The President of the United States has been kidnapped, and he is replaced with a shape-shifting terrorist named Zartan who works for the terrorist group Cobra. He orders a nuclear warhead to be stolen, and taking the blame is the GI Joe task force, headed by Duke, the hero of the first film. The Joes are ambushed, and all but three GI Joes are killed. The surviving members-- Roadblock, Lady Jaye, and Flint-- are fugitives from justice, tasked with finding those responsible for killing their friends and saving the world from these nuclear terrorists. When the President announces that Cobra will be the new chief security unit for the United States, the Joes realize that this plot goes all the way to the top; the President can't possibly be who he says he is. They find their group's namesake, a retired general named Joe, and get a slew of weapons in order to get close to the President. When they get DNA evidence that the President is in fact Zartan, they must find a way to find the real President and expose this scheme to the world. Meanwhile, Zartan calls a summit of all of the world's leaders, convinces them to disarm all of their nuclear weapons, and unveils a new weapon orbiting the plan that he alone controls. When he destroys London just to prove a point, the Joes must act fast to stop Zartan and Cobra before more of the world is destroyed.
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Best part of story, including ending:
The characters are not terribly well-developed, and while the first film maintained a good sense of humor, this sequel takes itself far more seriously, save for Jonathan Pryce as Zartan, by far the most fun part of the film.
Best scene in story:
Jonathan Pryce as President Zartan running the world's summit, insulting the world's leaders, and hamming it up viciously is exactly the type of fun this movie should have had throughout.
Opinion about the main character:
The Rock is a likable performer, but Roadblock is a character with zero interesting story to his name, thus our sympathy runs fairly low.