With changes in plot, character and settings as well as slightly better writing this could have been an amazing James Bond film instead of a less than mediocre G.I. Joe flick.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Story:

Cobra launches a comeback, taking over America in the process. Can the Joes take back America from the evil Cobra?

Review:

Everyone who liked the first G.I. Joe movie remembers how awesome it was, right?

I personally thought it was too campy and not serious enough, but after watching Retaliation, I have to admit campy was a better move than serious.

Granted, this is almost all action sequences with a tiny bit of story, which makes sense considering they covered most of the story and background story in the first movie. But the action is boring if not too quick, there's no build up, and the lack of original premise was too visible to be dismissed. It felt like an overly dumbed down, overly generic action movie. If you're wondering why this is a problem, it's because it's too big of a jump stylistically from its previous installment to adjust to comfortably.

That being said, if you can really and I mean really leave your mind at the door, you might find Retaliation to be somewhat enjoyable. Just don't expect something as amazing as the first one or even an action film that is on equal footing with recent action films.