G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA is IRON MAN on steroids with the good guys and the villains slugging it out wearing “accelerator” suits. It’s proof you can make soldiers look tough without using the “f” word. However, there is enough language and more than enough violence to warrant caution for older children.

This one is about as patriotic as they come in making soldiers look honorable. It’s also as far fetched as they come in making the villains despicable. It opens in 1470 with a French arms salesman being put in a hot iron mask for selling arms to both sides in a war. The movie jumps forward to the future, where a descendent of the notorious arms dealer has perfected a horrific weapon that, rather than exploding, devours everything in its path until a signal is sent telling it to stop.

An elite group of American troops is assigned to transport the first four such warheads from the manufacturer to an American base. The convoy is attacked by some villains with incredible new weapons. A unit of “G.I. Joe” special forces comes to the rescue with their own amazing weapons and tactics. The only survivors in the original convoy are Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans). Ana (Sienna Miller) is the lead villain in the attack, and it’s revealed she was once the fiancée of Duke.

Duke and Ripcord are taken to the super secret G.I. Joe base where they receive training to become part of the troop. The villains attack the base and take the warheads. More chases, battles and intrigue ensue.

G.I. JOE is an exciting, but intense, battle between good and evil. The heroes behave with honor and the villains do not, so the difference between them is made clear.

This kind of a movie provides a fix for those wanting to see good triumph over evil with tremendous force. While this has happened at times, as in World War II, the greater battle between good and evil is fought with words and ideas. Thus, at this time, there’s a greater need for righteousness than there is for adrenalin and testosterone.

America is unlikely to fall to a military strike. What Hitler and Stalin could not impose on us with their armies we are accepting peacefully because we are morally weak. More than super-troops in accelerator suits, America needs Christians willing to defend the right to life, the true meaning of marriage and the moral values that make our civilization civil.

G. I. JOE is based on the Hasbro toy that has itself evolved over the years from being a World War II soldier to becoming more like IRON MAN. It’s getting difficult to make a movie with more spectacular violence than the typical video game popular with boys. Here Paramount has made a valiant effort. Parents should know the movie does have plenty of foul language, some scenes of melting faces are nightmarish, and intense action violence that require caution for pre-teens and other children who might be affected by such things.