Note: This review contains spoilers from both films, GI Joe and Captain America.
In 2009, Hollywood released the first installment in the GI Joe trilogy, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, a recreation of the 1983 cartoon series. In the film, amidst the conventional action and gun violence, a deeper storyline develops. Early on, GI Joe soldiers Rex (Joseph Gordon Levitt) and Duke (Channing Tatum) are portrayed as good friends and allies and seen fighting a common enemy. The two are soon separated on the battlefield and Rex is thought to have been killed by an explosion. This leaves Duke distraught over the loss of his close friend, and he remains this way for the duration of the film—until he learns that his most detested foe, the Cobra Commander, was actually his allegedly deceased friend Rex all along. This interesting plot twist made for a decent movie.
Five years later, Hollywood remade another TV show in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Many action movies are inherently similar: a heroic protagonist shoots his way through the movie while following a dramatic plotline. Both Captain America and GI Joe are no exception. However, after examining the movies side by side, it becomes hard not to notice the striking resemblances they share.
Captain America opens with a familiar intro—Captain “Cap” America (Chris Evans) loses his best friend while they are fighting a common enemy on the battlefield, causing Cap to endure the same mourning that Duke went through with his companion. Throughout the movie, Cap fights the opposition, with the thought of his friend lingering in the back of his mind. His enemy, the Winter Soldier, is a mysterious character who hides behind a mask and goggles to conceal his true identity, just as the Cobra Commander does. After butting heads with his nemesis for the better part of the film, he is incredulous to learn that, surprise, his enemy was actually his friend! This shocker is almost predictable after watching GI Joe. Not only do the two movies have nearly parallel plot lines, but the presentation of the villain is almost identical. Both the Cobra Commander and the Winter Soldier have faces that are hidden by a protective black mask, which is later removed to divulge the familiar face that the heroes once knew.
Hollywood is constantly under scrutiny for regurgitating old material and failing to produce original features, and after releasing two recreations that seem to mirror each other, they are not gaining any ground over the critics. By removing the fluff from the two movies, it’s not hard to see how similar the premises are. While both films are well made and entertaining, they are practically the same movie.
