Retaliate

So many franchises are lifted from the shelves and transitioned to the big screen that failure goes hand-in-hand with 1980’s intellectual property.  Aside from Transformers the 1980’s rebirth has been rather bleak; Dukes of Hazard, Nightmare on Elm Street, Clash of the Titans.  Then you can toss in some superheroes not really from the 1980’s but the 80’s were a very high point in hero popularity, Superman Returns, the 1st Hulk, the Spiderman sequels, Green Hornet, and the Green Lantern.

Unless your name ends with Nolan you are getting a thumbs down from the critics and a few good films have gone down with the ship, the first that comes to mind is G.I. Joe.  Now I am the first to admit the acting was not top-notch, but you are not looking for Oscar performances when you go see an action flick.  What is offered was a good set up story for a quality franchise that no one watched.

When you make a film, a good film and no one showed up how do you put asses in the seats for Part 2?

Cast The Rock.

I would have watched the film regardless, but putting big ole Dwayne in the sequel just made a probable C+/B- film into an A hopeful.  Adding tons of ninjas only adds to the potential that has no ceiling.

80% of you reading this are calling me crazy right now, but in June you will be looking back on this going, “wow, he was right!”