G.I. Joe: Retaliation

The Real American Heroes

World ain't saving itself.

The sequel to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the elite team finds themselves framed as terrorists and assaulted by their own people, killing most of their numbers. Cobra has slipped moles into the United States government and are now in control from behind the scenes. With manpower and supplies limited, they have to take strike back and undo what has happened.

The film is clearly marketed to be a change of pace from Rise of Cobra, dealing with more close quarters fights and infiltration, less (though not no) extravagant technology and submarine battles.

The first trailer can be viewed here, and the second one here. Originally slated for release on June 29, 2012 in North America, the film is now scheduled for release on March 29, 2013 in order to add 3D.

Tropes used in G.I. Joe: Retaliation include:

• Action Girl: With seemingly a lack of Scarlett for the Joes, it appears that both Lady Jaye and Jinx (who's Snake-Eyes's protege, no less!) will be doing plenty of ass-kicking in the movie.
• Actor Allusion: Do you smell what Roadblock is cooking?
• All-Star Cast: Not quite, but Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis are featured very prominently, Johnson playing a normally secondary character Roadblock.
• Ascended Extra: Roadblock isn't exactly one of the leading members of the G.I. Joe team, but will be playing a big role in the movie.
• Back for the Dead: Duke. Part of the reason for the delay was that test audiences weren't happy that there wasn't much development of the relationship between Duke & Roadblock before Duke's death early in the film.
• Badass: Naturally.
  • Badass Army: The Joes, as well as Cobra.
  • Retired Badass: Joe Colton. The last scene of the initial trailer features Colton kicking ass by shooting at Cobra mooks with an assault rifle while in the back on a moving pick-up truck. Considering he's played by Bruce Willis, this comes at no surprise.
• BFG: Roadblock is seen firing an 84 pound M2 .50cal machinegun, from the hip.
• Big Bad: Cobra Commander, natch.
• Clear Our Names: With the U.S. President not exactly being rational, the Joes' mission consists of not only clearing their names, but driving Cobra out of the White House.
• Cool Bike: A motorcycle that splits apart and turns into explosive projectiles is briefly glanced in the trailers released so far.
• Cool Mask: Cobra Commander's mask. Even elicits a reaction from President!Zartan: "Cool mask."
• Co-Dragons: Firefly and President!Zartan to Cobra Commander.
• Everybody's Dead, Dave: Stated by the Joes after being attacked
• Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja: A lot of ninja mooks show up, and Snake Eyes challenges them with his protege Jinx while on a MOUNTAIN.
• Kill'Em All: Apparently the way the original cast will be reduced to just Duke and Snake Eyes (plus President!Zartan and Storm Shadow in the Cobra side) is by killing them in The Purge. And even then, Duke's one of the casualties.
• Kill Sat: The second trailer shows one, and it's apparently how Cobra breaks London like an egg.
• Lady in Red: Lady Jayne and Jinx.
• Last Of Their Kind: The Joes after the apparent Purge. Also Joe Colton as he is the first and likely last of the GI Joes.
• Legacy Character: Surprisingly, Word of God has said that Cobra Commander in this film is a new person behind the mask, not Rex Lewis.
• McNinja: Judging by certain figures and playsets revealed recently, seems like The Rock's character is set to be one.
• Monumental Damage: The second trailer shows Cobra turning the entire city of London into a crater, with the Eye / Millennium Wheel smack in the middle.
• Not Quite Dead: Storm Shadow is seen clearly alive after dying in the previous movie
  • Same goes with the real President, as it clearly looked like he was going to die when he was last seen in the first film.
• President Evil: As shown in The Stinger for Rise of Cobra, President!Zartan is pretending to be the President of the USA. He even puts Cobra banners on the White House, since Cobra is now the "offical"
• The Purge: The Joes are annihilated under orders by President Evil.
• Recycled in Space: Compare and contrast G.I. Joe: Renegades, which featured Duke, Tunnel Rat, Snake Eyes, Roadblock and Scarlett trying to clear their names after being accused of a crime they didn't commit, fighting a guerrilla war against COBRA forces and the authorities.
  • Which perhaps not so coincidentally, sounds like something else.
• Revenge of the Sequel
• Schedule Slip: Of 9 months from June 2012 to March 2013, so the film could be converted to 3D & more scenes could be shot with Channing Tatum, after the main complaints from test screenings were that the film wasn't going to be in 3D and audiences weren't happy with how little time was spent on the development of the relationship between Duke & Roadblock before Duke's death. It was also anounced a month before the films release, and roughly a week before the toys were due to be released.
• Tank Goodness: A flaming tank is briefly seen in the trailer pressing forward into battle. There's also a tank-like dune buggy seen in the second trailer.
• You're Insane!: The Real President to President!Zartan. That's after he used a combat knife to slash his face, only for the Nanomachines to heal it up. And for added bonus, Zartan has a "Yes, I am batshit insane" face afterwards, with him being a Smug Smiler to boot.