G.I. Joe has had three live-action films theatrically released, which now includes Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, although the series is a mixed bag that has yet to fully capture everything fans who grew up with G.I. Joe in the 1980s love about the property. G.I. Joe followed in the footsteps of Hasbro's other enduring '80s cartoon, Transformers, in leaping to the big screen but the Joes haven't had the same level of success as the alien robots saga overseen by Michael Bay.

While G.I. Joe action figures existed in the 1970s, the franchise was completely rebooted by Hasbro in the 1980s. In collaboration with Marvel Comics, G.I. Joe became a mega-successful series of toys with elaborate mythology told through comic books and a wildly popular animated series, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. The G.I. Joe vs. Cobra backstory and the histories of the dozens of characters was masterminded by Marvel Comics writer Larry Hama. Inevitably, the glut of G.I. Joe toys overwhelmed the market as the core audience of boys grew up towards the end of the 1980s but G.I. Joe has been kept alive throughout the decades by nostalgia, more comics, and other animated revivals.

Related: Transformers Movies Ranked Worst To Best

An animated film titled G.I. Joe: The Movie was intended for the big screen but production delays saw Transformers: The Movie beat it to theaters in 1986. However, the poor performance of Transformers: The Movie, coupled with fan and parental backlash over the deaths of major Transformers characters, especially Optimus Prime, led to G.I. Joe: The Movie being released on home video and on television instead. G.I. Joe: The Movie also had to alter its plans so that its main hero, Duke, survived, because of the reaction to Optimus Prime's death. Further, G.I. Joe: The Movie introduced a supernatural and fantasy-based origin for Cobra and Cobra Commander that eroded Cobra's original concept as "a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world."

When Michael Bay turned Transformers into a billion-dollar movie franchise starting in 2007, Hasbro naturally tried to duplicate the robots in disguise's success with a G.I. Joe live-action movie. However, neither of the two movies released, 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and 2013's G.I. Joe: Retaliation came close to matching Transformers, which spawned four sequels from 2009 to 2017, the 2018 spinoff Bumblebee starring Hailee Steinfeld, and the upcoming Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Instead, Hasbro and Paramount opted to reboot G.I. Joe movies entirely, starting with Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, which they hoped will spark a new series of movies. As for the existing live-action G.I. Joe movies, here's which of the very different films is the best one.

3. G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)

Duke and Roadblock in GI Joe Retaliation

Directed by Jon M. Chu, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is both a sequel to and a soft reboot of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. The film picks up the previous movie's plot thread of Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) replacing the President of the United States (Jonathan Pryce) and furthering Cobra's takeover plans. Meanwhile, the G.I. Joe team is massacred by Cobra, including Duke (Channing Tatum), which leaves Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson) to lead a handful of surviving Joes, including Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) and Flint (D.J. Cotrona), and they seek the help of G.I. Joe's founder, General Joe Colton (Bruce Willis). Meanwhile, the conflict between G.I. Joe and Cobra's ninjas, Snake Eyes (Ray Park) and Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee), continues with the addition of a new heroic G.I. Joe ninja, Jinx (Élodie Yung).

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra managed to earn enough to get a sequel greenlit, but the scale of Retaliation was drastically reduced. Killing Duke and taking Tatum out of the movie set Johnson as the star of the franchise (and echoes the original decision of the animated G.I. Joe movie), while the major characters from the first film, including Christopher Eccleston as Destro, Rachel Nichols as Scarlett, Sienna Miller as the Baroness, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander disappointingly did not return. Arnold Vosloo also skipped Retaliation and is only seen in archival footage so that Jonathan Pryce plays both Zartan and the President. The obvious cost-cutting hurts G.I. Joe: Retaliation and it comes off as a shell of its predecessor despite Dwayne Johnson's movie star presence and decent action. Retaliation also resets G.I. Joe as a U.S. military organization instead of the international outfit it was in The Rise of Cobra. G.I. Joe: Retaliation feels like a lesser sequel in every way. It earned $122-million, less than its predecessor, which ended the G.I. Joe movie franchise for eight years, until Snake Eyes.

Related: Why Snake Eyes Reviews Are So Mixed

2. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

Directed by Stephen Sommers, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra ambitiously tells both the origin of Cobra and Cobra Commander seen through the eyes of Channing Tatum's Duke, who joins G.I. Joe with his best friend and comic relief, Ripcord (Marlon Wayans). The main villain is Destro, who runs a sinister arms organization called MARS and created nanotechnology capable of global destruction. Instead of an elite branch of the U.S. military, G.I. Joe is now an international network of soldiers based out of Egypt and led by General Hawk (Dennis Quaid). Duke takes charge of the Joes in the field when he discovers his ex-fiance, Ana Lewis, has become the Baroness and is in league with Destro and MARS. Although the Joes manage to stop Destro and save the world, the movie's big twist is Ana's brother and Duke's best friend Rex is revealed as the Cobra Commander who masterminded the rise of the Cobra terrorist organization.

The Rise of Cobra gets some things right about G.I. Joe while also making substantial changes to the mythology. The new origin of Cobra Commander and his personal ties to Duke and Baroness are the hardest to reconcile for longtime G.I. Joe fans, although Destro's origin and motivations are closer to the original stories. The ninjas, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, largely steal the show, and The Rise of Cobra also makes time to explore their shared origin and lifelong rivalry. Arnold Vosloo, who worked with Stephen Sommers in The Mummy, also enjoys himself as Zartan. However, the action in The Rise of Cobra is cartoony in the worst way, and the Joes' featured tech, Accelerator Suits, comes off as a cheap ripoff of Iron Man thanks to sub-par visual effects. The cast is strong overall and, in its best moments, The Rise of Cobra does feel like G.I. Joe. The film also has legitimate stakes, especially the destruction of the Eiffel Tower. But the Duke/Baroness/Cobra Commander triangle is a tough pill to swallow and The Rise of Cobra, which grossed $150-million worldwide, ultimately feels disappointing.

1. Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)

GI Joe Cobra Snake Eyes

Warning: SPOILERS for Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.

Directed by Robert Schwentke, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins takes a back-to-basics approach similar to Bumblebee. Snake Eyes focuses on arguably the most popular G.I. Joe character and reboots the movie franchise by telling a new origin for Snake Eyes (Henry Golding) and how he became blood brothers-turned enemies with Storm Shadow (Andrew Koji). Set primarily in Tokyo, Japan, Snake Eyes's smaller-scale delves into the mythology of the Arashikage ninja clan and introduces a new villain to both Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow named Kenta (Takehiro Hira), who is the leader of the Yakuza and an ally of Cobra. In Snake Eyes' revamped continuity, the G.I. Joe team and Cobra already exist and are represented by Scarlett (Samara Weaving) and The Baroness (Úrsula Corberó), respectively; Snake Eyes also implies a shared history between the two female operatives.

Snake Eyes takes some interesting chances, especially with the title character, who speaks (Snake Eyes is supposed to be mute) and is driven by vengeance for a tragedy he suffered as a child. Similarly, Storm Shadow is presented as a man of honor who feels he is unfairly treated by the Arashikage clan after he makes a terrible mistake. The performances of Snake Eyes' cast, especially Golding and Koji, are very strong, the gritty action in Snake Eyes is first-rate, and the Tokyo setting adds a visual splendor. The supporting roles by Baroness and Scarlett are effective in evoking the greater G.I. Joe vs. Cobra conflict. Snake Eyes also awkwardly introduces some supernatural elements that don't quite click, although they're true to the odd turns into fantasy in the G.I. Joe cartoon. Snake Eyes may ultimately not be the G.I. Joe franchise-starter that Hasbro and Paramount hoped for but it's a tidy and good movie in its own right that does leave fans wanting proper G.I. Joe movie, at last.

Next: Snake Eyes Ending Sets Up More Storm Shadow & G.I. Joe Movie Future

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