NO SARCASM! G.I. Joe: Retaliation Trailer Is AWESOME!!

I recently revisited G.I. Joe: Rise Of Cobra (it's still streaming on Netflix) and it is BAD.  Just all kinds of terrible.  While there are some fun set pieces, (and lots of vehicles, which was always my favorite part of the toys) virtually the entire cast is scraping the bottom of the barrel, even folks I generally enjoy like Dennis Quaid, Sienna Miller and Christopher Eccleston.  The only bright spot, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's deliciously over the top Cobra Commander is totally eclipsed by the negative charisma of Channing Tatum.  So when they announced a sequel and then hired director Jon M. Chu, who had previously given us two Step Up movies and the Justin Bieber documentary...well, I was skeptical to say the least.

Then this happened:

Holy balls that's amazing!  Am I crazy or does it look like Channing Tatum gets killed off in the first ten minutes?  The Rock is a hell of a leading man upgrade, and while I'll lament the lack of Cobra Commander, it's nice to see Jonathan Pryce still doing good work.  And let's talk about the rest of the cast: other than Arnold Vosloo, Byung-hun Lee and a silent/masked Ray Park, they've done away with everyone!  Gone are Marlon Wayans, Rachel Nichols, Mr. Ecko and a bewildering cameo by Brendan Fraser, replaced by Adrianne Palicki, Ray Stevenson, Walton Goggins (!) and RZA as a blind kung-fu master.

HELLS.

YES.

I love that image of the Cobra flags being unfurled at the White House...reminds me of Zod taking it over in Superman II.  And how about that great reveal of Bruce Willis?  He's apparently playing the man who started it all, General Joe Colton.  That's right, John McClain puts the "Joe" in "G.I. Joe".  Fantastic.

John Chu, I'm sorry I ever doubted you.  Bring it.