The G.I. Joes must not only confront their enemy, Cobra, but ​threats
​from within the government that jeopardize their very existence. 

ACTION/SCI-FI

G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)

Directed by Jon M. Chu

Written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Jonathan Pryce, Byung-hun Lee,
​Elodie Yung, Ray Stevenson, D.J. Cotrona, Adrianne Palicki, Channing Tatum, Ray Park, Luke Bracey, Arnold Vosloo

Sequel to 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Based on characters from Hasbro

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Caleb Leger

February 29, 2016

8/10

Retaliation is a sequel done right. Whereas the original felt like a movie that happened to feature the Joes, the sequel feels like an actual Joes movie. It gets rid of everything that didn't work in the first one, thus creating a film that hews more closely to the source material. With some fantastic action scenes and the alway reliable Dwayne Johnson, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is a very fun sequel. 

Pretty much none of the Joes except Channing Tatum return for this outing. Even Tatum is only in the it in the beginning before his character is killed off. It's a shame too as I liked him even more in this one and felt he shared great chemistry with Dwayne Johnson. Speaking of which, Johnson is a lot of fun is this as Roadblock. He brings his usual charm and wit to the role, making for a fun protagonist. On the Cobra side of things, the Commander himself looks a lot better this time around. He actually looks like the character from the cartoon and is the main villain this time around. Once again, the sequel does a phenomenal job with Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. Say what you will about these two films, but those two are seemingly always done justice. Retaliation also features some really cool action set piece moments. My particular favorite being the mountainside fight sequence between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow's men. It's definitely the highlight of the film. 

Unlike the first film, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is a much more faithful take on these iconic characters. Like the first one, it is also a lot of fun. The performances are good and the action scenes are appropriately bombastic. If the filmmakers continue this trend with the upcoming third film, this franchise could just keep getting better.