G.I. Joe 2

Anyone else see the new trailer? It looks... kinda entertaining, actually.

edited 12th Dec '11 5:37:12 PM by DirectorCannon

I didn't like the other live-action movie, but I didn't hate it. I might watch this...in the bargain theater.

Is it all right to file this trailer under "And the Fandom Rejoices"? From what I've seen, reaction has been mostly positive.

On the other hand, I'm currently geeking out over Cobra Commander's new look. June can't come soon enough.

The Bruce Willis bit is hilarious.

And thankfully, they kept the camp aspect of the first film. We don't need more toy adaptations taking themselves seriously.

edited 12th Dec '11 6:17:13 PM by Buscemi

I know! I hadn't heard anything about CC being in it, so I went in to the trailer all "Well, let's see." Then he shows up and I'm all "HOLY CRAP MIRROR MASK!!"

The only problem I had with the first movie was a general focus on gadgets and glamor over the more gritty action. That's why Snake Eyes was well received in the first film because he wasn't about the gadgets, he was a coldly efficient soldier who got the job done with a Katana and ninja skills. Stephen Sommers can make fun movies, but his stated aim of going in a "60's James Bond" route didn't work for the franchise.

From this trailer it's made pretty clear that they are stepping back on the super-tech and going to the in-your-face action, which I approve of. Everything shown in the trailer reflects what would make a good movie for the franchise:

• Smaller cast, I had a hard time believing a "Best of the best" organization would have so many members. They had too many Red Shirts that called into question of how competent each member was supposed to be.
• Personal stakes and not just an "End of the World" conflict
• Ground level fights and not overworked special effects

This looks a lot better than I was expecting.

I wasn't expecting very much, granted, but.

Although I still think Cobra Commander's hood is cooler than the mirror mask, it looks like they listened to what everyone thought of his design in the first movie, so that's good.

The hood has kinda been soiled for me. When I was a kid, I made my own out of a cloth napkin, and a black dude thought I was wearing a Klan hood. Awkward.

HOLY SH*T that looks good

Seeing the Rock and Bruce Willis, The freaking Cobra Commander and Snake Eyes slicing up ninjas on a FREAKIN Mountain

Makes this film for me. Screw the Rise of Cobra I'm going for Retaliation.

Looks good.

I'm sad that Stephen Sommers is not directing it (although truth be told, his movies are usually only good if he writes them), I'm glad most of the original cast is dead, and I'm kind of hoping they give Snake Eyes some kind of personality beyond 'generic badass' this time. Then again, I'm one of the few people I know who doesn't think much of Snake Eyes.

Sommers does have Odd Thomas coming out next year (assuming it gets a distributor). That one has Anton Yelchin and Tim Robbins.

Oh, cool.

I could have been the teen who gets pissed at a fortune teller in that movie...

I think Jon Chu holds slightly more promise than Stephen Sommers. I liked Deep Rising to some degree, and The Mummy a bit more, but some of his other films are pretty wretched.

edited 13th Dec '11 12:12:07 AM by Prowler

But Jon Chu has never done an action film before. His previous films: Step Up 2 The Streets, Step Up 3-D and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.

Also, this film was intended to be a throwaway project for Paramount with a much smaller budget than the first. Thankfully, this seems to have been averted with Peter Ellison (founder of Skydance and part of the Oracle empire) and MGM (currently headed by the first film's producers) footing some of the bill along with Paramount.

edited 13th Dec '11 12:36:34 AM by Buscemi

While I don't think the first one was a bad movie, I do think it wasn't really GI Joe. Whether this one actually has the GI Joe feel (admittedly my Joe contact was primarily through the cartoon in The '80s) remains to be seen, but it does look interesting. I'll probably go and see it at some point.

Somebody over on Hisstank (A G.I. Joe fansite) addressed Chu as a director. I'm going to copy and paste what he said over here.

M Los 1 (from Hisstank): "i had this very conversation last night talking with a friend of mine who isn't really into gi joe and scoffed at chu...

it's not Chu's fault the previous material was what it was...a man's gotta work to eat, and work to GAIN more work and expand horizons.

but the deft touches to the work that went into the action for the previous teen oriented dance movies and beiber fare, translate well here, bc the eye and scope is relative to creating the same kind of beats within the action needed to make a joe movie successful...it cant be overlooked.

just bc the previous work Chu's done is not aimed at us doesn't make what he brought to it anything less than an accomplishment.

but...most people don't get that.

look beyond the face value and let the man define the work, not the work define the man...

Chu did good things directing wise with his previous films, even tho most of us wouldn't be interested in the films themselves.

and he'll do good by us here...his strongest trait as a director: he understands kinetic action- plain and simple...

...and chu knows how to dictate to his director of photography what he wants, which is also evident in his past work...even tho the past resume isn't something we'd all jump at to see...if you know what you're talking about, and understand the principles of making a movie...you look back at the resume he has and you notice those movies are very bold, very crisp, and put together very, very well...and now he has decent writers to back him up."

Hopefully, he doesn't mind. ^_^;

Anyways, anybody got any wacky guesses on what's going to happen based on the trailer? I know that people are speculating that the guy dressed in white behind Storm Shadow during the break-out scene is Cobra Commander.

It's Rob Marshall being hired to direct the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie all over again. These directors know how to shoot scenes that require a lot of choreography. Only there are more explosions and less singing.

This is always a good thing.

I read a rumor on Film Score Monthly that Bear Mc Creary may be scoring the film since McCreary worked with Chu on Step Up 3-D and Alan Silvestri is busy with The Avengers (Silvestri's next project is expected to be Odd Thomas, which would make him unavailable even if post-production is delayed).

I enjoyed the first movie a lot, actually. Originally, I was disappointed when I heard they were getting rid of most of the original cast and it seemed like they were treating this like a throw-away project, but DANG, that trailer has me thinking I might be able to have a lot of fun with this movie.

Crazy ninja fights and COBRA taking over the White House? Yes, please!

Sgt. Slaughter may appear as Sgt. Slaughter.

[1]

I had a realization - you think it's too early to put this and MI:GP together in Dueling Movies?

They are part of two completely different movie seasons, Dueling Movies isn't just a similar premise but actually competing for the box office.

I'm not sure if I read this theory before, and I don't remember from which countries the various team members are from but...

The International Team that was known as G.I. Joe was broken up (or disbanded) sometime after the first movie. For whatever reason, the various countries of the world decided to disband G.I. Joe. So, each team member went back to their own country. The U.S. ,however, decided to either keep G.I. Joe or create a new G.I. Joe team.

This helps explain why President Zartan is able order the deaths of the G.I. Joe team and why the members from the first movie are missing.

I probably should put this theory under Wild Mass Guessing.

On an unrelated note, people are debating whether or not Duke dies.