Get ready for a movie that gives any 007 outing a run for its money. GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra has everything a great action movie should have: exciting car chases along the Champs Elysees, a classic Bond-style villain, an evil, mad scientist, stunningly beautiful women, handsome heroes, a great ninja fight sequence and a climactic finale in the bad guy's secret, hi-tech headquarters.
GI Joe has graduated from its '80s comic book and cartoon-show roots, thanks to some level-headed handling and the decision not to make the movie campy and therefore patronising for long-term fans. The story follows Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) as they are initiated into the secret, multi-national action force known as GI Joe. They race across the globe in an effort to foil an evil weapon-maker's plans to release a deadly nano-bot bomb.
Complicating matters are Duke's former fiancee, the Baroness (Sienna Miller), and the deadly ninja Storm Shadow (Byung Hun Lee). There's also a crazy scientist known as 'the Doctor' (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), whose warped mind is reflected in his equally warped face.
This is the action movie of the year: extremely entertaining, but with enough narrative to support the action and plot. Put simply, this fast-paced adaptation is an un-missable cinematic treat.