G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
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Two American soldiers join an elite team of operatives to combat a high-tech threat from a mysterious organization.
The story
Weapons master James McCullen has created a nanotech-based weapon—nanobots that can rapidly devour any non-organic materials. His company M.A.R.S. sells four warheads to NATO, and American soldiers Duke and Ripcord are tasked to deliver them. En route, their convoy is ambushed by the Baroness, whom Duke recognizes as his ex-fiancée Ana Lewis, before they are rescued by G.I. Joe operatives: Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Breaker, and Heavy Duty. They take the warheads to The Pit, G.I. Joe's command center in Egypt. G.I. Joe leader General Hawk lets Duke and Ripcord join the Joes after Duke reveals that he knows the Baroness.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
James McCullen's M.A.R.S. company develops nanobots that can devour non-organic materials. While delivering four warheads to NATO, soldiers Duke and Ripcord are ambushed by the Baroness and rescued by the G.I. Joe team. They take the warheads to 'The Pit' in Egypt, where Duke and Ripcord are admitted to the team. McCullen is revealed to be using the nanobots to build an army with the help of the masked Doctor, aiming to create a new world order. Storm Shadow, the Baroness, and Zartan steal the warheads and take them to Baron DeCobray, who is killed in the process. The Joes pursue them to Paris, where a missile hits the Eiffel Tower. Duke is captured and taken to McCullen's Arctic base. During the conflict, Snake Eyes defeats his rival Storm Shadow, and Duke learns that the Doctor is actually Rex Lewis, the brother of the Baroness. Rex had been disfigured and was using nanobites to control his sister. After a battle in the Arctic, Rex and McCullen flee. Later, it is revealed that Rex has assumed the identity of the Commander, and Zartan has used nanobites to assume the identity of the President of the United States.
- First release year
- 2009
- Runtime (minutes)
- 118
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Stephen Sommers
- Writers
- Stuart Beattie · screenplay; David Elliot · screenplay; Paul Lovett · screenplay; Michael B. Gordon · story; Stuart Beattie · story; Stephen Sommers · story
- Cast and characters
- Channing Tatum · Conrad Hauser / Duke; Dennis Quaid · General Clayton Abernathy / Hawk; Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje · Hershel Dalton / Heavy Duty; Rachel Nichols · Shana M. O'Hara / Scarlett; Marlon Wayans · Wallace Weems / Ripcord; Ray Park · Snake Eyes; Saïd Taghmaoui · Abel Shaz / Breaker; Karolína Kurková · Courtney Krieger / Cover Girl; Joseph Gordon-Levitt · Rexford G. "Rex" Lewis / the Doctor / Cobra Commander; Christopher Eccleston · James McCullen / Destro; Sienna Miller · Ana Lewis / Anastascia DeCobray / the Baroness; Lee Byung-hun · Thomas Arashikage / Storm Shadow
- Genres
- military; science fiction
- Themes
- loyalty; betrayal; technological threat
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; high-stakes
- Setting
- A global landscape including Egypt, Paris, the Arctic, and the White House.
- Premise and plot tags
- military; super-soldier; nanotechnology
- Source material / true-story basis
- Hasbro's G.I. Joe toy line
- Franchise connections
- G.I. Joe
- Reception
- The film received mostly negative reviews from critics but was considered a moderate commercial success at the global box office.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 33% · scale: percentage · review count: 166; Metacritic · score: 32 · scale: 100 · review count: 25
- Awards and nominations
- Teen Choice Award · Choice Movie Actor: Action · win; Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Supporting Actress · win
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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