So, just got back from seeing the movie...god DAMN it was FUN! Not perfect, didn't feel terribly cannon...but fuck it, it was a FANTASTIC time, and I came out feeling almost high. I'm not the first one to say it, but I agree that the plot and action reminds me of something I would have invented playing with my action figures as a kid (that's a good thing.)

*minor spoilers here, although nothing that isn't revealed pretty early on in the movie*


Only bad part was the relationship between Duke and Baroness. Not handled well at all. It could have worked, maybe, but the way its done here it just felt lousy and out of place. Whenever they got into it, I just started feeling bored and wanted to get back to the action.

*spoiler end*

Best part: easily Stormshadow and Snake Eyes. Their fights, their history, all awesome. General Hawk was seriously cool too. Duke and Ripcord, unfortunately, feel rather like afterthoughts, at least to me.

The accelerator suits weren't bad at all, in fact they only played a major role in one scene, and that was done well.

Cobra Commander's look, while not what we wanted it to be, actually works. Not in and of itself, but because it lays the groundwork for the look we remember. I have a feeling that in the next movie (assuming their is one) he'll put the famous blue helmet over the silver facemask he adapts at the end of this movie, and things will fall into place. I get the feeling the same thing will happen with the Joes, too...that this movie was really just laying the ground work, and that things will start to fall into place in the next movie. I hope so.

Anyway, long story short, the preemptive hate for the movie was unwarranted imho. It didn't have the look of the old cartoon or action figures, but it was still damn good, and I think it laid the groundwork for even better things to come. Here's hoping.

I really, really thought it was going to be too. But it wasn't, least I didn't think so. Like I said, it wasn't perfect, and I really did miss the unique look of all the Joes and Cobras, but I understood why they were missing and where I think the franchise is going. And more to the point, it was a good time, and (almost) never boring. And more importantly, not insulting like Transformers 2 was.

Ah yeah, I forgot Baroness turning "good" (although there is SOME basis for that in cannon, isn't there? Either way it still wasn't great) and those damn lips on Snakeyes, you're right. Its not quite nipples on the Batsuit bad, but its pretty close. SO UNESSESARY!

FNJ wrote:

I enjoyed the movie immensely, but there were problems. there's no reason to go into detail about them, as tehy're the same problems that everyone else seems to have with it, but I will say that one of the people who went with me was a huge joe fan, and he enjoyed it too. maybe we're just over analyzing films like this and TF because we're movie fans, and don't realize that these are live action adaptions of cartoons that were basically 30 minute commercials for toylines.

Well, I think for all its flaws Joe was a pretty good movie too. It wasn't a very good JOE movie (so really that means it pretty much fails on the most important level), but it wasn't bad as an action movie goes.

TF, on the other hand, especially TF2, were really, really awful examples of the filmmaking art on almost all levels.

^ Too much talking and LaBeoufing, and military jerking off, and not enough giant robots beating the shit out of each other.