I just saw the extended action cut, my first time watching the film, last night.


A few thoughts (spoilers ahead):

1) Too much of the movie seemed to rely on characters losing all intelligence in order to move the plot along. Often it was like watching an old Sunbow toon. The Joe team sets up camp waaaaaaay out in the open with absolutely no security set up? And then this elite team is just wiped out clean in a few seconds flat.
And then warden James finds out Storm Shadow framed Snake-Eyes.... and promptly does nothing with this revelation even though the entire reason the Joe team got wiped out was because Snake-Eyes supposedly killed the president of Pakistan. You'd think he'd have given a call to the US or the UN or Pakistan immediately considering what a big freaking deal that is.

2) The fights were a bit too one-sided. Snake-Eyes and Jinx cut through Red Ninjas with ease. The Joes take out all the Cobras with ease. Roadblock takes out all the HISS tanks with ease. The only fights that had more of a give-and-take were one-on-one and there were too few of those, and they were too brief. The Cobras never really get to shine the way the Viper Commandos and Neo-Vipers shone in Rise of Cobra, and the HISS Tanks never do much but drive around and get blown up.

3) I really didn't like this idea of the Joes now becoming public knowledge. I always liked the secret team, first movie around G.I. Joe didn't "technically" exist. Now there are press conferences being given about them.

4) Considering how Firefly was basically set up as being some sort of physical equal to Roadblock, I'm disappointed that Hasbro made all his figures standard size instead of matching Roadblock's height.

5) I have no idea what the deal with Zartan is anymore. He framed Storm Shadow... and then trained him further? And... revealed his duplicity? I have no idea. That entire sequence was so awkwardly set up. Why did Zartan set up Storm Shadow? Why did he then take him in? Considering Storm Shadow was just a kid, there is no way this was somehow setting him up to joining Cobra, so why? And it kind of clashes with Stormy and Zartan's relationship in Rise of Cobra, where Storm Shadow clearly didn't like Zartan. And because they basically had Jonathan Pryce play Zartan during the entire climax, it didn't make for an exciting final encounter.

Overall, I liked it because it was fast-paced and action-packed... but there are all these things bugging me in the back of my mind.

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Nah, I don't think you're overanalyzing. That's the kind of stuff that non-Joe fans point at as making the movie weaker. While we might wanna just see Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow facing off in a 3D hallway, non-fans are probably looking at this more like a regular action movie. The Joes might be heroes, but they can't teleport! Would a quick (2min?) shot of them stowing away in a cargo jet have been too much? Otherwise, it's Nuclear Missile Rescue-CUT-White House-CUT-Joe Death Raid-CUT-news conference-CUT-Airport in the desert-CUT-Roadblock's Hood, etc. That's a lot of scene changes in a very short time.

I'm wondering if the North Korea mission, while cool to watch, was really necessary at all? That would've allowed another 5-10 minutes for scenes that flow the story along without so much Joe magic.

Oh yeah, and that whole "Duke Playing Videogames" part; that could've been cut.

I almost forgot one more remark:

Zandar is awesome and how dare Hasbro not make a toy of him. Didn't even have to put him in a suit.
I'm gonna have to find Matt Gerald's old Avatar toy and make my own.

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I actually liked 2 it just felt really rushed and left allot to be desired when it comes to the conflict between Joe and Cobra


Since we're spit balling Ideas...
How about for GI Joe 3 they just use a pile of new joes just like they did for GI Joe 2.

keep Snake Eyes and Roadblock add four more Joes, three more Cobra

GI Joe 3: Revenge – Rise of the Crimson Guard
- G.I. Joe:
- Joe Colton only seen in a few cut scenes. In Washington D.C. dealing with other Brass (Jugglers)
- Roadblock trains a new team of 3 Joes
- Shooter: US Air Force Marksman(Female) - Black female who feels the need to constantly prove herself
- Leatherneck USMC - Hotshot Marine who doesn't accept training well, but is super intuitive
- Wetsuit - US Navy SEAL - by the book, very blunt doesn't know people,

-Snake Eyes is thought to be at his retreat in the mountains of California but he is secretly monitoring a planted intelligence asset.
- Chuckles: Army intelligence - Undercover and needs to be pulled out

the Joes need to justify their existence after the events at Ft. Sumpter and Cobra's apparent demise. Colton learns of a hot shot CID boy who’s been tracking down leads but his commanders think he is crazy and file paperwork for a section 8. Chuckles as he is known makes a huge discovery in Florida but is forced to go undercover as a Cobra Recruit or risk being discovered and killed. Joe Colton sends Snake Eyes to watch Chuckles' back and files to have chuckles transferred to the Joes. Roadblock struggles with ornery recruits and wonders where Snake Eyes is
Chuckles is now working for a Cobra asset only known as the "Major" who has been scheming since Cobra Commander's second capture. The Major is well connected, funded and protected (surrounded by hi tech commandos he calls his creepers). Chuckles is doing well and rising through Cobra's ranks quickly making many, like the major's right hand man Copperhead, jealous. Chuckles just can't seem to figure out why all the money points to Extensive Enterprises, one of the largest corporations in the world and why Cobra is suddenly painting everything red.
Will Chuckles get discovered? Can he make the connection from EE to the quickly resurging Cobra? Will Roadblock’s team be ready for the war that is about to erupt.

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What if everyone wearing this new red uniform takes off their helmets and we discover they all have Chuckles' face?

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That would be pretty cool

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Only problem..could be minor..Cobra Comander got away in Retaliation.

the jump cuts kinda made the film feel rushed, I want to see the extended cut. I know i'm hashing out something that has been debated since the film came out, but Duke...I not entirely sure he is gonna stay dead. In the film you see him blown to the side, we never see a body(the guy Roadblock pulled the dog tags off is not Duke, the body armor gives it away). If there is one thing that can be argued as saying Duke really is dead is the fact that Roadblock had his dog tags that Colton later read.If they want to bring him back its really easy to say "well we found his dog tags and figured he had been blown apart in the explosion" (I'm feeling my Star Trek logic about Kirk's death coming out). Im a Duke fan, not a Tatum fan and I feel that the death of Duke helped push the story along in this film. I'm hoping that the next film reveals that there were other teams of joes that survived. The idea of all the orginal 13, save SE, are dead is kinda depressing.

There were some plot lines that could have been explained a little more or had some sense of being forced. Prime example the Storm Shadow - Zartan plot. I get that Zartan framed him, but why? Was it to train him for Cobra, wait Cobra didn't exist then and in this story CC wasn't CC until this film (technically end of last film). I think it has a lot of potential for a further subplot in the next film, so we'll just have to wait and see.

the characters were done pretty well, although I would have liked to seen more with CC, he just kinda shows up and sounds menacing then leaves. Firefly was cool, Jinx translated very well to the screen, Blindmaster...idk I just kept waiting for him to break out "Arashikage aint nobody to f*&k with" while doing a hand guester making an "A". Roadblock was awesome, Dwayne Johnson done a great job, same for Bruce Willis, but the Bruce Willis one is kind of a given...he rocks to begin with. Flint and LJ were done well, the only thing with Flint is that I cant get used to him or Duke for that matter not having the voices they did on the Sunbow cartoon. Idk why, FLint was portayed really well (a little quiet at times) but I just cant get those voices out of my head... I might have another problem that isn't related to G.I.Joe...
I was kinda leery about LJ when I heard she was gonna be in this one, but she came out pretty good...and she's hot, so that helps.
The SE-SS story was really cool, enough said. But the one actor I have to give the most credit to is Jonathan Price, that guy nailed it. The whole nuclear summit scene, he was awesome.
Overall I loved the movie, it was a definite improvement over Rise of Cobra. I cant wait till the 3rd comes out.
Early on I heard people's doubts about Jon Chu directing this, but I think he done a great job. In the words of Zartan "gotta love the little guy"

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That was going to be my joke. Like this, only in reverse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tp-N8j6oSE

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Does the added features address how Cobra Commander can get out of his icicle, look at a satellite, then get it into orbit without anyone seeing any type of orbital launch?

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Definitely not. But I can suspend my belief on that point. CC pops out of prison and there's a whole Cobra running without him, building tanks and whatnot. Assumedly, either Project Zeus was long in the works (pre-RoC) or someone else is running Cobra. The character might have stolen his scenes, but he wasn't very vital to the story. I mean, Zartan is the one playing the scenario out with the world leaders; might as well have been his idea.