G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)

By the time some fun stuff arrives - cliffside martial acrobatics, Mission: Impossible-style infiltrations of black tie events and the fast and furious flashbacks that made G.I. Joe: the Rise of the Cobra such unexpected fun - you'll have been burned by a dull boysy first hour where men chortle about their "girl" conquests, snigger about "girls and their guns", leer at legs and you will have already decided Hasbro's action doll franchise needs to stay in 2013.

★★☆☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

News in April was that Hasbro had started work on a cinematic universe a la DC Comics and Marvel, and in light of my being bored last week by X-men: Apocalypse, I thought, "Perhaps there is room for another action-hero franchise," and watched this 2009 fantasy action based on Hasbro's G.I. Joe action figurines, characters that for a time were the property of Marvel...and it is surprisingly engaging even for someone with no prior knowledge of the franchise, delivers fast and furious comic book action crammed with detail (the backstories are delivered in flashback at furious speed), and there are tonnes of storythreads begging to be followed-up, although Hasbro is sure to reboot the series with the next instalment so don't get too attached to Channing Tatum as Duke, Dennis Quaid as The General, Lee Byung-hun as Storm Shadow (!) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander.

★★★☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS