So, we finally got to see G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Had to drag my ass to this one especially since the last movie we saw, District 9, was plainly disgusting and I felt traumatized watching movies that boast of nothing much aside from computerized visual effects. Today’s a holiday, no school for both girls, but I thought the inclement weather had gone to my rescue and provided the perfect excuse not to go out when it poured cats and dogs at around 3.00 p.m. What can I say? I don’t like movies that glorify war and soldiers (okay, so it turned out that G.I. Joe was nothing along those lines). But the rains stopped, we all showered and got ready to go. And we did. And I thought I had the perfect excuse (again) to turn back and go home when we got to the mall and found the parking lot full. But the top level of the car park had vacant slots, Speedy parked the truck and off we went to get tickets. After a hurried dinner, it was movie time.
Ten minutes into the movie, Sam turned to me and asked: “Mommy, what’s G.I.?”
Me: “Government issue.”
Sam: “Nooooo…”
Me: “What…???”
Sam: “Galvanized iron.”
Me (rolling my eyes in the dark): “Yero? Bubong? Kulahan?”
I don’t think Sam knew what kulahan meant, she belongs to the generation of washing machines and fabric softeners, she went back to watching the movie and so did I.
When we got home, I checked the dictionary for the definition of G.I. My Mac’s dictionary says: “A private soldier in the U.S. Army. ORIGIN 1930s (originally denoting equipment supplied to U.S. forces): abbreviation of galvanized iron; later misinterpreted as an abbreviation of government (or general) issue.”
From WordOrigins.Org: “G.I. was originally a semi-official U.S. Army abbreviation for galvanized iron, used in inventories and supply records. It dates to at least 1907 and is commonly found in records from the First World War.”
From Dictionary.Com: “1915–20; orig. abbr. of galvanized iron, used in U.S. Army bookkeeping in entering articles (e.g., trash cans) made of it; later extended to all articles issued (as an assumed abbrev. of government issue) and finally to soldiers themselves.”
So, Sam is correct. G.I. means galvanized iron. Unbelievable. We watched a movie about kulahan. I don’t know what the English word for kulahan is. If you’re not a Filipino, or you’re too young to remember the days when laundrywomen laid out soap-soaked clothes to bleach them under the sun, kulahan refers to the G.I. sheets where the clothes were laid out.
So, anyway, how did I like G.I. Joe? It was okay, although… what the heck happened to Dennis Quaid? Trying to offset the effects of aging by posing and barking like a toughie? Shucks. The head of an elite military unit… that suggests a lot more brains than others of his rank and age. Quaid’s General Hawk turned out to be a caricature that reminded me of bad Jim Carrey characters. Apart from that, G.I. Joe was quite enjoyable for the most part (there were segments when my mind just went blank). Nothing to rave about but much better than District 9 (Alex and I walked out halfway through District 9, leaving Sam and Speedy to finish it).
I can’t complain about the fantastic visual effects of G.I. Joe. However, I take issue with the story. Or, rather, the lack of it. A common issue with films of this genre. Too much testosterone-pumping action and never mind the story line. I take issue with the pacing too. Action is great but bombarding the viewer with nothing but action from start to finish really detracts rather than enhances the experience. That’s the reason why I liked X-Men and its sequels but not Transformers. If the flashbacks (eg. when Duke proposed to Ana) were meant as breathers from the (iron) pumping action, they looked out of place — like discordant notes in a melody.
And this, I have to articulate now. I have noticed this in the past, notably in the first two Matrix films (I didn’t like the third very much), but was never able to couch the observation in the right words. Mind-blowing visuals in action films are awesome but nothing — NOTHING — can be more graceful and artful that a well-choreographed fight scene. Too bad that director Stephen Sommers saw it fit to fill the movie with more galvanized iron than human interaction.
G.I. Joe is something you take your fill of while experiencing it. When the moment passes, it’s over. It’s not like the Matrix films which tickle the mind and elicit some kind of curiosity that often makes the viewer want to discuss it after seeing the film. Even the X-Men films have this effect although in a much lesser sense. G.I. Joe is more like the Transformer movies with its few funny moments, impressive computer work, but no memorable characters unless you’re a girl watcher, then, the image of Megan Fox is all that remains.
In G.I. Joe, you may get a lot of that too with Sienna Miller and Rachel Nichols and their unabashed sensuality that the director exploited to the hilt. It elicits no strong emotions, it doesn’t make you want to stand up and cheer, it doesn’t make you mad at the villains, you don’t feel sympathy for any of the characters… In short, the characters in G.I. Joe may all look good but they don’t mean much. Add that to the thin story line and all you have are computer generated visuals and expensive film sets. But then again, those may be the only selling points that the producers and director intended. So they may have succeeded. Whatever.
Photos from Stock.Xchng
I am surprised that you got dragged to watching a movie for teens although there are some teen movies that adults can stand to watch. Here’s a list of what you must not see (if only because you need to see other films): Year One, Land of the Lost, Aliens In The Attic. Come mid-September, there’s a a European Film Fest at Shangri-La Mall and it’s for free. You may just love the lineup.
Year One — ah, never. NEVER! Thanks for the tip on the Euro Film Fest. Love French and Italian films subtitles and all.
ang ibig sabihin ng G sa GI ay genuine. ang ibig sabihin naman ng I ay ilocano.
parang yung kaibigan kong si ting – genuine ilocano. taga ilocos sur siya at hindi mo mautangan.
I was told decades ago that G.I. stood for ‘ground infantry’
Jay, si Ting ba sa Canada yan?
Maria, wow, I didn’t come across that one when checking out definitions last night.
I also thought G.I. stood for Ground Infantry or General Infantry.
BTW, who or what is first image? At first look i thought it was someone in costume. LOL! Nice shot with that!
Nah, that’s stock photo from StockXchng (there’s a note at the end of the entry). The photographer said it’s a character from the GI Joe series.
Wow! Sam is right once again.
GI is always galvanized iron. But since military supplies from water cans, ration in cans, the military jeep “Willy’s” made of GI sheets, it became like all military supplies are GI materials and thus GI later known as government issue.
Sass – I had the same feeling of satisfaction with you on the 2 Matrix films because the 1st were highly articulated while feeling drained on the final 3rd installment.
On the GI Joe however, I can’t help to wonder if the people can really see what is being done behind the public as movies are giving too much information. At least no one can think of hydraulics as being applied in todays robotics engineering in military like the one depicted in the Matrix final battle.
Here is the list of fighting gears shown in GI Joe.
1. XM25 rifle – can shoot radio controlled 25mm bullets around corners and into trenches, is scheduled for testing in 2010 and availability in 2012.
2. Aurora excalibur – will replace the current predator used in Afghanistan whose control maybe continent away, 1st test in June 2009. Its added advantage can be remotely piloted by troops on the ground and on-time protection of ground units.
3. F35 Joint Strike Force -the replacement of the pricey F22 which was mothballed by Pres. Obama scheduled to be used in 2015 made by several US defense contractors.
4. 100 kw laser weapon – the latest US Navy weapon using superconducting electron accelerator to focus its beam to take down cruise missiles or aircraft. Raytheon got the contract.
5. Nanobomb – Scientists turned to nanotechnology, combining tiny particles of metals such as nanoaluminum with iron oxide to make superthermite. That stuff speeds up the chemical reaction that causes explosions by 1000 times. Russia already tested its nanotech bomb.
6. Accelerator suit – not as sophisticated as in the movie but Lockheed Martin is designing its Human Universal Load Carrier exoskeleton for full scale trials in 2010. This low body gear can help soldier go across mountains without breathing hard, carry more loads.
Whoa! Didn’t know that nano thing had some factual basis.
Re Matrix: I think the Wachowski brothers ran out of twists and turns by the time they wrote the 3rd installment. Huge letdown. The first and original Matrix is still the bomb. And never mind the Animatrix.
i actually fell asleep several times watching GI Joe. got frustrated with duke and the other guy kung bakit di nila mahuli-huli ung car going to the eiffel tower. eh naka-power suit(whatever that’s called) naman sila. wala silang ginawa kundi mag-tumbling, bagsak dito, bagsak doon and destroying mostly everything in their path. WTH! buti pa yung ninja na walang power suit nasa car kaagad. speaking of the ninja, i thought his fight scenes with the black ninja was very boring. i remember muttering to myself,”oh no, mag-aaway na naman sila, haay…”
yes, matrix 1 is still the best. i even have my own orig copy. after watching part 2, never bothered to watch the 3rd. and im so glad, i waited for transformers on cable rather than on theater. it gave me a headache and i lost interest on the 2nd installment.
siguro the best sequel na nakita ko is Terminator 2 pa rin. kahit super tagal na. sometimes, its better na wag na lang gawan ng sequels ung ibang great movies, it just ruin everything. kaya lang, sayang siguro ung kikitain pa nila. hehe.
ay mali, ung kontrabida pala ang white ninja.
I agree with you about District 9…whoaa! I didn’t finish it, really disgusting movie…