As we prepared for our trek to the nerd mecca that is Comic-con, Tim and I noted the huge absence of "G.I. Joe." If ever there was a place for Paramount to promote the film it was Comic-con.
We had already heard a few spoilers about the alleged horrendous plot, but still it is Comic-con, everything even remotely nerdy has a presence there. We found that absence to be very telling about what the studio thinks of the movie. Keeping it away from the promotion heavy convention can only mean that they were terrified of bad buzz.
Now comes word that critics will not be reviewing the film in advance. That usually only happens when the studio knows it has a real stinker on its hands.
The really sad part about all of this is that for so many of us "G.I. Joe" was a huge part of our childhood and we couldn't wait for it to get the Hollywood treatment. Unfortunately, these days the Hollywood treatment means completely rewriting the known origin story and not capitalizing on the franchise's rich history.
With Stephen Sommers ("The Mummy") directing and a strong cast starring, it seems unfathomable that Paramount still found a way to ruin it, but apparently they did.
In light of the film's almost certain failure, I can only hope that one of the various cartoon channels decides to air a marathon of the original kickass cartoon so that today's youth can see what all the fuss is about and know that "G.I. Joe" is really a great American hero, because knowing is half the battle.
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