Retaliation comprises new Joes, with Channing Tatum returning to the second installment as Captain Duke and Zartan, having intruded the White House in The Rise of Cobra, is still masquerading as the President.[break]
The Joes are framed for stealing munitions from Pakistan and are killed in a following attack with only three survivors, Roadblock, Flint and Lady Jaye.
While the three remaining heroes set on their quest to retaliate, Lady Jaye through gesture analysis gets the hint that ‘the President is not the President’. Meanwhile Storm Shadow and Cobra Commander, with assistance from Firefly escape the high-security prison. Storm Shadow retreats to the mountains to recover from burns on his back.
The film is fast-paced right from the beginning to the end. The hi-tech fighting equipments and watching ninjas ascending and descending the mountains in 3D send shivers down your spine. The thrills of maroon ninjas fighting Snake Eyes and Jinx against the backdrop of breathtaking mountains is probably the best part of the whole movie.
The eastern-meets-western flavor of physical combat puts all the characters in place and defines each of their roles perfectly. But the plot comprising too many characters caught up between the two sides is a little confusing. Some might even have trouble figuring out who’s the Snake Eyes and the Cobra Commander especially during the close-ups and mid-shots when the lower half of Cobra Commander’s robe isn’t there to distinguish.
Despite not having a solid plot to back it up, the film does not bore you because everything happens so fast in this movie. Plus there’s nothing like watching Bruce Willis work two heavy guns while crouching on the back of a car and Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) fighting even outside the ring. Make sure you watch it in 3D though
Related story
Bruce Willis, diagnosed with aphasia, steps away from acting
