Batman 3 Update: Riddle Me This: Joseph Gordon-Levitt As The Riddler?

Enewsi has just put up a post that Batman fans may find quite interesting. It appears that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is now one of the frontrunners to play the part of Edward Nygma, better known as the mind-boggling Bat-villain called The Riddler, in Christopher Nolan's next Bat-sequel following The Dark Knight! There's nothing confirmed yet, but this report isn't much of a surprise, since Gordon-Levitt is also starring in Nolan's newest flick this year, Inception!

Last played by comedian Jim Carrey in the 1995 Joel Schumacher directed Batman Forever, the character is obsessed with riddles and puzzle games, which lead to him jumpstarting a criminal career that is constantly thwarted by The Dark Knight and his allies. Being one of my favorite Batman villains, I'd really like to see Gordon-Levitt play the role, and he has what it takes, considering his performances as The Doctor/ Cobra Commander in G.I.Joe: The Rise Of Cobra and (500) Days Of Summer. He was also rumored to be one of the likely choices for David Webb's Spider-Man reboot, but I'd rather like to see this actor play out the role of Mr. Nygma instead! For more on this scoop, jump over to Enewsi through this link!

Batman 3 is slated for release on July 20, 2012!

Movie Review: G.I.Joe: The Rise Of Cobra

You can all rest easy now, G.I.Joe is here.

Another one of Hasbro's big toy properties has finally made it's big screen movie adaptation debut. Does it remain faithful to the franchise, or has it incurred the ire of the fans who paid good money to see this movie?

Simple answer: It has done neither one of the above.

Now as a G.I.Joe fan growing up during the 80's, there's so little to say about how much material director Stephen Sommers and crew took and used from the original series/ comics and incorporated onto this movie. With the exception of the characters and their names, everybody has completely undergone a hollywood makeover, and those expecting those colorful uniforms and personalities from the Joes and Cobra back in the day will just be utterly disappointed. Call me strange, but this movie reminded me of the first X-men film. Why? Too many common elements to point out; 1.)The lead hero gets rescued and recruited to the team 2.)Plot and twists remind me of the merry mutant film series 3.)Ray Park is here as well, playing Snake-Eyes (he played Toad in the first X-men film). Lots of Marvel styled moments, from Blade to Spider-Man come to mind when you see the action scenes. In fact, since Paramount made this, there are some things that will remind you about Iron Man,, and you'll know what I'm talking about when you get to the exosuit scenes. *Ahem* foregoing a summary of the movie, I'll just get right to the point and review this sucker.

For all intents and purposes, G.I.Joe: The Rise Of Cobra is a pretty good movie. No matter what purists and intellectuals on all things Joe say, it's hard not to acknowledge how utterly brainless and fun watching this can be, especially when guys and gals dressed in high tech military hardware start blasting guns and shoot the crap out of each other. Given, the trailer was a major dissuading factor, and promotional images leaked online in the months leading to the film's release seemed to inkle that the movie just wouldn't fare well compared to other sure hits like Star Trek and Transfromers: Revenge Of The Fallen. In fact, the image of Snake-Eyes seemed atrocious at first, because he was wearing "cargo-pants" under his sleek V2 styled outfit. I was kinda leaning towards being a none believer, but I wanted to keep an open mind and give this movie a fair chance, so I waited til the release date to see what it could offer. Now that it's here and finally screening in theaters around the world, I have to say, it was downright impressive.

For the casting choices, the filmmakers must've wanted to give a round up cast to play this movie right to the audience. It's not as deep and dramatic as one might expect from a military film, but they got pretty good personalities rounding up the cast. Channing Tatum's Duke isn't really a stand out, but the guy has your average joe appeal going for him that he seems like the perfect guy to play the lead role many associate a typical G.I.Joe character with. Dennis Quaid as General Hawk, what can I say? Iconic role, and he hardly has to do a thing except command and lead the team trying to save the world. He does look like the type of guy to be in a position of authority, but he's also known for his light hearted looks too, and it kind of fits with the role he's playing. Marlon Wayans as "Ripcord" is ok, but the character in the original series wasn't an African American. He could have been called Stalker, but then again, I guess they needed to justify why he flies a plane later in the film. Heavy Duty could have been Roadblock, but I guess they were aiming for different nations joining in on the fight, and since G.I.Joe is an international force, why wouldn't there be diversity? Decent cast for the heroes, but I am missing one more...

Oh yes, SNAKE EYES. He's just BADASS. I can't say enough to describe Ray Park's role here. He's perfect, and he's got the skills and the outfit to match that bad assery of his. No words can describe the scenes and stunts he filmed, especially the fights against Storm Shadow, played by Lee Byung-Hun. While the treatment of their Arashikage past and heritage is quite different compared to the comics, both guys play their parts well... maybe TOO WELL. I guess as the saying goes, "seeing is believing", so you'll all have to just watch for yourselves and find out why their rivalry KICKS ASS.

Baroness and Scarlett are major hotties; HOTTIES that cannot be ignored and will be headliners for this film for sure. I'm impressed with the way they handled the character of The Baroness in particular. Sure, it's not the same aristocratic femme fatale we've known in the classics, but her interpretation here is justified as she still kicks ass and has a past that ties directly to G.I.Joe lead Duke. Scarlett? Well, she's smart and has the looks... so much so that it makes Ripcord envious and attracted to her. I would have wanted her relationship with Snake-Eyes to play out, but I guess the filmmakers didn't have time to incorporate that. Oh well... she's still HOT.

While they were the baddies of this film, I can truly say that the versions of Cobra Commander and Destro here seemed a little too far fetched and forced somewhat. Sure, they were the masterminds behind the whole ordeal the joes go through in this adventure, but I felt as though something was lacking, and the only thing established was their own origin stories and personas. Plot twists were kind of predictable towards the end, but with everything laid out in the open now, it's obvious that a sequel's coming. Oh, and if you're really a fan of the franchise, you'll notice some cameos by other prominent joes and baddies. In fact, since Stephen Sommers directed this, there's a cameo from two stars who worked with him before... who they are, I'm not telling so as not to spoil the surprise.;)

Overall, I can nitpick and bash about how unfaithful G.I.Joe: The Rise Of Cobra can be when compared to its source material, but that just wouldn't be fair now, would it? Bottomline, I think it was an AWESOME movie (Hasbro even has their own animated movie logo now!). Go do yourself a favor and go see this as soon as possible. I can honestly say it's WAY BETTER and more appealing than Transformers 2 now, and it might get many (like myself) into the toys all the more. So what you waiting for? Sound off and cry YO JOE!

Score - 5/5

Here Comes The Calvary! The Official G.I.Joe - The Rise Of Cobra Toy Launch!

Cobra's invasion came one month earlier than expected.XD


Paving the way for next month's blockbuster movie release, Hasbro, Toy Kingdom, and Cybertron PH came together and ushered in the official local toy launch of G.I.Joe: The Rise Of Cobra. Much like Transformers, the merchandise is based on another 80's franchise by Hasbro, and it is one of the most enduring toy lines that still continues to delight fans to this day.



Held at the lobby area of SM Megamall Building A, this two day event began in the morning of July 11th, Saturday, with much of the collectors already on location and just waiting for the mall doors to pop open and welcome them in. As soon as the bell hit, the ceremony went underway with a ribbon cutting to open up the festivities, with the sponsors in attendance and a few cosplayers dressed as Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow to promote the show. Once that was done, the toy area was officially open to the public, and collectors of all ages flooded in to check out the new figs and grab their stuff.



I entered the hallway not expecting to pick up any toys that day, but I underestimated my interests verily, as many of the figures on display were great and mighty tempting to pass up. The movie toys were pretty looking, sporting the movie's neat looking logo and a new packaging that's smaller than the original Joe toy clam shells. Of course, several new characters made for that toyline join the ones that make it into the movie. There were also several vehicles and drones... great catches for those army-builders out there. Both Joes and Cobra had a well stocked toy assortment made available, and there were even toys made specifically for the kiddies who didn't really care for collector's value.



In addition to the movie toys, there were restocks of the re-released G.I.Joe classic series as well, a line I only began collecting last year. Since it's relaunch on 2007 to commemorate the series' 25th anniversary, people have been hooked to the Joes now more than ever. New collectors join the old guard, and as a result, we have lots of people racing just to grab those "hard-to-find" figures off the shelves. Personally, my favorite character for the line has and always will be Snake-Eyes, the silent and deadly Ninja Commando of the G.I.Joe Team. Since his debut, the character's popularity has risen exponentially, and he has been outfitted with several costumes over the years that give him more than just a drastic makeover - he becomes more intimidating and dangerous as a result. Probably the most sought after costume among his various iterations would be his "V2" outfit, the one that has him wearing a cool looking visor and pairs him with his faithful pet wolf, Timber. I picked up this one several months ago, but I had to get a spare just to open it (you can smell a toy review coming, and it will in the next post, hehe).



Going back to the show, there wasn't anything you could have missed out if you were there to see it. Cybertron PH set up a display booth with all of their personal G.I.Joe collections mounted and posed for the public to see. In addition to that, there was also a show organized for the people, more specifically the kids since they had a contest up with cool prizes to give away. I ended up being an unwilling participant as a result, as one kid had to grab a guy who bought figures and bring him to the stage - which was me, haha.



Afterwards, I had a photo session with the folks who came and dressed as the movie characters (with the guy who dressed as Duke being a friend of mine). Some of the guys (Storm Shadow and Snake-Eyes included) looked great in their outfits, while others (Destro and Cobra Commander) were "interesting", but the ones who were eye-openers were the babes dressed as The Baroness, Scarlett, and Cover Girl. Hot stuff, yesh.^^



All in all, I think The Rise Of Cobra toy launch was a success. While it didn't gather a large crowd comparable to the Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen toy launch, it was still fun nonetheless. In addition to hauling another set of Movie and Classic figs, there were lots of eye candy and stuff to see around, which practically made my day and fulfilled my expectations of what an event should be. If this write up sparked your curiosity, you can bet the toys will be all over regular shops in the next few days. It's a good time to be a G.I.Joe fan. Tag 'em N' Bag 'em!