The difference there is that Gangs of New York is a completely different calibre of film than GI Joe. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and nominated for 10 Oscars. So Daniel Day Lewis didn’t really have to tone down his performance to the level of the movie because it was such high quality, even if Leo didn’t put in his best performance (which at his worst is 100x better than Channing Tatum’s best).

If Daniel Day Lewis somehow had to be cast as General Hawk, do you think he would bring the same level of intensity to the character? I don’t – I think he’d end up looking like a fool because the level of acting around him couldn’t match it. Unless, he’s one of the rare types of actors that could do things behind the scenes like coaching the other actors to bring up the game of the entire cast.

Its an action movie that’s meant to entertain and not change your lives, so I think some people are getting a bit critical……if ya don’t like action and things that go boom, go watch something else.

I don’t think the special effects turned out bad because of an intention of making it look like a “live-action cartoon”.

Quaid shouldn’t have to make up for everyone else’s shitty performances. Maybe some of those actors should just, I don’t know, learn how to act.

The Perfect Getaway >>> GI Joe

I’m not one for verbal jousting over how much more intelligent I am than others, so let’s inhibit the foreplay and stay on topic. You said the following: “You can’t have one guy doing awesome and the rest of the characters lame because it would be too jarring for the audience.”

Allow me to bring the 2003 film Gangs of New York into play here. Daniel Day-Lewis, arguably the greatest actor alive at the moment, played a supporting role and played it damn well. Leonardo DiCaprio, whom I believe is a very solid actor, gave probably the worst performance of his career. Overall it made for a poor film, with one source of actual entertainment throughout the entire ordeal, and that being Daniel’s performance.

The point I’m trying to make is, even though actors in supporting roles may fail to impress, that does not mean actors in leading roles need to lower their standards because they are surrounded by those with inadequate capabilities. That is what I meant in saying “lead by example”. Unfortunately, Dennis Quaid is no Daniel Day-Lewis, and therefore I believe is incapable of cleaning up the mess that Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, and Sienna Miller left behind.

Now, we could argue all day about what should have happened and what ended up happening, but the bottom line is Dennis Quaid (like you said) could not make up for the slacking performances that his fellow actors gave. My hopes revealed the opposite, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

As commented on regarding Meryl Streep in ‘Julie & Julia’:

“G.I. Joe probably would have been better if Streep had just been in it hahaha”

Someone commenting on ‘Julie & Julia’, and Meryl Streep’s contribution to the film:

“G.I. Joe probably would have been better if Streep had just been in it hahaha”