G.I. Joe

This will be one of the rare occasions when a post will be focused not on the film and its story, but on the the production of a film; in this case production design specifically. It is quite obvious what the intention of the filmmakers (i.e. producers/studio) when one views the trailer for this latest live-action adaptation of a popular property from the 80s. Any attempt at arguing for a much more substantial narrative is essentially a waste of time and energy. The film is designed to maximize opening day ticket sales by exploiting nostalgic memories of a much loved cartoon in people (men particularly) who are now in their 30s and 40s. The lure of blockbuster box-office returns based off a borrowed property is too tempting and as commented on earlier the viewing audience is far too easily "entertained" to demand originality and/or depth in a film of this nature.

What proves to be truly disappointing is the absolute lackluster production design that was approved by the director and all involved. Hollywood is prone to trends and ever since Tim Burton's Batman, black, leather-clad superheroes seem to be the only way Hollywood is able to visualize comic book characters. This was only reinforced more with the success of the Bryan Singer's X-men films in which a much more colorful palette in the comics was muted down to color accented black suits in the film versions. Despite early fan protests, the film adaptations of the costumes were so successful onscreen that they actually influenced the comic book versions post release of the films.
So, it stands to logic that the live-action version of the 80s "G.I. Joe" cartoon would also follow the same route. Take a look at the international poster for the film above. There is a substantial difference here that needs to be pointed out. Superheroes wear costumes as a method of disguise, an alter-ego with which they carry out their activities while living out another life as normal citizens. The members of G.I. Joe are military personnel. They do not wear costumes. Their outfits are a function of their occupation and the specializations within that occupation; they are also a reflection of the branch of the military to which they belong be it Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines. The concept of the original cartoon was an elite unit made of up soldiers from these branches, contributing to a much more effective fighting force that pooled their collective skills.

Compared to this package design for the DVD of the cartoon series, the failings of the film production design are quite obvious. Though G.I. Joe is a unified team, each member retains their individual identities and trademarks based on the military branch to which they belong as well as the specific skill set they bring to the team. One can not get any sense of this when looking at the film poster; in fact, it's even hard to tell who are the villains and who are the heroes. Obviously, the outfits of the cartoon characters would have to be adapted to film, but it seems so elementary that drawing on real military garment and uniforms from around the world and through various eras would produce much better results than completely black outfits that have no variation whatsoever among the individual characters.
I am sure the production team will have all manner of explanations as to why they took the design route seen in the film. Whatever those justifications may be, this short video produced by a figure manufacturer proves that A) It is possible to reproduce the look of the cartoon in live action; B) even without revealing any faces, anyone familiar with the cartoon can identify the characters just by their trademark costumes and C) the production design of the film was not even close in capturing the spirit of the original source. It's a telling sign when the deep pockets of Hollywood can be outdone by figure manufacturer with its heart in the right place. But I guess that's the point, isn't it?