Children of the 70s and 80s will have their own memories of the GI JOE and Action Force franchises (yes I mentioned them both in the same breath, get over it), but now it seems that the all- american heroes and their insidious adversaries are making the leap to the big screen in an all new live action adventure!

While GI JOE and Action Force both started out very differently, the two franchises were united under one banner with the sale of the company behind Action Force, to GI JOE creator HASBRO and the launch of the cartoon series that I remember as a small boy.

I absolutely loved the Action Force cartoon, as it was called in my neck of the woods, the gadgets, the guns, the theme tune and above all the colourful array of villains. Even now there's a certain nostalgia within me, although admittedly when I tried watching an episode on the Hasbro site the other week it felt more painful than dragging myself over broken glass.

Maybe some things are best left in the past after all?

But then again maybe not.

What worked for Transformers could, and should, work for Action Fo - I mean GI JOE. My main concern is how they will portray the villains in the piece - COBRA.

'Who are COBRA' You say?

Think of the Al Qaeda, and take away the poor fashion sense, and the finesse for blowing stuff up. Now add a completely wacky fashion sense and add a penchant for hair-brained, over the top schemes and you have COBRA - 'a ruthless terrorist organisation' and the thorn in the side of freedom and liberty everywhere - and the best thing about the whole franchise by far!

With super-cool costumes that you would never in your wildest dreams think of going outdoors in, futuristic weapons that make light sabers and the Death Star look dated and crazy names like SERPENTOR and ZARTAN, it was always Cobra that made the franchise what is was - the firm favourite of all red blooded males between the ages of 5-13.

But what of the film? What can we expect to see?

Well, while there are rumours that GI JOE has ceased to be American and has become a bootleg version of the EU (based in Brussels), I find this hard to believe.

Yes, I can understand that there needs to be a bit of an 'everyone is equal' slant to it, but I don't think the film makers will be moving them to Brussels to form a camouflage laden committee any time soon.

Which is a bit of a shame as I'm sure they'd do a much better job than our current European Parliament.

The cast is semi-strong, with quality names such as Sienna Miller as the Baroness and England's very own Christopher Eccleston as Destro. Then again, in the same list you also find Arnold Vosloo (the mummy from eh, the Mummy) and Joseph Gordon Levett (that kid from third rock from the sun - he plays Cobra Commander don't you know) so at the moment it looks like the film could go either way. The saving grace is that it's still early days and there's hardly any info on it yet - in fact they're filming as we speak.

The Pit (Action-er-GI JOE'S, base) will feature, along with some cool super-hummer styled vehicles and I guess lots and lots of very big guns also. But my main concern is the costumes - how do you make some very cool looking cartoons remain cool looking in the flesh?

The answer is not very well.

Even the X-Men went through a costume change when put on film. After all tight blue and yellow spandex just doesn't look heroic in this day and age now does it? In fact so far the only hero/villain character to get away with a direct transfer was Superman.

Does the same apply to GI JOE and Cobra? With a lot of blue jumpsuits and leather can we expect to see a direct translation onto film? To be fair to the films creators, the preliminary pictures of JOE'S own wholesome ninja warrior, Snake Eyes (pictured), really do look impressive. But more importantly, when your two main villains choose to wear funky headgear, what do you do?

You see, Destro (Cobra's second in command) boasts a silver helmet. But not just any silver helmet, this one looks like it's been moulded to his face. And Cobra Commander, the fearless ruler of Cobra, has the option of a mirror-faced helmet that looks a bit too much like a stainless steel dildo, or as an alternative he wears a hood with eye holes cut into it.

Do you see them looking scary and evil, or silly and laughable? I'm hoping it'll be scary and evil as it should be.

It seems to me that there are two options. Either find a way to make silver bucket head and dildo face look intimidating, or catch the Judge Dredd/Dr Doom syndrome and have the headgear as a temporary and removable feature, or just discount it all together.

I really, REALLY hope they use the head gear, I just hope to god they make it look the part. After all the last thing you want to see in a villain is the face of that kid off of Third Rock from the Sun and the face or Doctor Who smiling down the barrel of a gun - or should I say sonic screwdriver?

The only problem with that, and the main thing to bear in mind, is that this movie is pegged as an origin story. So expect to see a very young JGL playing a very young Cobra Commander - maybe he'll don the hood towards the end of the movie?

The thing most adrenaline junkies will be glad to hear is that as an origin story, the movie also promises to delve into the past of it's two ninja warriors. The aforementioned Snake Eyes (Ray Parks) and COBRA's answer to American Ninja, Storm Shadow. With Snake Eyes being portrayed by the actor who can without a doubt be credited with the best ever lightsaber battle in a Star Wars movie, we should have a lot to look forward to. But once again, only time will tell. In the mean time folks, hold tight. I'll be reporting more on this movie as it occurs.

YO JOE!!! (Sorry I just couldn't resist!)