G.I. Joe Next Movie Should Be A Cartoon

 

During Cinemacon yesterday, Paramount announced that a crossover film between Transformers and G.I. Joe is in development. If you've seen the latest Transformers movie Rise Of The Beast you remember the potential for this was teased.

I enjoyed G.I. Joe The Rise Of Cobra and appreciate it for what it is, essentially a live action movie. My biggest gripe with the film was Cobra's origin story and esthetic changes. Retaliation was a more grounded in reality, had some good action scenes, and set some things right from the first film (Cobra's look), but for whatever reason the majority of audience's didn't enjoy it.

After the failure of both G.I. Joe films and the 2021 Snake Eyes film, my guess is this is Paramount's attempt to salvage the G.I. Joe film franchise. I personally think the live action route is not the way to go for the franchise to move it forward. To get the franchise popular again an animated movie needs to happen.

An animated film would allow the G.I. Joe universe to be as over the top as possible and take more liberties to bring the mythology up to date.  And maybe incorporate some of the wackier aspects of the lore such as Serpentor and his clones. Incorporate some good humor and a core group of Joe's and it could work.

An animated film worked for the Ninja Turtles franchise last summer, it was Fresh and entertaining. And I'm waiting for a part 2. Paramount has an animated Transformers movie releasing in theaters later this year called Transformers One and starring Chris Hemsworth. Even though the live action film keeps falling through, Masters of the Universe has experienced some rejuvenation from the Netflix cartoon series.

If the masterminds at Paramount or potentially the future masterminds if the company is indeed bought, are truly trying to gain more ground and use IP's to their full advantage. They will make a G.I. Joe animated film.

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Extreme Ghostbusters: A Hidden Gem

 

While I anticipate seeing the new Ghostbusters movie Frozen Empire this weekend, I went down a Ghostbusters content rabbit hole. Which led me to revisit the 90's cartoon Extreme Ghostbusters, which honestly is a underrated and worthy addition to the Ghostbusters mythos.

Released in the fall of 1997, the cartoon followed original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler who recruits a new generation to defend the city against new paranormal threats. The new recruits were a very diverse crew, far different than the original crew. There was a female member Kylie, a Hispanic member Eduardo, a Black member Roland, and a paraplegic member Garrett (which I believe was the first depiction of a paraplegic in a cartoon). With Janine and Slimer by their side they set out to make their own legacy while saving the city.

Being the late 90's the cartoon took a bit more of a edge. The classic theme song had a rock inspired version. The series creators also worked on the Men In Black  and Godzilla cartoons. The styling of Extreme Ghostbusters matched those cartoons and  the tone was slightly darker with the creatures looking a bit more terrifying. And there seemed to be real life stakes in play throughout the series.

But what really makes the cartoon a hidden gem was the character development. All four members of the team were fleshed out and had their own reasons for joining the team. They were relatable and provided reasons for the audience to care about them.

The cartoon also gave fans a very satisfying moment years before Ghostbusters Afterlife did. The original Ghostbusters teamed up with the new Ghostbusters to take down the villain in the series Finale. A true Holy Shit moment back when that wasn't common in media.

The cartoon deserves another look as it truly may have just been ahead of its time. It's not available to stream anywhere, but YouTube will satisfy your appetite. If you don't remember the gem or never seen it, do yourself a favor and check it out.

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Centurions reboot

 

I recently watched He: Man Revolutions on Netflix a nice quick 5 episode cartoon to binge. Once that was over I went down the rabbit hole of cartoons of the 80's and 90's that Hollywood could pick through for a new generation. Which led me to a cartoon I remember watching as a kid and playing with my older cousin's toys of, but I wasn't particularly a huge enamored with. That cartoon is Centurions released in 1986 that fit the bill of cartoons of that time, a toy line and comic book line built in to raise the cartoons profile. As customary during that time, the intro gave you the whole story in 30 seconds.

The cartoon follows three individuals Max Ray, Ace McCloud, and Jake Rockwell, who it's never made explicitly clear but are military of government employees. They all have specialty skills in sea, air, and land and use specialized exo-suits that allow them to combine weapons within their suits. The trick though is they have to yell "Power Xtreme" for the suits to activate (not sure that would work in today's world).

Along they're side is Crystal Kane who is the overseer of their operation from the group's headquarters a  space station called The Sky Vault. The big bad of the cartoon is Doc Terror a cybernetic scientist much like other evil villains hell bent on domination.

Themes of the cartoon were based in science and environmental issues. Which are still very relevant topics today, with a little fine tuning to bring the plot up to date.  I know I would watch it as I'm not tied to it nostalgically and would give it a fair shake. The rights are owned by Warner Bros. so they either need to get on the ball and develop it in house or license it. 

There's only so many times you can rehash properties like Masters Of The Universe and G.I. Joe without adding anything new to the franchise. This is perfect candidate to reboot for the 21st century. It doesn't have an expansive mythology tied to it that needs to be worked in, and fan backlash wouldn't necessarily be a concern for needed changes, since it wasn't a super popular cartoon. Who knows it may become very popular with today's youth and become a gold mine.

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Give Us A Meteor Man Cartoon!

 My brother and I are huge fans of the 1993 film Meteor Man. We were recently discussing is it time for a remake of the movie and I instantly shot it down, Hell No leave the movie as it was!! Is exactly what I said lol. Then for some random reason a thought popped in my head. Meteor Man is owned and was released by MGM Studios, MGM is currently in the process of being bought by Amazon. Amazon needs fresh content to convince people to use prime video and compete with more popular streaming services. Lastly studios love digging in the archives for the next big property they can introduce to a new generation.

Meteor Man is the perfect property for that to happen....by way of a cartoon series. A Meteor Man cartoon that maintains the same comedic tone as the film with maybe a small dash of the violence depicted in Invincible would be a hit in my opinion. Since its an cartoon, it could be set in the same timeline of the original in the 90's or be moved up to present day with a slightly new take on Meteor Man.

Jefferson Reed could still be a teacher trying to maintain the balance of being a superhero, being a positive influence for his students and include his desire to make sure Meteor Man is portrayed as a positive Black role model through the media. 

The neighborhood and the wacky character's Jefferson knew and loved would have to be highlighted in the show as well. Such as old school music loving but trying to remain young Earnest (James Earl Jones). We can't forget his inner circle of his parents (Played by Robert Guillaume and Marla Gibbs in the film). His best friend Michael played by Eddie Griffin, who wanted to be Meteor Man for his own dating gain. They all could be developed more and have bigger roles,  in supporting Jefferson's mission as Meteor Man.

It's so many avenues they could go with the character's with more time to flesh the story out over 10 or so episodes. It'd also be interesting if the the subplot from the movie, of Jefferson frequently losing his powers if he doesn't touch the meteorite was added to the series and how he goes about maintaining his powers during his day to day life. Does he drink energy drinks non-stop since using his powers drains him?

The cartoon and Meteor Man's journey would not be complete without The Golden Lords being involved in the story. The Golden Lords are a underrated group of villains where every member hair is dyed gold and their attire included gold of some sort. The leader of the group Simon and the group themselves could be fleshed out a bit more regarding what their exact goal was. Was it just to run D.C.? or world domination? Simon's boss Anthony played by Frank Gorshin (The Riddler in the 60's Batman series) and his organization could be portrayed as well, maybe as the overarching villain. The cartoon would get hella bonus points if Roy Fegan is able to return and voice Simon. 

Of course if this were to come to fruition, Robert Townsend has to be involved in the development of the series. If not, maybe some like me who loves the movie 1,000 times over could do the series justice (just throwing it out in the universe). Meteor Man deserves some love and we the fans deserve some sort of continution of the property to enjoy time and time again.

When the movie was released, Marvel released a limited edition comic book series of Meteor Man. Let's get some corporate syngery going and bring that back as well.

Amazon make it happen, We need a Meteor Man cartoon series. 

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G.I. Joe The Rise Of Cobra Deserves A Second Look

Today marks 10 years since G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra was released in theaters. Highly anticipated when it was released due to being a live action interpretation of the beloved G.I. Joe brand and the flashy trailers highlighting plenty of action. The film was trashed by critics, while receiving mixed reviews from fans upon it's debut. Looking back at it ten years later the film definitely has it's flaws but it actually deserves a second chance, here are three reasons why.

Action Scenes

The beginning of the film starts off very brisk substituting providing much of a plot to get to the point of action. The first action scene in the film is a very exciting scene, and sets the tone for what I believe the film was going for. A modern day "roller coaster" adventure film containing just enough story to move the plot forward and head to the next action beat. The martial arts scenes between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow did not disappoint at all, and Ray Park was born to play Snake Eyes. The chase through the streets of Paris no matter how cartoonish, outlandish and all over the place it  was, is alot of fun and a highlight of the film. 

Live Action Cartoon

While many adaptions and reboots today take a darker more serious tone (i.e. Power Rangers released in 2017). G.I. Joe tried to maintain the feel of a live action cartoon. This included some very corny dialogue and callbacks to traditional G.I. Joe slogans. The film tried it's best to pay homage and include G.I. Joe code names, and locations/headquarters. Some of the sets including the G.I. Joe headquarters and the submarine of Destro along with some of the science in the film had cartoon elements to it. The film isn't really grounded in reality but I believe that was part of the point.

Technology

Released a year after Iron Man spearheaded the MCU and a year before it's sequel, the technology in the Rise of Cobra rivals that of a world inhabited by Tony Stark. With the combination of technology and weaponry used in the recently released "Hobbs & Shaw", this film may have been ahead of the curve in the marriage of weapons and technology. G.I. Joe features nanotechnology called "nanomites" that can be programmed to attack and "eat" through any material. Or it can be used as a mind control device once implanted into a subject. In addition holographic communication, laser guns, devices that can read and display the memories of a dying villain. Fighter jets that rely on voice activation and commands to fly and shoot sonic missiles. Mechanical accelerator suits that provided superhuman abilities to the wearers.  Underwater headquarters, secret bases with state of the art technology. A technology geeks wet dream is displayed in this film.

Overview

Surely the filmmakers made a huge mistake with their handling and backstory of Cobra Commander. Making him a doctor gone "crazy" as opposed to a maniac who just wants to take over the world. Altering his mask for the worse was not a smart decision at all. This iteration of Cobra Commander was a far cry from the Cobra Commander everyone loved to hate. Making Duke and Baroness lost lovers also was a unnecessary subplot. A few years later a sequel G.I. Joe Retaliation  was released that attempted to rectify some of the issues. While that movie was more grounded in reality and generally more well received it still had it's share of problems and the planned franchise was halted. Hasbro and Paramount are developing another G.I. Joe film and planned spinoff, hopefully they can find the right components of The Rise of Cobra and Retaliation to make a truly great G.I. Joe film that satisfies all fans.

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