I was never a fan of the old G I Joe cartoons. The original was just too campy for my liking. You get a military unit VS a terrorist organization using stun laser guns fighting a war in which nobody got hurt. Suspension of Belief was the order of the day. G I Joe Resolute came along at just the right time and made me a fan of the series.
1) The story: Clocking at only 60 minutes total, one would expect a truncated and watered down story. Not true. The story in G I Joe Resolute plays out very nicely over its allotted time. It doesn't feel rushed at all and has a decent conclusion yet leaves some space for a sequel or, hopefully, a full TV series. The writers on this one sure know their stuff. The initial mystery and suspense plays out well, that was the most interesting part. G I Joe is given a more realistic portrayal here. Complete with a huge team of intelligence officers and crew to back them up and weapons that actually shoot real bullets.
2)The Animation: AMAZING. My congratulations to the animation company. This is one fantastic work of art. The animation is smooth, the CGI blends in perfectly with the cel animation, and the artwork is brilliantly detailed. Real movie quality stuff. The scenes of Duke and Scarlet taking on Zartan and his soldiers was my favorite. Sure it ripped off Matrix a little with the slo-mo but it was EPIC. Few animated shows can pull off a convincing 360 degree pan around a character or a believable Slo Mo without the scene looking jumpy. G I Joe Resolute has definitely set a new benchmark in animation.
3) The characters: No longer the 1 dimensional stereotypes, these characters are possibly the most believable and well rounded characters in a G I Joe series yet. The main characters of Duke, Scarlet and Snake Eyes are the main focus and all 3 of them are very well fleshed out. Gone is the all American Good guy boy scout, do no wrong Duke. Here, he is a leader, but he has his flaws. And its those flaws that make him ever so much more human. There is a visible love triangle between the 3, but thankfully it is only implied and does not descend into anything overly sappy. Snake Eye's backstory is the only one that is fully fleshed out though.
4) Battle scenes: No more stun laser guns or shots missing at point blank range. No more "its only a scratch" or "he got shot but its just a flesh wound". THIS IS WAR. The battle scenes are very realistically planned out with the effects of war clearly visible. People die, people get injured. If you ain't behind cover, you get shot. The duel between Snake Eyes and Stormshadow would put so many Japanese anime to shame.
5) Cobra Commander. By far the BEST portrayal of the Character to date. Charlie Alder(the voice of Starscream in the Transformers 2007 movie and Revenge of the Fallen), carries on the tradition of a Starscream voice actor doing the voice of Cobra Commander. This Cobra Commander is very much in keeping with his toy description and his comic portrayal. A ruthless, tyrannical, scheming overlord with no qualms of killing his own troops should they refuse to obey him. I would go so far as to compare his portrayal here to Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in "The Dark Knight'. He is merciless and his new voice just reeks of evil. No more over the top schemes of world domination, this Cobra Commander cuts to the chase. Surrender or die.
Alas, with all these excellent aspects of this movie, why didn't i give it 10/10? For starters, it is too short. Sure, it does not feel truncated or watered down, but I would have like to see a visible build up in the tension and the story. It is how one would like an enjoyable thing to last, but sadly this movie didn't last long. Secondly, releasing it exclusively via online streaming to only American citizens and chopping it up into 10 minute segments, was a terrible idea. This should have gone straight to DVD like what Marvel and DC is doing with their animated movies.
