G. I. Joe Retaliation

[Alexx]

*sigh* Whatever. Raise the prices but take out aritculation and paint apps, kill the awesome cartoon, and remake G.I. Joe every few months. What IS G.I. Joe anymore? Oh well. I'll be seeing it, of course, but this is just amazing. I can't imagine that 3D was the only reason they pulled this. Just...whatever.

[Nemisythe]

THIS REALLY BLOWS! I truly thought that this movie was gonna erase the crap that was the first movie and make this Franchise LEGIT!!! Goes to show you what we all were thinking. UNBELIEVABLE....

[VZX]

Well that poops. I really wanted to see this movie AND get some of the cool figures and vehicles.

[Heidi]

Sad news, I've been waiting for this movie for a long time and I can't imagine that it could've been worse than the first movie (which I liked). But, I'll see it in the movies when it comes out, if there are 2D screenings.

[JonWes]

I was actually building up some interest in this. I never saw the first because it looked terrible. On the plus side, this might be a good move. There will be less competition then. I really do wonder if they just got scared after Battleship bombed and decided to regroup. Personally, I'm more likely to see this in March than I would have been now. There are still about two movies I want to see that I haven't. I've seen Avengers three times.

[Mr. Shokoti]

Let it be known that I'm not a fan of 3D whatsoever. To me, it just makes the movie too difficult to follow and too difficult to focus on anything. It's more of a distraction than anything.

I honestly find 3D to have the opposite problm with most movies. Other than the higher ticket price & the uncomfortable glasses, there's rarely a noticeable difference between the 3D & the 2D versions.

[Slave2Evil_Lyn]

The fact that it also was moved out of the "summer blockbuster" season is telling. Hasbro and Paramount can say it's for 3D conversion all they want. It clearly didn't do well in test screenings and they are pulling back to either re-edit or do re-shoots.

I have been a fan of G.I. Joe just as long as I have been a fan of MOTU and I was on the fence about this movie. Cobra Commander looks much better then that last film but Cobra without The Baroness and Destro, I'm not having it. Those two have been a part of every version of G.I. Joe The Real American Hero. With the exception of the DIC series Duke and Scarlett have also always been main stays so this film presumable kills Duke and Scarlett is MIA. They add in Flint who was commonly depicted as second in command behind Duke is now a lanky taking order from Roadblock?! Rockblock is not and had never been a leader. Lady Jaye looks like a brunette Scarlett, when has Lady Jaye ever been depicted with long hair that was not a wig when she was undercover.

Rise of Cobra was far from perfect but they removed to many of the elements and characters form it that I liked. But hey Storm Shadow is not dead after being sliced up and falling into the arctic ocean. But ninja's sell so...

[Red Warrior]

I honestly find 3D to have the opposite problm with most movies. Other than the higher ticket price & the uncomfortable glasses, there's rarely a noticeable difference between the 3D & the 2D versions.

My problem probably stems from the glasses you have to wear. I always get this horrible glare in the lenses that causes my eyes to focus on that instead of the screen. It kills the effect and confuses my brain. Plus the glasses hurt my head.

[MegaGearMax]

The fact that it also was moved out of the "summer blockbuster" season is telling. Hasbro and Paramount can say it's for 3D conversion all they want. It clearly didn't do well in test screenings and they are pulling back to either re-edit or do re-shoots.

Paramount probably got cold feet after Battleship sank and didn't want to compete with Batman and Spidey.

Cobra Commander looks much better then that last film but Cobra without The Baroness and Destro, I'm not having it. Those two have been a part of every version of G.I. Joe The Real American Hero. With the exception of the DIC series Duke and Scarlett have also always been main stays so this film presumable kills Duke and Scarlett is MIA. They add in Flint who was commonly depicted as second in command behind Duke is now a lanky taking order from Roadblock?! Rockblock is not and had never been a leader. Lady Jaye looks like a brunette Scarlett, when has Lady Jaye ever been depicted with long hair that was not a wig when she was undercover.

The movie universe isn't the cartoon or comic book. In this universe, Roadblock is a bigger character than Flint.

Personally, I wish they would have done an Incredible Hulk-like reboot/retcon. Forget the first movie ever happened and start off with COBRA vs Joe.

[Mr. Shokoti]

The fact that it also was moved out of the "summer blockbuster" season is telling. Hasbro and Paramount can say it's for 3D conversion all they want. It clearly didn't do well in test screenings and they are pulling back to either re-edit or do re-shoots.

I have been a fan of G.I. Joe just as long as I have been a fan of MOTU and I was on the fence about this movie. Cobra Commander looks much better then that last film but Cobra without The Baroness and Destro, I'm not having it. Those two have been a part of every version of G.I. Joe The Real American Hero. With the exception of the DIC series Duke and Scarlett have also always been main stays so this film presumable kills Duke and Scarlett is MIA. They add in Flint who was commonly depicted as second in command behind Duke is now a lanky taking order from Roadblock?! Rockblock is not and had never been a leader. Lady Jaye looks like a brunette Scarlett, when has Lady Jaye ever been depicted with long hair that was not a wig when she was undercover.

Rise of Cobra was far from perfect but they removed to many of the elements and characters form it that I liked. But hey Storm Shadow is not dead after being sliced up and falling into the arctic ocean. But ninja's sell so...

I'm with you on everything you just posted.

My problem probably stems from the glasses you have to wear. I always get this horrible glare in the lenses that causes my eyes to focus on that instead of the screen. It kills the effect and confuses my brain. Plus the glasses hurt my head.

I've had that problem with the glare as well at times, but figured it was a smudge on the lens of my glasses. I also notice that movies that require 3D glasses are a lot darker looking. I remember thinking Disney's A Christmas Carol looked like a horror movie as dark as the 3D version looked to me.

The movie universe isn't the cartoon or comic book. In this universe, Roadblock is a bigger character than Flint.

Sure, but when franchises are adapted into movies, most of us hope they have at least some similarities with the version we were already familiar with. This is coming from someone who liked the first movie.

Personally, I wish they would have done an Incredible Hulk-like reboot/retcon. Forget the first movie ever happened and start off with COBRA vs Joe.

While I still consider Edward Norton's Hulk to be a complete reboot(other than featuring Betty & General Ross, nothing was carried over from the Ang Lee movie), even that wasn't extremely successful. I liked it, but it took Avengers for a Hulk sequel to even get talked about while Cap & Thor already have sequels on the schedule.

[Darkspecter]

This sucks. Just saw this at AFI when I was looking for new MOTUC reviews. I'm sad. They should have released it now. If they feared it was going to lose money releasing it now...umm...they spent all that marketing/PR money and now have to spend it again in a year, might have to pay the actors more for publicity (since it might keep them from working, etc.), the public won't care as much because the hype has died down, etc.

It might end up pulling in the same amount of money, but will make MUCH less because of all the additional costs PLUS converting it into 3D! They should have released it as-is now...and they still could have done the 3D thing and maybe shoot some new scenes, do some re-writes if it is received poorly and release it again next year (now in 3D with alternate ending and such!). That's better marketing, in my opinion.

Also, I LOVED the first G.I. Joe movie and make no apologies for it! I had (and still have) a LOT of G.I. Joe figures as a kid but don't really remember the story line that much. So, not staying true to what things were didn't matter to me. Baroness looked badass and I instantly loved her from the previews. I hoped they would explore her more in the movie (because, I didn't remember seeing her much in the cartoon from the little I could remember). It had action, drama, explosions, decent acting and the Wayans brother wasn't ridiculous in his humour stylings (like most of his movies). It was a LOT better than I anticipated and I genuinely loved the movie.

Transformers #1 was okay, but had some problems that could be ignored...if you tried. Transformers #2 was such an abomination, I don't know if I can bring myself to watch the 3rd or any future TF film!

Also, if is just me, or did Battleship look like it could have BEEN Transformers 2? It looks like they're coming out from the deep sea where they were "buried" and are ****** off!

[Mr. Shokoti]

It had action, drama, explosions, decent acting and the Wayans brother wasn't ridiculous in his humour stylings (like most of his movies). It was a LOT better than I anticipated and I genuinely loved the movie.

Me too. Sure, it changed things from both the original cartoon as well as the Marvel comics, but it still felt like G.I. Joe to me. That's something that I can't say 100% about either the 1987 MOTU movie(which I love despite its faults) or any of the Transformers trilogy(sooooo not a fan).

Also, if is just me, or did Battleship look like it could have BEEN Transformers 2? It looks like they're coming out from the deep sea where they were "buried" and are ****** off!

It looks like it but, outside of a Michael Bay-like love letter to the military & editing catering to those with ADD, it's far more ID4 crossed with Halo than Transformers.

[MegaGearMax]

Sure, but when franchises are adapted into movies, most of us hope they have at least some similarities with the version we were already familiar with. This is coming from someone who liked the first movie.

Oh I agree. But the movie's main selling point is that it's even more faithful to G.I. Joe than the last movie was. People seemed to latch onto that rather than focus on the Joe Movie Universe's differences.

Good God! 161 pages of angry fans on HISSTank.com!

[Mr. Shokoti]

People seemed to latch onto that rather than focus on the Joe Movie Universe's differences.

I agree with that. Besides the fact that the Joe's apparently went from a cohesive team to one guy with backup(like they did when adapting Mission Impossible from TV to movie), killing off most of the team & having the remaining members on the run from the government doesn't exactly scream faithfulness to me unless the last toon(which I liked for what it was) is your only taste of ARAH.

[MegaGearMax]

I agree with that. Besides the fact that the Joe's apparently went from a cohesive team to one guy with backup(like they did when adapting Mission Impossible from TV to movie), killing off most of the team & having the remaining members on the run from the government doesn't exactly scream faithfulness to me unless the last toon(which I liked for what it was) is your only taste of ARAH.

We have a better COBRA Commander, a Firefly that looks like Firefly, ninja, recognizable Joe vehicles and slightly more recognizable characters all around. The point is that this movie is a closer Joe flick than the last one, so it's an improvement. It's not 100% better, but it's a start.

[JonWes]

There is a new report on AICN (so take it for what you will) about the movie and possible reasons for the move. They cover it in some detail, but this was interesting:

Since yesterday, I've been getting all types of early screening reports about the quality of G.I. JOE: RETALIATION, which have ranged from "nonsensical" to "worse than RISE OF COBRA," so it's quite possible that Paramount didn't realize they had a bad movie on their hands until they got it in front of audiences, which was rather late in the game. Therefore, this was their chance to pull the plug to rework and retool the movie.

There've also been reports of plenty of reshoots leading into the cut of RETALIATION they have now with many more to come. The rumor mill seems to be working overtime with talk of Paramount now seeing Channing Tatum as more of an asset, after 21 JUMP STREET and MAGIC MIKE, than a bad link to the first movie. There's been some rumbling of reshoots that would call for more Tatum in the movie. The G.I. JOE RETALIATION we see nine months from now may only vaguely resemble the one we would have gotten one month from now.

[Optimus Prime]

There is a new report on AICN (so take it for what you will) about the movie and possible reasons for the move. They cover it in some detail, but this was interesting:

UGH! Channing Tatum is an awful actor, and he'll never, NEVER be Duke in my mind. We go from a battle-hardened 1st Sergeant soldier to a ******* officer who can't even complete his first mission, getting his butt handed to him on a silver platter AND then actually being allowed into the most elite (allegedly) fighting force in the world? BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Not to mention the whole best buddies with Cobra Commander and boyfriend to the Baroness.

21 Jump Street stunk too, it's no wonder Johnny Depp had conditions for his cameo.

[MegaGearMax]

LOL! This was funny as hell!

Originally posted by Coheteboy from FWOOSH
The real reason why they're delaying the movie is because they're shooting a new scene at the end where Doc says Channing Tatum is going to be A-OK.

[Pixel Dan]

There is a new report on AICN (so take it for what you will) about the movie and possible reasons for the move. They cover it in some detail, but this was interesting:

I was just going to post the same thing.

It seems that's the consenus now. Paramount has apparently ordered a ton of reshoots, and many speculate it's to give Tatum a bigger role int he movie. Since it's been testing so poorly, Paramount seems to have decided not to put it up against Amazing Spider-Man.

That AICN post said there's a good chance the movie we get in March will be very different from the movie we almost got next month.

This is all so crazy...

[gbagok]

I don't know that more of Tatum's Duke qualifies as an improvement, but image if WB had taken the early negative feedback to heart and pushed back Batman and Robin to make it better? I actually like it that they want to improve it at least. Then again, if they didn't realize it was bad until an audience looked at it, that doesn't bode well for their instincts.

RE Battleship, I haven't seen it, didn't want to see it, but on the surface it looked like any other Bruckheimer popcorn crap fest and those usually make money. Why would I assume audiences would suddenly stop going to see that kind of thing? I thought everything from the Rock to Armageddon was garbage frankly, and just looking at the ads, Battleship didn't look worse than those. If anything I thought its resemblance to Transformers would work in its favor and the Superbowl party I was with gave it a whoop of approval (more so for Avengers though). I can't imagine that the bad acting or bad writing of such a movie suddenly mattered to audiences that made the last three Transformers into blockbusters. John Carter had good acting and good (well, decent) writing, and it didn't do well, so its not like such elements are always rewarded. Simply put the audience has to want to see it, and my current take away is that audiences are no longer wowed by trailers full of imagery that looks too derivative (or will star Taylor Kitsch).

If this impacted GI Joe at all, it was I hope a wake up call that hype and buzz shouldn't be taken for granted. I just doubt they can fix that in nine months. Maybe if word of mouth is like gold or something, but what are the chances of that? If their best idea is to bring back more of Channing Tatum as Duke....well, it could be worse, they could get Taylor Kitsch.*

*disclaimer, I don't think Tatum is actually the better actor of the two, just he seems to have better luck.

[mbaker]

Wow. Didn't see that coming. This only proves how problematic 3D has become to film making, and film marketing in general. But at the same time, considering how this film might get overlooked once 'Amazing Spider-Man', and 'The Dark Knight Rises' get released, I can't really blame Paramount, and Hasbro for re-thinking their strategy. I could see why they would instead release this next March after how well 'The Hunger Games' did around that time.

[Rhanen]

I wish I may post it here, but please search on Google for the "Paramount Executive - Crusher of Dreams" Cobra file card. I could not avoid to giggle.

[Krueger]

I can believe the news about Tatum, as he’s become a pretty big name since the first film. With all these reshoots, though, the budget will skyrocket. An article yesterday said that, as of now, it is at least 125 million. The reshoots will add quite a lot. Paramount must be very nervous.

I’ve just looked at the release schedule for next March, and GI Joe is relatively secluded. It hasn’t really got much competition where it is, as all the other “big” films that come out in March come earlier in the month. I still think it’s a bad move, but at least Paramount has picked a pretty good date.

- - - Updated - - -

RE Battleship, I haven't seen it, didn't want to see it, but on the surface it looked like any other Bruckheimer popcorn crap fest and those usually make money. Why would I assume audiences would suddenly stop going to see that kind of thing? I thought everything from the Rock to Armageddon was garbage frankly, and just looking at the ads, Battleship didn't look worse than those. If anything I thought its resemblance to Transformers would work in its favor and the Superbowl party I was with gave it a whoop of approval (more so for Avengers though). I can't imagine that the bad acting or bad writing of such a movie suddenly mattered to audiences that made the last three Transformers into blockbusters. John Carter had good acting and good (well, decent) writing, and it didn't do well, so its not like such elements are always rewarded. Simply put the audience has to want to see it, and my current take away is that audiences are no longer wowed by trailers full of imagery that looks too derivative (or will star Taylor Kitsch).

Completely agree. Two words: The Avengers. I can't stand this ignorant view that audiences have suddenly become savvier and more “refined” in their tastes. Honestly, go to the IMDB page for the film and read some of the idiotic theories that some people have as to why it flopped in the States.

Films like Battleship usually make plenty of money, and I have no doubt whatsoever that The Avengers' presence was the biggest problem it faced, much bigger than the idea that no one wanted to watch the film. Seriously, if Battleship was on its own, it would have opened to at least 45 million (and probably more). The biggest telling point is what happened with the international takings. Battleship was completely sailing (pun intended). It was on schedule to make at least 300 million overseas. Its first weekend, where it didn't even open everywhere, it made 55 million. In the second weekend it made 60 million, then in its third weekend it made a scant 23 million. What? What happened between the second and third weekends? The Avengers was released around the world. Game over. Basically, Universal, like all the other major studios, stupidly, as odd as it may sound, underestimated The Avengers.

Battleship has now made 230 million overseas. It will probably max out at about 235 or so. This is why 3D sort of makes sense, because international audiences eat it up. In a way I bet Universal and Hasbro regret not doing Battleship in 3D, because its already strong international gross would have been even stronger (upwards to 300 million). This was probably another reason behind Hasbro's thinking in this instance.

[Mr. Shokoti]

We have a better COBRA Commander, a Firefly that looks like Firefly, ninja, recognizable Joe vehicles and slightly more recognizable characters all around. The point is that this movie is a closer Joe flick than the last one, so it's an improvement. It's not 100% better, but it's a start.

Cobra Commander looks a little closer to his 80's design, but I'm not going to say he's better until I've actually seen the movie. As for Firefly or the vehicles, I haven't seen them yet. In the first movie, Destro ended up looking like Destro & the Baroness looked more like the 80's version than Lady Jaye does in the trailers. Hell, the costume of the direct-to-video Captain America movie of the 90's looked closer to the comics than Chris Evans did, but even I wouldn't say it was a better movie. I think there's more to just looking like the source material in making a faithful movie. I realize the commercials are edited that way on purpose, but so far this movie still looks to me like The Rock Fights An Evil Army rather than G.I. Joe. Having said that, I hated the trailers for the first movie but really enjoyed it. In fact, ouside of Clue, it's the only theatrical release based on a Hasbro toy that I do like.

- - - Updated - - -

There is a new report on AICN (so take it for what you will) about the movie and possible reasons for the move. They cover it in some detail, but this was interesting:

I didn't love Tatum as Duke, but I really didn't want to see the character killed off either(I don't know if that happened, but the trailer led me to think so). It will be funny if this ends up being the second time Duke is saved from a cinematic death.

[TheFallen]

I am not even going to get excited again when this movie finally gets here. GI Joe will always have a place in my heart, it was my biggest toyline as a kid, it was my introduction to comics but Hasbro have been mishandling it since its revival for the 25th Anniversary and I am sure some people would argue that they have mishandled it way before then.

Paramount should be taking the comics and transferring those stories to the big screen. The work is already done for them because the story is there. No need to polish a turd (if the early screening reports are correct) by doing more reshoots