G.I. Joe: Retaliation hasn’t been in theatres for too long but it has quickly turned a profit, despite its notoriously low-key cast (with the exception of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Bruce Willis), therefore, it has been reported that Paramount is planning a G.I. Joe 3.
I can hear some of you groaning already, but that’s not even the worst part — writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick recently stated they want to “resurrect the Baroness as a zombie in the next film.” Is it an ironic statement on the soulless performance given by Sienna Miller in the first film? Were they being serious?
Seriously, why would they do that? It seems they’re not aware of the fact that Miller was given a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress due to her horrendous portrayal of The Baroness. Perhaps she’s not a mediocre actress — she was just horribly miscast. Roger Ebert once said an actor can be a miraculous thing in the right role, so maybe Miller is waiting for the role that will make us forget she ever acted alongside an equally terrible Channing Tatum and a far worse Marlon Wayans in the first G.I. Joe film.
If Reese and Wernick were indeed being honest about their intentions to bring back The Baroness, we beg them to at least have the decency to redefine the character, in order for the part to be recast. In a way, it could ultimately save G.I. Joe 3 from being an utter critical disaster.
No matter how you feel about the aforementioned movie franchise, it is far from dead. In the years to come, we’re likely to see several G.I Joe sequels featuring atrocious acting, pedestrian CGI and appalling storytelling devices, but unfortunately they’re unlikely to make less than ten times their budget in box-office revenue. However, excluding Sienna Miller from future movies seems to be the first step towards critical success.