8 Movie Sequels That Cost LESS Than The Original (But Were Better)
6. G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)
As far as movies go, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) was absolutely dreadful. Sure, there was Joseph Gordon Levitt's solid performance and relatively exciting action sequences, but all told it's an unquestionable mess with poor humour, weird effects, terrible acting and an uninspired script. And it cost 170 million dollars to make!
What they spent it on is up for debate.
A sequel, then, seemed out of the question, because no one liked it - not even its star, Channing Tatum, who only returned to the sequel so he could be killed off in its first act.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation came out in 2013, and audiences were rightly pessimistic. And whilst Retaliation is by no means a great film, there's no doubt it's a more accomplished action flick than its predecessor.
With the likes of Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis and Elodie Yung stepping up to run the show, Retaliation was a much more fun, cohesive and accessible film. It may have kept some of the same humour, and Willis spends the whole thing doing his best Bruce Willis impression, but at only 155 million dollars, its smaller budget ended up making a much more impressive and acceptable action adventure.
Not that the competition was that stiff...