As I reflect back on my childhood, I cannot help remember loving watching the G.I. Joe cartoon each weekday after school. A few years ago, it was great excitement that I heard that Hollywood was going to make a live-action version of the cartoon. I would never consider the first live-action G.I. Joe a cinematic masterpiece but I enjoyed seeing the characters from my childhood up on the big screen. As the movie ended with Cobra Commander being locked away in a weird prison, I wondered if Hollywood would do a sequel.

At the same time I began to hear talk about a sequel to the first live-action G.I. Joe movie, I also heard rumors that part of the plan was for all the original Joes including Duke were going to be killed off in the first few moments and we would be introduced to a new set of Joes. At first, this made me not want to see the movie but then I realized that one of the lessons that I learned from the cartoons was that wars were fought by individuals and not by nameless armies. Before, I played with G.I. Joes, I used to play war with the little green plastic army men. These little plastic army men had no names and I could buy a large group of them rather cheaply. G.I. Joes were more expensive and each Joe was an individual with a unique specialty. Each figure came with a little personnel card that gave each character a bio once again teaching me that it was individuals that fought wars. I think this was an important lesson that I did not learn elsewhere because I never knew a soldier growing up. It was not until I was in high school did I meet men and women in the military or hear older people talk about their time in the military. This sequel once again reinforced in me the idea that individuals (with families) fight wars and real way is not a game. (Thank you to the men and women who serve our country).

Another quick spiritual insight comes when in the midst of his escape Cobra Commander simply shoots Destro instead of helping him escape. It was a reminder that trust among bad people is non-existent. On the other hand the G.I. Joes that survive the sneak attack (Roadblock, Flint, and Lady Jaye) work hard together to survive.

Another interesting character in the G.I. Joe movies is Storm Shadow. Storm Shadow desires to bring Zartan to justice for killing his uncle but because Storm Shadow uses every means possible to accomplish his task he becomes a villain in the process. This is a reminder of the spiritual truth that the ends do not justify the means.

The climax of the movie comes when Zartan (pretending to be the President) invites all world leaders to a summit on nuclear weapons. In the midst of the summit he launches a nuclear missile and each of the world leaders quickly do the same. For six minutes the world is in danger as nuclear missiles fill the air. Finally Zartan deactivates his bomb and the other leaders do the same. The scene reminds us that there is a constant need for people to pray for world peace since unfortunately in our sinfulness humanity has created weapons that can destroy our planet many times over.

Cobra Commander and Zartan then reveal that they have created an even more powerful weapon a “kinetic bomb” that can be launched from a satellite in space. A reminder that violence only breeds more violence.

Luckily the G.I. Joe force saves the day rescuing the president and destroying the kinetic bomb. Cobra Commander escapes though to fight another day. I think it is a simple analogy to compare Cobra Commander to sin for when we think we have defeated sin, it pops back up again and the devil always looks for our weak spot and attacks there.