'Snake Eyes' Review
PG-13: Sequences of strong violence and brief strong language
Runtime: 2 Hrs and 2 Minutes
Production Companies: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Skydance Media, Entertainment One, Di Bonaventura Pictures
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Director: Robert Schwentke
Writers: Evan Spiliotopoulos, Joe Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse
Cast: Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Úrsula Corberó, Samara Weaving, Iko Uwais, Haruka Abe, Takehiro Hira, Peter Mensah
Release Date: July 23, 2021
Theaters Only
Snake Eyes, a tenacious loner, is welcomed into an ancient Japanese clan called the Arashikage after saving the life of their heir apparent. Upon arrival in Japan, the Arashikage teaches Snake Eyes the ways of the ninja warrior while also providing something he's been longing for: a home. But, when secrets from his past are revealed, Snake Eyes' honor and allegiance will be tested — even if that means losing the trust of those closest to him.
It’s about time the G.I. Joe film franchise got a reboot. After G.I. Joe Retaliation in 2013, the entire series dropped off the face of the Earth since Paramount was so preoccupied with another transformative Hasbro toyline. Now it’s time to go, “Yo Joe” all over again with a fresh start and there’s no better place to begin than with a Snake Eyes origins film. Paramount pulled an X-Men Origins with their G.I. Joe franchise and put the coolest member of the team in the limelight. In a sea of brolic people with guns and military get-up, the best card at play for a reboot is to tell the story of the ninja assassin and give him more agency than ever before.
Actor Henry Golding has been charming audiences for the past several years starring as love interests or romantic leads, but now he gets to star in an action vehicle of his own and he carries this film as the titular lead. Golding gives a fully committed and captivating central performance that is effortlessly balanced between being badass and charming. There is a surprising amount of emotional weight to Snake Eyes’ hero journey and through Golding being a remarkable talent that he is, his performance gives you chills. This is HIS movie and he absolutely shines as a ninja assassin everyone knows and loves. The same goes for Andrew Koji (Warrior) as Tommy Arashikage, who falls head over heels in kindness and trust with Snake Eyes after he saves his life from the Yakuza. The two have such strong on-screen chemistry, which is heavily emphasized early in the film. As the film progresses, and the more time they spend apart, the more you wish they were together because the development of their brotherhood is effective, especially where you know how the course of their relationship ends up.
Given this is the untold story of Snake Eyes, who never even had an origins story or spoke, for that matter, I must compliment screenwriters Evan Spiliotopoulos, Joe Shrapnel, and Anna Waterhouse for applying a (for the most part) grounded origins story that keeps the titular lead as the primary focus. It may feature familiar characters from the G.I. Joe world who get reintroduced with new actors portraying them (Samara Weaving as Scarlett and Úrsula Corberó as Baroness) because this is a reboot, but it always makes sure that Snake Eyes and his arc is given full focus instead of trying to tie things into a much larger universe. Unlike another action movie that came out this month, he’s not thrown into the backseat of his own solo film. Also, because it was shot on location in Japan where a majority of the story is set, the film feels authentic while maintaining a grounded atmosphere.
The fight choreography is practical and the action sequences don’t rely too heavily on CGI. It’s the same way that Travis Knight’s Bumblebee accomplished being a scaled-back action movie. If Bumblebee was like an ‘80s Spielberg flick, then Snake Eyes is a Kathryn Bigelow crime thriller. I swear to you, this movie is literally Point Break but with ninja clans. It’s all about Snake Eyes infiltrating a ninja clan, sparking a romanc–– I mean, “brotherhood” with the man who let him into his world with open arms… and all for his own ulterior motives. It really hits the beats of Point Break in the same vein as the first Fast & Furious did and, as far as a narrative goes, it thoroughly works. There are heart-wrenching moments throughout Snake Eyes and Tommy’s relationship, especially when they’re being so intimate about their emotions towards each other. There’s a great deal of heart and morality integrated into the story and it’s more effective than expected. Honestly, this would’ve gone down as a standout action film if only they had a filmmaker, preferably an Asian one, who knew how to direct action.
Director Robert Schwentke, who has filmed classic titles such as R.I.P.D., The Divergent Series: Insurgent, and of course, The Divergent Series: Allegiant should’ve been the last person to direct this film. His name shouldn’t have even been on the roster because the direction here is mediocre, if not bad. The film features massive set pieces involving swarms of ninjas and Yakuza members in various locations. As you’re anticipating these glorious feats of action to commence, it’s bogged down by shoddy filmmaking, which is so heavily reliant on handheld movement. At first, you think it’s a style choice, especially when you’re introduced to Snake Eyes fighting in a cage match and it's used to express the grit and brutality of those kinds of fights. When the action sequences get larger in number dealing with a vast number of stunt actors battling in hand-to-hand combat, the handheld cam is utilized throughout. There are rare instances where you get either an overview shot, but for the most part, it’s nothing but handheld/shaky cam and it's both nauseating and distracting. It gets worse when several action sequences are set at night, for you truly are unable to see jack shit due to the lighting and constant frenetic movement. There were moments where I felt as if I was going to throw up because it gave me motion sickness.
You just have to feel bad for the stunt and fight coordinator who worked on this film because Schwentke’s direction completely diminishes their efforts and makes a majority of the action sequences anything but fun. I can just imagine fight coordinator Kenji Tanigaki going to the premiere and uttering, “What the fuck?” every time he sees a combat sequence he coordinated looking like trash due to the shaky cam and constant quick cuts. Nearly every action-oriented blockbuster this year ended up being such a chore to get through because studios hire the most unqualified filmmakers to helm these big-budgeted action movies. You had Niki Caro on Mulan, Simon McQuoid with Mortal Kombat, and now Robert Schwentke on Snake Eyes. Why are you hiring whites who don’t know how to direct action movies on these nearly $100 million action pictures. It’s so dumb. Meanwhile, The Paper Tigers, an indie feature, still has some of the best direction I’ve seen in an action movie this year. I just wanna send a copy of that film to every studio executive with a letter attached that says, “This is how you fucking do it.”
Towards the latter half of the movie, all the grounded atmosphere I complimented earlier withers away. The movie somehow becomes a bizarre comic book-type movie where it introduces a magical macguffin that is somehow so integral to the plot it might as well be an Infinity Stone of sorts. It comes into play so late that it shifts the film into being something absurdly different than it should’ve been. I don’t even think there were any magical elements in friggin’ G.I. Joe of all series, so to see it forced into the narrative disrupts the atmosphere and its admirable, earnest tone.
Unlike the other two aforementioned white filmmaker-led action features, Snake Eyes made me a bit sad because, despite the poor direction on the action sequences, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. There is a surprising amount of quality in both story and performance to make Snake Eyes the best G.I. Joe film in existence. It boldly gives a silent character more agency than ever before in a feature that has heart and charm, like the lead actor himself. I just can’t believe that in a G.I. Joe film, the screenplay trumps the direction and action. What a weird world we live in.
