G.I. Joe is a franchise that is seemingly gaining steam. The first film was pretty much universally lauded as being sub-par, by both fans and non-fans of the franchise. The second film G.I. Joe: Redemption, directed by Jon M. Chu, was seen by most as a marked improvement. I mean come on… what doesn’t get better when you add The Rock to it?
Low-blow… but nobody made him take this role. He is The Rock after all
Aside from a few early missteps, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has become Hollywood’s Mr. Fix-it. Is your action franchise faultering? Just add The Rock to it and it will drive up ticket sales. Whether it was his addition to the G.I. Joe franchise, reinvigorating the Fast and Furious or even possibly joining the DC cinematic universe, his addition to any action project means the testosterone level will jump up a few notches.
We had to balance out the Tooth Fairy picture somehow…
According to Variety, they report that Dwayne Johnson and Adrienne Palicki are among the likely bets to return. This is what they said about Johnson’s level of involvement in the third chapter of the series:
Plot details are vague right now but sources say this installment is expected to revolve around Johnson’s character Roadblock.
This is of no surprise. Johnson is a charismatic and surprisingly strong dramatic actor. Why not take advantage of him being on set? While being the lead in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, it still seemed as if his addition to the cast was late or shoe-horned in. The key is whether or not the creative team has a good story in which to craft a screenplay. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventure thinks that they do and shared this bit of information with ScreenRant:
“I have to say I’m really excited about what we’ve come up with on G.I. Joe 3. I think it’s one of the best ideas for a sequel I’ve ever run into, and I think the audience is going to be really, really happy with us.”
That is actually very encouraging. The franchise this far has seemingly put story on the back-burner. Bonaventure has hired Jonathan Lemkin (Shooter, The Devil’s Advocate) to craft the screenplay around this great idea that they have. Lemkin actually seems like a good fit for the project. Shooter was a film that is better movie than it’s packaging would suggest. In fact, it’s very easy to envision Mark Wahlberg’s character as a former Joe on the run. If they can translate the tone, sensible structure and pacing for the sequel, while making Johnson the firm lead, we may get the best G.I. Joe film yet.
Do you think the G.I. Joe franchise still has life in it? What can they do to improve the franchise? They’ve already blown up Paris. Should they kick it up a notch and blow up the world this time?
Sources: Variety, ScreenRant