Report: Stephen Sommers to return to helm 'GI Joe' sequel
Half the battle or not, did we really want to know?
Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes Fight
It has been a few months of sleepless nights, cold sweats and stress induced skin rashes, but we can all rest easy now: It's being reported that Stephen Sommers will return to direct the sequel to "G.I. Joe." Whew!
After conflicting reports from the post production period of "Rise of Cobra" about Sommers being locked out of the editing room, The Wrap is reporting that all conflict has been resolved, the studio likes the draft of the script that "Zombieland" scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick turned in, and all is right with the world. As an added cherry to this sundae of news, Channing Tatum is reportedly returning to reprise his role as "Duke." OK, setting snark to "off."
As a youngster, this writer realized early on that although the G.I. Joe cartoons were lots of fun, they were also slipping through a loophole in the laws that prohibited excessive commercials being shown to children. By producing a show featuring their toys, Hasbro had managed to get half hour commercials for their products on the air. It's a tribute to the writers and animators at DIC and other producers of the cartoon series that so many of us grew to love those characters and consider them our own.
In a way G.I. Joe may have helped us become desensitized to advertising, making madison avenue execs really work for their supper when Gen X came of age, shrugged its shoulders at all their TV noise, and got on the internet.
An early fan of Sommer's, I've watched his product mutate from kick-ass romps with heart ("Deep Rising") to strange soulless endeavors that leave one feeling kind of headachy and violated. ("Van Helsing") No matter how we feel about his return to G.I. Joe, the two kind of belong together.
Here's the trailer to last year's "Rise of Cobra," can you tell me what the heck's going on in it?
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Los Angeles has changed since 1990, and Drew McWeeny, all-around Chauncey Gardner of movie fandom, has seen it all as an industry insider and screenwriter who wrote for 12 years as "Moriarty" for Ain't It Cool News.
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August 4, 2010 at 2:17PM EST Reply to CommentI really did loathe Rise of Cobra. I honestly couldn't believe how bad it was, especially when considered next to Warren Ellis' superb short animated feature, G.I. Joe: Resolute. I don't know if even the Zombieland writers are good enough to compensate for Channing Tatum's incredible lack of a personality.
dudehere
August 4, 2010 at 2:36PM EST Reply to CommentI liked it. Actually, I loved it. I thought it delivered the action and the goods on several levels. But I did hate Channing Tatum as Duke. Then again, I never was much of a Duke fan, so it didn't bother me all that much. Now, Scarlett, on the other hand...
OhScotty
August 4, 2010 at 3:15PM EST Reply to CommentThe real questions is whether or not Joseph Gordon-Levitt's coming back as Cobra? I might see it if he's in, otherwise I'm out.
Paul
August 4, 2010 at 4:25PM EST Reply to CommentRise of Cobra truly was one of the worst movies I've ever seen, and I knew it right when I saw the trailer with the stupid accelerator suits and acid missiles. It was just like everything people complain about in Michael Bay movies but worse. And I actually liked Sommers' Mummy movies.
Here's a big tip for the finale: ICE #@$%ING FLOATS MORON!
August 13, 2010 at 7:18PM ESTionjohnny
August 4, 2010 at 5:13PM EST Reply to Commentother than the 5 minutes of awesome ninja action, the movie sucked.
but don't sell GI JOE so short, Larry Hana's comics were superb.
besides, it's not like Transformers et al. weren't the same brand of toy-selling crap...
August 4, 2010 at 5:14PM ESTpants Larry Hama weaved an intricate sophisticated world in the 80s...unfortunately Hollywood and Hasbro are determined to dumb it down for today's intellectually challenged audiences
October 4, 2010 at 9:31PM ESTSerg
August 4, 2010 at 6:52PM EST Reply to CommentAnother Piece of Crap on the way.
Might as well call it "GI.Joe: Rise of the Fallen".
Crap on my childhood again.
Primogen
August 4, 2010 at 8:51PM EST Reply to CommentI saw "G.I. Joe" on an airline flight from Japan. The altitude was the only thing that kept me from leaving the theater.
lem
August 4, 2010 at 9:58PM EST Reply to CommentI actually thought that it was exactly what it set out to be, a live action cartoon/ toy commercial. There wasn't enough callbacks to the old show that would make me put it on my shelf, but I wasn't the right demographic for it anyway (I'm 30). Just like Transformers, and the old TV shows in that matter, GI Joe was created with a toy market in mind, a new generation of toy buyers. If they had made it all gritty and realistic, they wouldn't be selling any toys. I'm indifferent on the idea of a sequel, but I'm definitely not against one.
DAGOBAH
August 5, 2010 at 12:49AM EST Reply to CommentI went into Cobra thinking it was going to be a bag of shite, but ended up loving it! (but still thinking Tatum's a douche)
It knows what it is, at no point does it ever try to be something it's not like certain Bay films. It's a big, dumb action film with heaps of guns&gadgets. It's not profound in any way shape of form but it entertains to no end, and I would totally pay to see the sequel, especially if Levitt returns as Cobra!
And spot on, Sommers should marry G.I.Joe, cos they were meant to be together.
Vern
August 5, 2010 at 3:49AM EST Reply to CommentPart 1 was a terrible movie, but I kind of loved it. Just so shamelessly full of ninjas and jetpacks and lasers and masks and silly names and a refreshing lack of unfunny comic relief other than the one unfunny comic relief character. I laughed through most of the movie instead of feeling trampled and pissed on by it like with the Transformables. So I will watch the sequel, but I would've been more excited if they decided to blow our minds by tricking a good director into doing it. My top choice would be Paul Verhoeven, followed by Isaac Florentine.
And in defense of Channing Tatum he's actually good in the surprisingly topnotch movie FIGHTING. He could put a little more effort into the paycheck movies, though.
JoeK
August 5, 2010 at 11:50AM EST Reply to CommentTime warp this movie to an age where a segment of fandom didn't morph their expectations for it into Saving Private Ryan territory and it makes perfect sense.
The Paris set piece is one of the best action, sound and fury sequences in recent memory as well and the movie is for young boys, not arrested adolescents, though I struggle with why they can't appreciate any of it.
August 13, 2010 at 7:24PM EST Reply to CommentI liked GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
Yes, it was cheesy. The dialog was horrible. The script was lame (*cough* Writer's Strike *cough*) and the SFX were shoddy, given the budget ($170 million, and it looks like that?!)
But the film was not pretentious, ala Michael Bay's Transformers. It knew exactly what it was supposed to do. It didn't stretch for some agonizing 150 minutes.
Just 2 hours. Simplistic story. Giant-ass action sequences. Some goofy humour. And lots skin-tight leather clothing for everyone.
So far, everything I've read about the sequel indicates that the makers knew where they tripped first time around, and are actively working to improve that. Color me pleased. And excited.
pants
October 4, 2010 at 9:29PM EST Reply to CommentGI Joe: Rise of Cobra (Ugh) just another 80s Hollywood casualty