G.I. Joe 2 — I can’t decide if I want you or not. On one hand, the first movie was a generally solid action flick for popcorn munching and nostalgia purposes. On the other hand, since sequels are usually of lesser quality than the original films, I’m worried that G.I. Joe 2 won’t even make the grade of “generally solid flick for popcorn munching and nostalgia purposes.” The announcement last week that Jon Chu (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never) was selected to direct the film didn’t help assuage my worries, especially since Chu lacks any action film directing experience. But I don’t even know what to think about the latest news: the release date for G.I. Joe 2 has been set, and, more importantly, the characters that are expected to return in the film were announced.
However, the announced list of returning characters is a lot smaller than you might imagine. I mean, it’s A LOT smaller: three. According to a tweet by Rachel Nichols (who played Scarlett in G.I. Joe), the only characters that will be returning are Duke, Snake Eyes, and Storm Shadow (who were played by Channing Tatum, Ray Park, and Lee Byung-hun respectively, although it isn’t known if any of them have worked out deals to appear in the sequel). That’s quite surprising considering its missing key characters like the Baroness, Destro, Ripcord, and Cobra Commander — and will we not be getting a resolution to the Zartan posing as the U.S. President plot? It’s likely that G.I. Joe 2 could have a much smaller budget because the first film didn’t make as much as expected at the box office (although Box Office Mojo reports the film cleared $300 million worldwide). This gives the sequel the opportunity to delve into the many G.I. Joe characters that didn’t appear in the first film, so it could potentially work. Nonetheless, it is a bit surprising that we don’t have a villain yet — G.I. Joe 2 will presumably follow the storyline in which Storm Shadow switches allegiance from Cobra to G.I. Joe because of his relationship to his “sword brother” Snake Eyes, so G.I. Joe 2 will need at least one other big villain to pit the Joes against. Zombieland screenwriters Paul Wenick and Rhett Reese, who are penning the script, must have some hard work to do!
In addition, Paramount has announced that the sequel will be released on August 10, 2012 and is likely to begin production this fall. Since this is only a week after the release of The Bourne Legacy and the Total Recall remake, G.I. Joe 2 might have to fight a bit for the action movie audience that it craves.
Are you concerned at all about the latest announcements about G.I. Joe 2? Does no Baroness break your heart? Let us know your thoughts below!
Recent Comments