PCP on DVD - G.I. Joe: Retaliation

I’m wrapping up my week of Channing Tatum posts here on the blog.  Ladies – I hope you’ve enjoyed getting a Tatum fix, I’m sure my wife did.  Today’s post is a review of G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Originally slated for a 2012 release, the film was pushed back until 2013 apparently for a 3D conversion, and reportedly for more scenes for Tatum as well, since he was blowing up last year between Magic Mike and 21 Jump Street. On with the review!

G.I. Joe: Retaliation – 2013, rated PG-13.  My rating: 7 out of 10.

On paper, G.I. Joe: Retaliation (hereafter GIJR) is a direct sequel to 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. However, this film jettisons quite a lot of the deadweight of the first film, and it is as much a reboot as it is a sequel. Gone is nearly all of the original cast, returning only Duke (Tatum) and Snake Eyes (Ray Park) on the side of the Joes and Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey, replacing Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Zartan (Arnold Vosloo), & Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) on the side of Cobra, in addition to the President of the U.S. (Jonathan Pryce) who was replaced by a Cobra duplicate at the end of the first film. Also gone is a majority of the campiness from the first film, with this film playing things more straight.

Newcomers to the cast include Firefly (Ray Stevenson), a bomb loving Cobra killer; Jaye (Adrienne Palicki), the Joes’ main female member; Roadblock (franchise Viagra Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), the new star of the Joes; and Joe Colton (Bruce Willis), a retired general allied with the Joes.

As the trailer makes rather obvious, Tatum’s Duke isn’t around for much of the film, after a surprise attack wipes out all of the Joes save for Jaye, Roadblock, & one other inconsequential guy, plus Snake Eyes who is off on a separate mission, maybe 15 minutes or so into the movie (sorry ladies, you’ll have to get your Tatum fix elsewhere). The survivors have to regroup, figure out who struck them and why, and strike back hard, all while stopping Cobra’s nefarious plot to take over the world.

Overall, the film is far superior to the 2009 original (although that isn’t exactly saying much, considering how weak the first one was). The action sequences are better, the effects less cheesy, and the story more realistic. Seeing London getting destroyed was pretty cool too, it was nice to see it not be New York City or Paris as it usually is in big summer blockbusters. Overall, the film is really The Rock’s film, not Tatum’s, and he shines here in a solid action role. I’ve always preferred him as an action star than a family film star, so it was nice to see him taking names and kicking ass all over the screen. But as The Rock’s action films go, this one doesn’t even stand up to some of his earlier films, such as my favorite of his The Rundown. So, I’d recommend that one over this, but this one wasn’t too bad, all things considered.

PCP on DVD - Side Effects

So, continuing with the Channing Tatum theme for this week’s reviews, here is my review of Side Effects, supposedly the last film Steven Soderbergh is planning to make any time soon.

Side Effects – 2013, rated R.  My rating: 8 out of 10.

Side Effects marks the third pairing of director Steven Soderbergh and actor Channing Tatum. Unlike their pairing Magic Mike which is a lead role for Tatum, here his role is more like in their other collaboration, Haywire, a smaller role within the film. Haywire is really more Jude Law and Rooney Mara’s film. This is also Soderbergh’s third pairing with Catherine Zeta-Jones, his others being Traffic and Ocean’s 12.

Rooney Mara plays Emily, wife of Channing Tatum’s recently paroled Martin, who has just gotten out of jail after committing insider trading. Emily is feeling depression and attempts to kill herself, resulting in her being placed in the psychiatric care of Jude Law’s Dr. Banks. Banks prescribes various anti-depressants to no effect in Emily, so on advice of her former doctor, Dr. Siebert (Zeta-Jones), he puts her on a new antidepressant that has a side effect of sleepwalking.

While sleepwalking, Emily gets herself into trouble, trouble severe enough to have disastrous consequences for her and Martin, and on Dr. Banks’ career.  I’d say more but the plot gets rather twisty and conspiratorial at this point and I don’t want to give away the ending, except to say that I enjoyed this film very much. All of the actors turned in great performances, and the film flows well through the twists and turns of the plot. Also, unlike many movies, this one actually got a lot of the mental health and psychiatry stuff correct, something my wife says is very rare in film. She's a mental health professional, so she would know.  Overall, I definitely recommend this film, it makes for a pretty good thriller.

PCP on DVD - 10 Years

Man, it seems like Channing Tatum, aka Charming Potato, is everywhere these days. I’ve seen him in Magic Mike, Haywire, The Vow, & 21 Jump Street all on DVD, and White House Down just hit theaters this summer as well. The guy seriously needs to take a vacation! I’ve got three other Tatum movies that I’ve caught on DVD recently, so I’m going to make this week have a Channing Tatum theme, with reviews of 10 Years, Side Effects, & GI Joe: Retaliation.  To start the week, here is a review of a lesser known Tatum movie that came out last year, the indie flick 10 Years.

10 Years – 2012, rated PG-13.  My rating:  7 out of 10.

10 Years is an ensemble dramatic comedy about a group of high school friends reuniting for their 10 year anniversary out of high school. The cast includes Channing Tatum, his real life wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Justin Long, Kate Mara, Ari Graynor, Chris Pratt, & Rosario Dawson, amongst many others. The friends reunite for the party, but find that in some ways they have changed dramatically since high school, in other ways they are still holding on to old feuds, loves, and slights from a decade ago. Will old romances rekindle? Will new ones form? Will everyone just get too drunk and pass out? Those are the sort of questions answered by the movie.

As a coming of age story that I saw not long after the time for my own 10 year reunion, I definitely felt I could identify with what a lot of the characters were experiencing as they struggled to adjust to adulthood responsibilities and starting families. All members of the ensemble cast turn in great performances. I think if you are of the age of your late twenties or early thirties that you will enjoy this film. If you fall outside that age range though, this film isn’t really for you. If you have an hour and a half to kill though and want a good quiet film to enjoy, then you’ll probably like this one though and I recommend you check it out.