Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
49
2012
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
70
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
52
Blind Side
47
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
23
Couples Retreat
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
41
G-Force
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
28
Pandorum
58
Pirate Radio
39
Planet 51
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
46
Twilight Saga: New Moon, The
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum
56
Adam
39
Adventures of Power
66
Afterschool
73
Amreeka
49
Antichrist
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The
71
Big Fan
65
Black Dynamite
76
Bliss
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
44
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star
76
Broken Embraces
70
Bronson
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
60
Collapse
82
Cove, The
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The
53
Dare
50
Defamation
67
Departures
70
Earth Days
85
Education, An
55
Endgame
88
Fantastic Mr. Fox
31
Fix
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
xx
From Mexico with Love
28
Gentlemen Broncos
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Horse Boy, The
74
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
26
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
43
Little Traitor, The
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
46
Love Hurts
84
Maid, The
45
Mammoth
75
Messenger, The
55
Missing Person, The
59
More Than a Game
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
48
New York, I Love You
66
No Impact Man
26
Oh My God
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
79
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73
Red Cliff
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
65
Skin
41
Splinterheads
42
Staten Island
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
58
Storm
82
Sun, The
49
Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon
73
That Evening Sun
61
Trucker
49
Turning Green
83
U2 3D
45
Uncertainty
67
Visual Acoustics
32
War on Kids
67
Way We Get By, The
65
Wedding Song, The
xx
White on Rice
59
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
74
Woman in Berlin, A
43
Women in Trouble
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 191 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Adventure | Sci-fi | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Stuart Beattie
David Elliot
Paul Lovett
Directed by: Stephen Sommers
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 7, 2009
Running Time: 107 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for adventure action and violence
Starring Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller, Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid, Christopher Eccleston, Ray Park, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Christopher Eccleston
Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, whose previous collaboration was the worldwide blockbuster Transformers, join forces with Spyglass Entertainment for another extraordinary action-adventure "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra." From the Egyptian desert to deep below the polar ice caps, the elite G.I. JOE team uses the latest in next-generation spy and military equipment to fight the corrupt arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious Cobra organization to prevent them from plunging the world into chaos. "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra." is directed by Stephen Sommers ("The Mummy," "The Mummy Returns").
Also On Metacritic
GAMES: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Xbox 360)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
The Rise Of Cobra holds to a thrill-ride sensibility that’s unchallenging and more than a little goofy, but exciting and consistently well-managed.
Read Full Review >Variety Richard Kuipers
While thesping is not the main game here, having a cast of bright young things certainly helps, and Quaid gets in a few nice John Wayne-like moments as the no-nonsense boss.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Dan Kois
The loudest, flashiest, silliest and longest blockbuster in a summer full of long, silly, flashy, loud blockbusters (long and silly "Transformers," flashy and loud "Wolverine").
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand
A brazen, earsplitting, eye-popping, oddly satisfying action extravaganza, though it veers wildly off-target in its second hour.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
A loud but proficient slab of explode-o-rama summer blockbuster nonsense, perfectly entertaining if you like that sort of thing, extremely skippable if you don't.
Read Full Review >Premiere John DeVore
This movie’s sole purpose is to make teenage boys high-five each other, and it’s faithfulness to that concept makes the cartoon carnage almost endearing.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey
The action is mostly brisk and bracing and the battleground, particularly Cobra's headquarters -- a vast network of tunnels under the polar ice cap -- are wonderfully imagined, as are the futuristic machines at the Joes' disposal. Basically, the Joes are not bad, it's just that they could have been much better with a little less conversation, a little more action.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
It's hard to deny that the first two-thirds of G.I. Joe is an enjoyable film, especially when graded on the curve of lowered expectations. Compared to other big-budget movies out this summer, it's pretty mediocre.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Chock full of high-tech action, with a lot of chasing and shooting and explosions.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
The plot feels both familiar and far-fetched.
Read Full Review >New Orleans Times-Picayune Mike Scott
Unlike it's "Transformers" cousin, the story is appealingly straightforward, and the movie is chock-a-block with breathless action sequences.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
G.I. Joe may not be beefier, but it’s cheesier and less aggravating than "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," the summer ’09 headbanger it most resembles.
Read Full Review >Empire Dan Jolin
Bond without the style and Team America without the bellylaughs. The moronic script and nonsensical plot are good for a snicker, though.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Certainly better than "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." How so? Admittedly, it doesn't have as much cleavage. But the high-tech hardware is more fun to look at than the transforming robots, the plot is as preposterous, and although the noise is just as loud, it's more the deep bass rumbles of explosions than the ear-piercing bang of steel robots pounding on each other.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Chuck Wilson
After a first hour that plays like a bad TV show, Sommers hits his groove with an over-the-top Paris chase sequence that, in turn, leads to an underwater finale that’s absurdly overproduced, momentarily diverting, and then instantly forgettable.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Cliff Doerksen
Loud, shiny, and critic-proof, this franchise launcher is basically Transformers minus the humanity. Dennis Quaid provides some ballast as grizzled patriarch to the troop of sexy young lock-and-loaders.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
After nearly two hours of nonstop mayhem, the film ends on a surprisingly muted note, though pains have been taken to make sure that the hoped-for sequel has been carefully set up.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
The only collateral damage is in the audience, where, as you sit through the movie, you can feel your IQ drop minute by minute.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Chris Nashawaty
Don't go expecting an escapist night at the movies; go expecting to be cudgeled into numb, drooling submission.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
G.I. Joe was not screened for critics, but that’s not because of its mindless action and nonsensical plot. It’s because G.I. Joe is the kind of movie that bludgeons the viewer into submission with its loud and constant barrage of sound and fury.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Formerly a real American hero, G.I. Joe is no longer a hero (it's a group) or American. (It's a multinational team of military superstars, though the way it does business, you'd feel safer with the Croatian navy on your side.)
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
I don't know what to say about the acting, writing and directing in G.I. Joe because I couldn't find any.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
There's a way to do this kind of thing (Just witness Hasbro's other toy-turned-dumb movie franchise, "Transformers"). G.I. Joe, though, hasn't got a kung fu-grip on what it is.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
This pricey, juiceless pulp could never have been killed by critics, simply because it was already dead.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 191 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Adam K gave it a1:
This movie is absolutely awful. I grew up watching Transformers, GI Joe, and other shows along the same basis. In saying that, I have seen all of the above movies. This movie had incredibly terrible special effects, acting, writing, and directing. There is nothing good to say about this movie. I am glad I did not spend the money to see this in the theater and only wish I could say I did not spend the money to rent it.
Francis A gave it a7:
I gave this movie a 7 because I was a huge fan of GI JOE as a kid. If I was the average person who doesn't have any knowledge of GI JOE from the 80's. I would probably give it a 2.5-3 just because the film is looks like a close replica of how Transformers was shot. Army, secret government task force, action scenes through the city, cheesy relationships, I can go on and on. I read Ebert's review and he was thinking that the Ninjas were in it because they need the asian audience in Japan. Which of course if you are a true JOE fan you would know Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow are a major part of GI Joe/Cobra. When I watched this movie, I watched it like I was that 10 year old boy again. GI Joe was made for 30 year olds who love the nostalgia of their childhood. If this was the worst movie you have ever seen I don't blame you. I really hated Revenge of the Fallen.
Tim H gave it a2:
Wow... that... was... dumb... I fought the urge to turn it off in the first 5 friggin' minutes - I should at least get a t-shirt for my trouble, but alas, no free t-shirt came with my $1 rental at the RedBox - that's highway robbery if you ask me. If I had gone to see it in the theater, I would have walked out and asked for my money back, just like that piece of trash, "Silent Hill." Trust me, giving it a "2" is generous; it makes the movie "Steath" look like "Full Metal Jacket" - know what I'm saying.
Eddie L gave it a1:
Woeful plot. Unless you are a ten year old boy. You will like it.The script will bore you to tears!!
Kenny gave it a1:
Stephen Sommers once again bring a firecracker, an animal without bones or thorns but very airheaded. A pretentious product, which only helps the less demanding audience can 'flip' with great special effects and the toys of Ghostbusters. Dialogue taken from a script stupid stupid and without foundation, filled with silly jokes and scenes as phantoms. No doubt the movie Sommers filling complies with all the topics of most Hollywood movies, has not been forgotten either. Marlon Wayans could have stayed at home smoking marijuana. Sienna Miller o 'the girl', her character is the big topic of the film. And last the little character named Channing Tatum, "to say about this 'intimate' 'macho'?, Better to say nothing, really, better abstain. No where to get it.
Zachrid W. gave it a5:
It's a "no brainer", that is for sure. I don't know much about the G.I. Joe franchise, but if you are able to turn off your brain for a while - you will enjoy this movie. I wanted to see a stupid story, corny dialogue, superweapons, over-the-top action with CGI up the butt ... and well, that was basically what I got. Good movie to munch popcorn and "MST3000ing" but not worth more than 5 points.
maw gave it a6:
It's good enough for a 6 with my lowered expectations. I didn't expect an Oscar-winner like some people here did. I expected it to be extremely cheesy and campy and sure enough it was. And if you suspend logic and ignore bad acting for a little while, you're going to enjoy this movie. As a long time G.I. Joe fan myself, this movie is good enough.
