Bullet Points: Snake Eyes (2021)
Like many G.I. Joe fans around the world, I found myself going into 2021’s Snake Eyes cautiously optimistic. The trailer looked promising, the movie is obviously centered around one of the most popular G.I. Joe characters ever, I am a huge fan of Andrew Koji (who plays Storm Shadow) from his work on the Warrior series, plus Iko Uwais is in the movie! All of these things are positives. But I must address the elephant in the room… 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
The first attempt at a live action G.I. Joe film didn’t exactly endear itself to the diehard Joe fanbase. While I did not completely despise the movie like some, there was plenty about the movie to not like from the look of the characters to the questionable decision to link Duke and Cobra Commander’s pasts.
2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation was a big improvement over The Rise of Cobra with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Bruce Willis adding some action movie star power to the proceedings. Other highlights included the absolutely stunning Adrianne Palicki as Lady Jaye, Cobra Commander looking more like Cobra Commander and more Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow content. But for all the good that G.I. Joe: Retaliation did, even outperforming its predecessor at the box office, the G.I. Joe film franchise still found itself put on the shelf… until now!
Did Snake Eyes prove that the third time is the charm where live action G.I. Joe movies are concerned? Let’s find out…
- Cabin in the Woods: The movie begins with the man who would one day be known as Snake Eyes when he was just a boy, spending some time with his father at a cabin in the woods. But their father/son bonding time would be cut short when some bad guys show up and the young boy is present when his father is killed. Amid this traumatic experience we also learn the origins of the Snake Eyes name. For those of you familiar with the Snake Eyes origin story from the Marvel Comics, you probably already know that the movie tells a completely different origin story. If that’s a deal breaker for you, then you will definitely want to skip the movie, unless you are a fan of hate watching.
- Family Feud: The movie jumps to the present day where adult Snake Eyes (Henry Golding) is a drifter who competes in underground fights in Los Angeles to survive. This is where Snake Eyes catches the eye of Kenta (Takehiro Hira) a Yakuza boss who makes Snake Eyes an offer he can’t refuse… work for him and Kenta will deliver to Snake Eyes the man that killed his father. Driven by his vengeance, Snake Eyes soon finds himself helping with the Yakuza’s gun running operations. This is also where Snake Eyes meets Tommy. Tommy aka Storm Shadow (Andrew Koji) is the cousin of Kenta and in an interesting turn of events, Kenta orders that Tommy be killed and he wants Snake Eyes to do it. But Snake Eyes does the exact opposite and helps Tommy escape the wrath of his cousin, inserting himself right in the middle of a family feud.
- Ninja Academy: To repay Snake Eyes for saving his life, Tommy invites Snake Eyes to return with him to his home in Tokyo… in fact, Tommy wants to make Snake Eyes a member of his clan. This doesn’t sit well with everyone, most notably Akiko (Haruka Abe), the clan’s head of security. Snake Eyes will have to survive the three challenges of the warrior if he wants to become a member of the clan. Helping administer these challenges are the Hard Master (Iko Uwais, Headshot) and the Blind Master (Peter Mensah, 300). But the biggest challenge for Snake Eyes may be the battle within as Snake Eyes still has a bloodlust for the man who killed his father.
- Raising the Stakes: To take everything to another level, we find out Kenta and the Yakuza are in cahoots with Cobra, or more specifically The Baroness (Úrsula Corberó). Meanwhile Tommy’s clan has connections with G.I. Joe, or more specifically Scarlett (Samara Weaving, Mayhem). Both characters, while being secondary supporting players, maximize their minutes and their inclusion also gives longtime Joe fans two more familiar faces from their childhoods.
- Ninja Action: The biggest positive in Snake Eyes is the action, because it is not just action it is ninja action! We get ninjas fighting in the rain, we get ninjas on motorcycles, we get ninjas fighting on top of a moving car carrier, we even get some granny ninja action (which probably got the biggest pop in the theater I saw the movie in).
So, was the third time the charm? That’s tough to say. Snake Eyes hits the reset button on the G.I. Joe film franchise. The movie re-introduced four of the most well known characters from the G.I. Joe canon and provided a high level overview of the Cobra/G.I. Joe rivalry. Snake Eyes felt like a completely different animal, but I will say it blows Rise of Cobra out of the water (not a tough thing to do) and I would probably put it slightly above Retaliation.
The better question may be where do things go from here (if they go anywhere)? Do we pick up where we left off with Snake Eyes and have a direct sequel (named Storm Shadow perhaps)? Or do they go the MCU route and we get the origin story of another Joe altogether, with Scarlett and Baroness in “Nick Fury” like roles.
I know where this review is going, right into some Bonus Bullet Points…
- Familiar Face: Wrestling fans and Rob Gronkowski enthusiasts will recognize former WWE Superstar, Mojo Rawley, as the underground fighter Snake Eyes battles at the start of the movie.
- If You Ever: …wanted to hear someone call Iko Uwais the “hard on master”, Snake Eyes is the movie for you.
- Missed Opportunity: There is plenty of sword play in Snake Eyes as members of the ninja clan and the Yakuza do battle, but I was disappointed we didn’t see some other famous ninja weapons like shuriken, nunchaku and sais.
