Variety
"[T]he pic expectedly packs some eye-popping sights and a nifty collection of gadgets and gizmos." 08/06/2009A.V. Club
"[D]irector Stephen Sommers has the story play out via a series of closely chained setpieces....Exciting and consistently well-managed." -- Grade: B 08/13/2009 Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "Stephen Sommers marshals the mayhem with the same hectic enthusiasm as his previous live-action cartoons." 10/01/2009 Variety 7 of 10
Launched in 1964 as a series of plastic military figures and reworked in comic and cartoon form any number of times since, the G.I. Joe team underwent its most significant transformation in 1983, when its ranks of U.S. personnel expanded to include elite soldiers from around the globe. The screenplay by Stuart Beattie, David Elliot and Paul Lovett sticks to that path, with Uncle Sam's representatives at the forefront of a multicultural crew on what is always referred to as an international mission...In the not-too-distant future, regular Army buddies Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are transporting a deadly weapon, capable of "eating" buildings and even whole cities, that's been manufactured by Scottish arms magnate McCullen (Christopher Eccleston). Intending to steal his own device and hold the world to ransom, McCullen, a member of the evil organization Cobra, dispatches private army superfighters Storm Shadow (South Korean superstar Byung-hun Lee), a ninja dressed in natty white threads, and the Baroness (Sienna Miller), Duke's ex-g.f., who favors slinky leather jumpsuits...As helmed by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy franchise, Van Helsing), the pic expectedly packs some eye-popping sights and a nifty collection of gadgets and gizmos. Best of the bunch is the Stan Winston Studio-created "accelerator suit," allowing the G.I Joe squad to sprint around Paris at 40 miles per hour and destroy half the city while attempting to save it from McCullen's attack...While thesping is not the main game here, having a cast of bright young things certainly helps, and Quaid gets in a few nice John Wayne-like moments as the no-nonsense boss. Widescreen visuals are OK, though some effects finishing looks rushed...When it can be heard over the cacophony of sound effects, Alan Silvestri's score hits the right notes. Other technical aspects are on the mark. - Richard Kuipers
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