'' and ''Amazing Spider-Man'' toys had to be put out to fill up the allotted space on many shelves, and a combination of a product glut and a lack of new products led to a decline in profits in 2012.

* CharacterRerailment: Cobra Commander actually acts and looks like Cobra Commander in this movie (in the previous film he was more like Dr. Mindbender.) He still sounds like a [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] wannabe, but baby steps.

** Some fans felt this about Wrestling/DwayneJohnson playing Roadblock, mainly due to the fact that in the film, [[InNameOnly his characterization was wildely different from the source material,]] and that a wrestler was playing was just plain weird.

** Then Paramount postpones it by nine months to add 3D...in addition to extending the scenes between Roadblock and Duke, providing character development for both.

* HarsherInHindsight: A US President threatens to destroy North Korea with nuclear weapons. In real life, the 45th President of the United States issued a similar threat four years after this movie was released.

* HarsherInHidsight: A US President threatens to destroy North Korea with nuclear weapons. In real life, the 45th President of the United States issued a similar threat four years after this movie was released.

* CompleteMonster:
** [[BigBad Cobra Commander]] is the power hungry leader of the terrorist organisation, Cobra, a group bent on world domination. Escaping from prison after the events of [[Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra the previous film]], [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness abandoning Destro]] in the process, Commander orders [[TheDragon Zartan]], disguised as the President of United States, to wipe out the G.I. Joes, resulting in nearly all of their deaths. At a summit of world leaders, Cobra Commander reveals Project Zeus, a KillSat that he intends to use to hold the world hostage. As a demonstration of Project Zeus's power, Commander orders Zartan to activate it, destroying London in the process. When the surviving Joes interfere with this plan, Cobra Commander sets Project Zeus to destroy each continent's most highly populated cities to cover his own escape, [[DirtyCoward abandoning his allies in the process]].
** Zartan, Cobra Commander's [[TheDragon right-hand man]], is a sadistic PsychoForHire who gleefully takes part in Cobra's schemes. It's revealed that, when Storm Shadow was a child, Zartan murdered his uncle, [[FrameUp framed Storm Shadow for it]], and [[TheCorrupter corrupted him into a life of crime]], [[ForTheEvulz all for no discernible reason]]. [[PresidentEvil Impersonating]] the President of United States, whom he regularly tortures for information, Zartan orders Storm Shadow to assassinate the President of Pakistan, sparking a civil war and framing the Joes for it, as part of a plan to free Cobra Commander from prison. On Cobra Commander's orders, Zartan orders an attack on the Joes, killing all but a few of them, and cheerfully tests [[KillSat Project Zeus]] on London, annihilating the city. In the end, after Storm Shadow [[TheDogBitesBack turns on Zartan]] and calls him out for the murder of his uncle, Zartan simply taunts him before trying to kill him.

* {{Narm}}: RZA as the Blind Master. The awkward expositioning ruins what would have been some otherwise pretty cool scenes.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: More like Screwed by the Film Studio; the film was postponed nine months on almost the ''exact'' week that the toys went out on the shelves, which (as explained above) in turn screwed up toy shelves for the rest of 2012.

* HilariousInHindsight: Adrianna Palecki and Elodie Yung would later on star in the MCU on ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' and ''Netflix/Daredevil'' respectively. Even better in Palecki's case as GI Joe was originally an expy of SHIELD.

* HilariousInHindsight: Adrianna Palecki and Elodie Yung would later on star in the MCU on ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' and ''Series/Daredevil'' respectively. Even better in Palecki's case as GI Joe was originally an expy of SHIELD.