G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)

“G.I. Joe: Retaliation” outpaces the first installment of the toy-inspired franchise about an elite force of American soldiers dedicated to fighting uber-terrorist group Cobra, the latter obsessed with snake puns and world domination. Mind you, “G.I. Joe:Rise of Cobra” was an awful take on the 1980s comics/cartoon, mangling characters, adding ugly Iron Man suits, and putting (shudder) lips on the mask of a black-clad ninja. Here, director Jon Chu (“Step-Up”) ups the action -– dig the mountain-side battle of sword-playing ninjas -– and ditches much of the “Rise” low marks, reworking characters to give fan boys their due. The plot kicks off as Cobra has created an imposter U.S. Prez (Jonathan Pryce) and plans to take the world via nuclear disarmament. Satirical politics? No. This is child’s play. Speaking of, in action figure trading glory, most of the “Rise” cast has fled, but we get Dwayne Johnson as heavy-gunner Roadblock and Bruce Willis as the original Joe named Joe. (Channing Tatum briefly returns as Joe leader Duke.) Johnson carries all, while Willis yawns and the rest of the newcomers, including Adrianne Palicki in a painfully sexist “hottie soldier” role, strike poses more plastic than human. B-

Brazil (1985)

"Brazil" is George Orwell to the max, with sickly twisted Monty Python humor and a shocking bit of violence, smash-mixed for an extra sharp jab at a futuristic life under a corporate/government microscope. It is the hands-down best Terry Gilliam time warp/mind screw, and the man likes to screw with minds. Jonathan Pryce is the hero -- a cubicle cog battling and yet loyal to his incompetent boss (Ian Holm) and his rich mother (Katherine Helmond) -- who finds himself falling in love with (or is stalking) a beautiful woman (Kim Geist) who may be a terrorist. The supporting cast includes Jim Broadbent, Robert De Niro, Michael Palin, and a creepy/funny Bob Hoskins. The film is a delirious and literal fever dream, where fantasy sequences meld into the "reality" going on in the mad world where all is gray, and life is one paperwork form after the other, and the world is soulless. If Gilliam's long 140-odd minute version is a mess (repetition, scenes that dead end) under certain viewing, it's a fuckin' brilliant one. A masterpiece, even. A