I was reading various reviews today, and the mainstream critics are savaging the movie calling it lamer than ROTF, while online critics more closely assosciated with nerdom seem to be giving it ok reviews. IGN I think said it was somwhere between Transformers 1 and 2 which is about right by my count.
The funny thing is, unlike when the critics paid out ROTF citing things that also bugged me "to long" "to much caveman humour". Some of the things being paid out in GI Joe are things I enjoyed, like the addition of characters like Breaker etc, Storm Shadow/ Snake Eyes flashbacks, and the Destro proluge. Makes me think GI joe ROC was a beter fan movie than ROTF, cheesy as it was.
In any case the movie seems to have done fairly well on its opening weekend, pushing the odds of a sequel even higher. With a possible 3 franchises hitting the mark this year alone Paramount must be rubbing their hands with glee. Sequels ahoy!
Not a big fan of the Baroness background plot myself, however it is hardly un GI Joe as brainwashing was common to both the cartoon and comics. maybe she will go nuts because of it in the next film.