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Snake Eyes (Henry Golding) is a walking and talking origin story. It’s a number with only a catch-all inciting incident in its name, which, of course, explains this incident in a practical but absurd way. The nickname includes much of his personality; the rest is his stubborn thirst for revenge against the man who killed his father. Like his barely anti-hero compatriot Wolverine, Snake Eyes spends time as a wanderer and tangles with the Yesakuza in Japan. Unlike Wolverine, this character is hard to imagine in the context of a bigger, bigger adventure. Despite his subtitle it would be easy enough to forget what, exactly, Snake-eyes is meant to be a prequel, if not for an innocent question that comes over an hour after the movie starts: “So what’s wrong with Cobra?”
Ah, there is this subtitle: it is GI Joe Origins, and this explains the uprooting of Snake. It fills in the backstory of a character who didn’t speak during his appearances in a a pair of movies which came out almost a decade ago, based on a line of toys that peaked in popularity long before that. In a way, Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins not only exists but also is heading to theaters at a time when many big budget productions have fled for streaming. Director Robert Schwentke directed the first red and some Divergents. All together this could do Snake-eyes the world’s first nostalgic object from 2014.
Like nostalgia, Snake-eyes feels like a failure, inspiring nostalgia neither for past moderately successful films nor for the Saturday morning culture that inspired them. (More devoted fans of the old cartoon series may not agree.) However, as a film about hordes of ninjas drawing their swords and running at each other, it’s a success. notable. “New threats call for new strategies,” one character helpfully explains, and it’s true: Filmmakers are bravely strategizing against the threat of shameless franchise expansions not having enough ninjas.
True to its status as an action figure, Snake Eyes is relatively passive even in action. He wants revenge enough to insert himself into a dangerous conflict between theakuza and a secret clan of protective warriors, but not so passionately that he makes no effort to find his father’s murderer on his own. Drifting through odd jobs and fight clubs, he is recruited to serve Kenta (Takehiro Hira), who promises to deliver the killer if Snake Eyes infiltrates the clan that once hunted Kenta. Snake Eyes obliges, indulging in the taciturn Tommy (Andrew Koji) and, less quickly, the suspicious Akiko (Haruka Abe). While receiving seemingly minimal training and completing three leisurely clan challenges, Snake Eyes hides the Clan Stronghold for the enchanted item Kenta is looking for. Eventually, it becomes clear that the groups serve as a sort of proxy for the international counterterrorism organization GI Joe and their sworn enemies, Cobra. Each side has a famous ex-toy, presumably to tease future adventures. This is the best way to explain the roughly 10 minutes of screen time given to Samara Weaving as Scarlett, or the relative redundancy of rsula Corberó as the Baroness, once played with a little more panache by Sienna Miller.
As for Snake Eyes himself, he was once played by Ray Park, an act difficult to follow, at least physically. The movie ultimately doesn’t have much credibility as a martial arts extravaganza, but Golding is going for it, as does the litany of stuntmen who make sure moving bodies look like real bodies, not like real bodies. blurry video game avatars. Schwentke brings together various quirks of high-octane action directing – a few shades of green that could best be described as Off Tony Scott, enough low-angle shots for Michael Bay to shoot dozens of outgoing badasses. of vehicles – and some of its movements come from waiting. – what just happened close combat choreography school. Still, the whole enterprise is pleasing to the eye, compared to the generic and often disheartening finesse of Schwentke’s previous Hollywood work.
His new one is, to be clear, nonsense. Above all, it’s also nonsense that really moves, and until the fiery climax, it often feels like walking through a real physical reality, albeit ridiculous. The cab of a truck transforms into a magician-style sword box. Figures scuffle on the neon-lit rooftops. Courage is tested via giant snakes. (Okay, the latter relies on CGI.) Colors are rich and saturated; even the darkest scenes have more texture than the digital cloud cover that hangs over so many blockbusters. Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins does not reach the dizzying and serious heights of something like Aquaman or one Wachowski project. He’s methodically putting together sequels – which will be recast and released around 2030, judging by the Joes’ cinematic track record so far. But the doubt of its current achievement, the sheer ridiculousness of making GI Joe’s best film in 2021, is part of the stunned fun.
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