While not very smart, Stephan Sommers G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra did offer enough cool action scenes to make it a fun action movie. The movie wound up being a success at the box office, but a bit of a failure with critics. With enough financial success to warrant a sequel, but a less than enthusiastic critical response, the franchise turned in a new direction. With Sommers out, dance movie director Jon Chu took over directing the sequel. With a rock-solid cast, heart pounding action scenes, and a tendency never to get too indulgent, Chu is able to craft a wholly entertaining action flick.

But getting from point A to point B in the production of this movie was not easy. Filming took place late 2011 with a release date of June 29, 2012. The film went through all the usual marketing; a trailer was even aired during the Super Bowl. But then, a month before the film's scheduled release, Paramount announced that the release of the movie would be pushed back 10 months. The reason for the delay involved converting the movie to 3D. Also, Channing Tatum's star power increased dramatically in 2012 with the releases of 21 Jump Street and Magic Mike. There were (false) rumors that another reason for the delay was to increase Tatum's part in this movie.

Anyways, this movie picks up where the first one left off. Zartan is still disguised as the President, and the Cobra Commander is still imprisoned. The fake President orders the termination of the G.I. Joes. The entire force is wiped-out, including their leader, Duke. The only ones that remain are Roadblock, Lady Jaye, and Flint. Snake Eyes is also off on his own mission to bring Storm Shadow to justice. The remaining Joes plan their retaliation against the Cobras' who killed their brothers in arms.

One of the improvements that this movie has over its predecessor is its cast. The chemistry between the actors is also much improved this time around. The criminally underrated Dwayne Johnson stars as Roadblock. And what more could you want from an action star? Of course he fits the bill for the action scenes, he has charisma, his comedic timing is great, and he is effortlessly funny. Johnson isn't new to rejuvenating franchises, and he does a bang-up job here. His chemistry with Channing Tatum at the beginning of the movie is great. But sadly, Tatum's character Duke is killed off 20 minutes into the movie. I can understand the thinking behind killing him off, but I still can't help but think of the possibilities if they hadn't. The movie would have been quite a bit better if Duke had survived. To have Dwayne Johnson and Channing Tatum battle along-side each other for the entire movie would have been amazing.

Sadly, instead of Tatum, we have D.J. Cotrona as Flint. And he has absolutely no personality. None. Sure, he has a few cool action moments, but he is largely useless. On the other hand, Adrianne Palicki turns in a good performance as Lady Jaye. She easily makes Lady Jaye a character to root for. This is the second time I've seen Palicki recently (the other being Red Dawn) and I must say that I am impressed. I hope she's able to get more projects lined up.

The rest of the cast all give usable performances. Bruce Willis isn't given a whole lot to do. His performance is similar to his one in RED. Jonathan Pryce role is expanded in this movie. After not being much of a factor in Rise of Cobra, Pryce is sometimes absurdly villainous here. He is a great actor and he gets to have some fun here.

Much like its predecessor, the action is the best thing about this movie. And thankfully, the action here is much closer to the ground. By the end of the first movie, the action was so ridicules that it wasn't even fun. The action here never reaches such low levels of stupidity. The highlight of the movie comes about halfway through. This scene involves Snake Eyes and Jinx fighting other ninjas on a mountainside. This is the best action scene of the entire franchise so far. I'd go as far as to say that this is the best action scene from any movie based off a Hasbro toy. As the Burj Khalifa scene was to Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol, so too is the ninja mountainside fight to G.I. Joe: Retaliation. All the best action scenes are with Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.

With a plot that is so ridicules, it's hard for a movie to be much better than this. There are other errors along the way, like not enough Cobra Commander, RZA's Blind Master, and occasionally poor pacing. Still, Retaliation easily improves over Rise of Cobra with a winning cast, loads of fun, and solid action including one of the best action scenes I've seen in a popcorn action movie. You will have to turn your brain off, but you will be entertained. And what more can you ask for from a movie made to sell toys.

"You're looking at an advanced weapons system capable of destroying each of your countries 14 times over. 15 in the case of North Korea, just to be safe." 6.5/10