Pocket Universe

So, the animation's gorgeous. And Scarlett? Yum. And Cobra Commander? HELLO! YES! NOT QUITE SO OVER-THE-TOP at least with respect to the voice acting. He still, um, Cobra Commander. I think he's contractually obligated to be over the top.

I do have to say, overall, this is very well done, certainly better than I expected. The voice acting is top-notch (dude, they have Steve Blum voicing Duke. DUKE!! This is me with my grabby hands!), and the voices are more in line with how I think the Joes would sound if they were real people instead of cheesy 80's cartoon characters. ;-)

It was written by Warren Ellis, who is, apparently, rather well-known in the comics industry. ;-) Here's what he has to say about Resolute. I had no idea this was developed as a micro-series. On the one hand, it does make sense in retrospect. The pacing does fit a micro-series presentation. On the other hand, taken as whole, as I'm watching it, it also holds up as an hour-long TV broadcast.

Behind the second cut, a collection of :D and D: moments written as I watched.


:D #1: Scarlett undercover. Yes please! Awesome from the start. Please stay that way.
D: #1: OK. If Cobra Island was decommissioned, why the fuck are there still missiles available for launch? AND POWER ON AN ABANDONED ISLAND??!
D: #2: Why the Bazooka hate? He's dead without even having a line?
:D #2: Duke! His voice! His characterization! I'm still such a fangirl! (Note: Steve Blum voices him. Of course I swoon!)
:D #3: Snake Eyes! I wasn't really a fangirl. I kind of am now. Maybe I just have more of an appreciation for ninjas.
:D #4: Cobra Commander as a ruthless, evil bastard. Murdering Major Blood by cutting out his heart in front of his men so nobody would betray him? Oh yeah. And, when he makes his initial demand, proving his point by killing innocents? YES.
:D #5: Female Dial Tone? She is adorable! And smart! AND MADE OF AWESOME!
:D #6: Go, go Joe Teamwork!
:D #7: Hello, Baroness! "Remember, the first one who speaks gets to see two of their friends killed." And of course, she's teamed up with Destro. Yes, I do love Cobra being ruthless and sociopathic.
:D #8: The rivalry between Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes. It's so deep-rooted and tied up in family and honor and, yes. Just yes. Hits so many of my buttons. I remember in either the Sunbow cartoon or the Marvel comic (I think comic), Storm Shadow reaches out to Snake Eyes and leaves Cobra. I suspect that will not be the case here.
(Commercial Aside: I may just have to play Meowcenaries on Adult Swim. So cute! And so deadly!)
:D #9: Have I mentioned I have a competence kink? Because I do. And Duke and Scarlett and the rest of the Joes are hitting it hard here. Especially Scarlett.
:D Joes in Space!! (Er, Joes getting killed in space. Whoops.)
D: #3: Storm Shadow's accent. It's a little too "stereotypically Asian" in a way that makes me twitchy. Even, uh, moreso than fetishizing ninjas.
:D #10: But even with the horrible accent, there is am amazing fight between Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes, and the rivalry! Hi. These are my buttons. And Storm Shadow mashes them, especially with the line, "I don't need swords to kill you. I will kill you with my bare hands."
:D #11: Snake Eyes wins his fight against Storm Shadow, of course, and for a character who doesn't speak, he sure conveys enough emotion.
:D #12: Everything ties together. This is almost a D: (how many coincidences can we take?), but I do like how streamlined it makes the two stories of Snake Eyes v. Storm Shadow and Duke & Scarlett v. Zartan and Gun Ho & Roadblock v. the Baroness & Destro.
:D #13: Duke/Scarlett. I grew up on the cartoon, not the comics (though I did get into the comics as an adult), so they're my Joe OTP. Scarlett admitting she wants Duke makes me wiggle in glee.
D: #4: Road Block & Gun Ho shooting it out with the Baroness & Destro over the heads of hostages? That's not very Joe-ish.
:D #14:
BARONESS: The hostages are gone!
DESTRO: Oh, that's just bloody cheating!
GUN HO: Give us an excuse. Go on.
:D #15: Maybe Duke/Flint is my new OTP:
FLINT: *smirks* You nuked Siberia, and all you got was that limp?
DUKE: Funny. Sit rep.

Even though I'm a cartoon girl, I do like the nods to the comics. Like Springfield. There's something incredibly satisfying about an air battle over smalltown USA. And Cobra making its base of operations in a Wal*Mart clone.
Finally, Tunnel Rat (who was as annoying as fuck in the Sunbow G.I. Joe Movie) grew on me as a character. I mean, come on, with a line like, "Luckily, insane stunts are part of the job description", how could I not wibble a little? (See my competence kink.)


Final tally:
D: = 3.5
:D = 15

Looks like the positives win! Color me pleasantly surprised! If this pops up on DVD, I'll be forced (forced, I tell you!) to add it to my G.I. Joe collection.