G.I.JOE - The (live action) Movie: rundown

This is a little slice of geekdom that is sure to have the geeks come out in droves upon it's release. The show has a fan base that is as wide as it is masculine. While many boys grew up with the toys and the TV show, some of us actually read the comic book, which is the source for most of the film. Here's the official, personality drained, Hollywood-ized version of the logo:



Truth be told, if it wasn't for stumbling across a G.I.Joe comic ($.60 cover price) I probably never would have read any comic books at all - a beloved hobby/obsession that consumed a portion of my young life financially comparable to that of an adult meth head. It also means that I probably never would have learned to like reading in general so early in life, and paved the way for a interest in writing and storytelling. I may not have pursued drawing and art like I did, with innocent, personal interest.

I digress...

The comic was often much cooler than the show, with the exception of certain stories, of course. Not only did everybody had a back story(Cobra Commander was once a used car salesman), but many tied to each other by mere degrees of separation (StormShadow and Snake-Eyes' shared dark history/fued was triggered by the interloping of Zartan). Masterminded through it's Best years by writer Larry Hama, the book was my first introduction to long form, high-continuity, serialized storytelling. (You might be familiar with this concept if you're a fan of shows like Sopranos, Lost, 24 or
Battlestar Galactica, or have ever tried to read any X-men comics.) Luckily for all of us, and the movie-going public as a whole, they have brought Mr.Hama aboard the production in a writing consultant capacity.

Yeah, I liked the TV show but the comic was on another level, mostly, it didn't talk down to me. That was so refreshing as a kid. Eventually, I sought out the back issues of the two-parter that told (parts of) Snake-Eyes origin. I learned why he wore that mask and why he didn't speak on the TV show. His face always obscured by shadows. Many issues later, I saw what was underneath it, and, yeah man, I would wear a mask too. here's a pic of Ray Park in costume from the production. So far so good.


The official "plot" is this:

From the Egyptian desert to deep below the polar ice caps, the elite co-ed GI JOE team, based from it’s headquarters The Pit, deploys the latest in next-gen spy and military equipment to fight crooked arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious COBRA organization from plunging the world into chaos.

IGN.COM put together this independent report on the status the the movies cast and such: