Here’s the truth about Stephen Sommers: He makes fun movies. They’re usually dumb and full of too much CGI, and yes it’s easy to dismiss them if you’re one of those people who judges movies entirely by the dialogue written down in the script, but they are on some level, always fun. That’s especially true of G.I. Joe, an even dumber than normal Stephen Sommers movie which is as pure, popcorn fun as any other movie released in 2009.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was so fun that it made a fair amount of money and so Paramount has been gearing up for a sequel. That seemed like a good idea to me, even with Sommers involved, but now he’s not. The LA Times said Paramount approached Sommers to helm G.I. Joe 2, but that Sommers has turned them down. Maybe it’s for the best.
Even though G.I. Joe was clearly a lot of fun, it’s just as clear that there’s plenty of room to make better movies out of this franchise. As long as Paramount doesn’t run out and hire Brett Ratner or McG to take a big dump all over everything, odds are that whoever they hire may be able to do more than dumb fun. Hey what’s Alex Proyas up to? He needs a comeback after the poor showing made by Knowing. I’d even be willing to give a shot to Shawn Levy. Those Night at the Museum movies are big, dumb, fun if anything.
