So bad it's good

For better or worse, all that moviegoers want from their summer films is to be entertained, preferably with loud explosions. But this summer, we’ve been disappointed at almost every corner. “Star Trek” was fine, but other “sure-fire” hits like “Terminator: Salvation,” “Transformers 2,” “Angels and Demons” and that “Wolverine” movie were all pretty bad.

So most of us wouldn’t expect anything else from what looked to be the worst of them all, “G.I. Joe.” But shockingly, if summer movies are all about mindless entertainment that’s actually fun to watch, “G.I. Joe” might be the best of them all.

Weapons developer McCullen (Christopher Eccleston) creates nanomite nukes for the U.N. and then steals them back, almost killing soldiers Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) to carry out an evil plan. A secret black-ops program, G.I. Joe invites Duke and Ripcord to join in the fight against McCullen and his team of baddies.

Look, “Joe” is not a good film. The CGI is atrocious and laughable, the plot is as dumb as they come, and the acting is so rough that somehow Wayans comes out looking good. But damn if it is not a fun two hours.
 
Unlike the mish-mash of metal in “Transformers 2,” the action sequences here are easy to follow and feature some pretty cool technology. And thankfully, each new battle (and that’s about every seven minutes) is different from the last; confrontations take place on all surfaces and with all sorts of toys.

And although every other element of the film aside from the action is pretty bad, “G.I. Joe” seems in on the joke. The actors are having fun and not trying to make the material seem more important (of course it’s hard to make any scene feel important when Tatum and Sienna Miller are your leads, but still). And in general the film always feels like one based on a toy line.

If Tatum’s Duke can ride a motorcycle in the rain while wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses and it doesn’t even stick out on the ridiculous scale, things are going well. That’s “G.I. Joe” in a nutshell.