“Snake Eyes” Review

Henry Golding stars as the titular warrior in “Snake Eyes: G.I. Origins” which explores the character’s past and reboots the “G.I. Joe” film franchise.

This summer has been phenomenally disappointing in terms of blockbuster films. With some exceptions (“Black Widow,” “In The Heights,” “A Quiet Place Part II” and “Cruella”), most of the films with a big budget released so far have felt like soulless corporate cash grabs like “F9,” “Space Jam: A New Legacy'' and, most recently, “Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.” While a fine film on its own, I’m just sick and tired of accepting mediocrity and want to be dazzled by a true blockbuster. Maybe I’m just greedy but I’m longing for something that feels passionate and lively and “Snake Eyes” just feels like another film designed to suck an audience in to make money as well as reboot the “G.I. Joe” franchise so the studio can make more money with soulless films.

Based on the character of the G.I. Joe universe, the film stars Henry Golding as the titular anti-hero who becomes recruited by the powerful Clan Arashikage in Tokyo to preserve order amidst a power struggle with the Yakuza crime syndicate. As Snake Eyes trains to become a great warrior and begins to play both sides of the power struggle (like a ninja Man With No Name) to satisfy his own personal desires, he begins to realize how serious this conflict is when Cobra, the famous terror syndicate, gets involved. When the conflict reaches its peak, Snake Eyes must decide whether to pursue honor or revenge and become the hero made famous across other “G.I. Joe” properties.

Really, the only good things about this film are the cast and the overall aesthetic. Henry Golding is a really good actor, having starred in such memorable films as “Crazy Rich Asians” and “The Gentlemen,” and he does a fine job as Snake Eyes. Throughout the film, his motivation is to find the man who killed his father and his pursuit is relatively engaging as he is willing to betray anyone and do anything to accomplish his goal. 

The film also has a fantastic atmosphere with a mixture of 70s kung fu films, fantasy and sleek, modern action. Seeing the classic world of Japan’s ninjas mixed with modern technology is always fun and, since the film is a reboot of the “G.I. Joe” series, it’s a cool look for what started as a fun and cheesy 1980s animated series.

But the biggest sin of the film is how the story feels less organic and more of a “paint-by-numbers” action film with every piece of the story feeling artificially influenced. Within the first fifteen minutes, the film establishes Snake Eye’s father being murdered, having him become a fighter, having the Yakuza recruit him, Snake Eyes betraying the Yakuza and having Snake Eyes join the Arashikage Clan. When a two hour film has to be told to slow down, that’s a bad sign. 

And for an action film, the film relies less on breathtaking stunts and wide, long shots of people fighting each other and instead relies on the quick-cutting, shaky cam crap that has been the bane of action fans for years. It feels like less of a film and more of an exercise in trying to not have a seizure. 

If you’re a fan of “G.I. Joe” and the films based on the series from the early 2010s, then you might like this film because it is relatively entertaining. But why should we settle for this when other films of the past few months have absolutely been astounding?

My gripes with “Snake Eyes” are less with the film itself and more with a trend of blockbusters just not feeling fresh. I’m pretty tired of feeling like some schmuck who gets to go every week to the movies in the summer expecting some kind of unique trip that’s going to be fun and exciting only to be greeted by the generic crap of Hollywood. Just because Marvel is making blockbusters fun and making all the money doesn’t mean all the other studios can start slumming it.