The New Kung Fu Grip: G.I. JOE RESOLUTE

"When I was a child, I thought as a child. I played as a child.
As I became a man, I put away childish things.... "

Well, that same line of thinking must have been running through the minds of the creators of the new G.I.JOE series, RESOLUTE, because they threw the old 80's series textbook out the window on this one! Welcome one and all to the hindsight review of PLANET GRIFFIN!

To all of you 'cold war kids' out there who thrilled to the serialized adventures of the 80's cult classic will no doubt already be well aware of the new series ( the promo trailer debuted at last year's San Diego Con to a packed house of drooling fanboys and girls), currently in rotation over at AdultSwim.com... And, as you can see, the daze of old are fondly remembered, but left at the production house door as a new generation of JOE thrillseekers can see what we did not back in the day--- A more adult oriented JOE !
Cities are 'vaporized' a la' Independence Day, Snake Eyes lives up to the hype as 'silent but deadly', Cobra Commander is played as a true psychotic threat to world security and not the asthmatic weak buffoon , and old friends and foes that merely took up space as minor background characters in the late 80's are summarily dispatched early on in the opening episodes; driving the point home that the series creators are trying to get your attention and assure you that this isn't your granddad's JOE with the average kung fu grip---

---But rather, a kung fu grip that's already crushed your throat before you've realized what happened!

While I really like the approach they've taken with the webisodes, I noticed that the same tech-heavy influence that played a role in the 80's is still in effect here. My personal take would be to present the beginnings of a gritty, grimier JOE a la' APOCALYPSE NOW to a stylized BLACK HAWK DOWN ; building up to what they will become in the 21st century. Strip it down to a leaner and meaner private military organization, dedicated to crushing the underground terrorist organization known as COBRA!!!

Oh sorry.... Geek flashbacks of the kung fu grip.

Check out the latest webisodes, premiering by the time you read this review over at AdultSwim.com. Knowing IS half the battle, y'know...