John Chu will be directing J.I. Joe 2. This we know. We also know that they’ve decided to trim the fat and drop a few Joe’s from the movie. What we didn’t know is why in the hell someone thought it was a good idea to hire someone with “Step up 2 the Streets” on their resume to make a action movie like G.I. Joe. Here’s John Chu’s thoughts on the subject.

Source: Screen Rant

Well, for Joe, I grew up playing with G.I. Joes and watching Joe and reading the comics of Joe. It means so much to me. To me, it’s one of the few brands that has a soul, a multi-generational soul, where it’s about what it means to be a leader in the community, in your home, with your friends, and what it means to be a leader and a hero. I think that’s an important message right now in the world when everyone’s kind of questioning what it means to be the leader of the world…

…I think it’s not just another action movie. Maybe the first one was that, but we’re really trying to break it down and take the shine off and show that my Joes were the ones in the mud, the sand and the trees and in the epic worldwide adventures. Each one had individual talents. So we really want to bring the experience of what I grew up with playing with these toys. What it feels like so that kids now can be reintroduced to the Joes and experience it in a different way. This is like down and dirty Joe for me.

…I mean, I can’t ever change what people think … In action, obviously it’s different, you’re doing a bunch of stuff. But the best action is action that’s telling your story, action that’s actually evolving your character. To me, I have a big challenge ahead of me. I want to do a really kick-ass movie, action that’s fun, big, crazy. But at the same time, at it’s core, the action is telling an emotional story about our heroes.

I like his enthusiasm. A lot. I believe that he truly wants to make a great G.I. Joe movie, but it’s gonna take a lot more than enthusiasm to get cynics like me on your side. Talking a good game is one thing but I want to see some footage or a screen test or something showing him backing this up. I am optimistic because the dance choreography in Step up 2 was pretty good so I hope he displays that same level of talent when transitioning to action films. He get’s a spot on the ‘radar’.