For a kid's film, this movie has generated intense controversy. Scenes were censored and rewritten. There is some fairly graphic imagery for a teen film. And die-hard fans have debated the movie. For newcomers, GI Joe is America's elite forces dedicated to countering a terrorist group, Cobra, led by Cobra Commander and Serpentor. The stunning introduction has Pythona literally pummel doznes of men in the first couple of minutes. The major angst over the film is precisely over the introduction of not just new characters but a new angle on the GI Joe universe. The series had been advertised as a military series but the film is clearly set in a kind of sci-fi universe. Cobra has (always) been part of a larger, ancient kindgom of snake-people called Cobra-La, determined to genetically destroy humanity.
For my own part, I didn't take the shift in perspective as annoying but it's understandable why many fans are in uproar. The real problem is the plot. The first half of the film is stunning visually and in terms of story-telling and clearly borrows many elements from anime. But the second half is disappointing as the Joes rally themslves to invade Cobra-La. The ending is so corny and preposterous that it negates much of the early excitement in the film. Still, all in all, the animation is crisp. The new characers are mostly engaging and funny. Alas, due to the sheer number of characters, even the major caonical figures like Destro or Duke are given far too few lines. But given the time and place (only the mid-1980s), the film is, admittedly, an inferior but still worthy companion to the Transformers film that preceded it.
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