Movie Review: Snake Eyes Revives The G.I. Joe I WANT To See
Believe it or not, I had a good feeling about Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, and that is beyond the fact that I believe Henry Golding is pure leading man energy, and Andre Koji is phenomenal in the Warrior series. From the beginning, the film is anchored by two great actors that are, for many, playing the most intriguing characters from the G.I.Joe comics: Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.
If you know the comics, these two are a pair of blood brothers that love, hate, save, and betray each other more than Real Housewives. It is part of why we are fascinated by them because what family doesn’t make you want to kill it and die for it, all at once? Henry Golding plays Snake Eyes; the most charmingly, earnest liar you will ever meet. He peruses through the movie betraying people while on a journey to becoming a better man. This hypocrisy is palpable to certain characters like, the sage Blind Master (Peter Mensah), the hilarious and strong Hard Maste (Iko Uwais)), and Snake Eyes fabulous, love interest and fellow warrior Akiko (Haruka Abe).Each of the latter giving a moral foundation and some ass-kicking scenes that will make people super happy.
Frankly, there were times when I was like, “Oh, we are fighting again? Why? Oh well, still awesome!” After all, you don’t go to a Fast & Furious movie without expecting some obnoxiously, random car chases, and even James Bond needs a shaken martini, at least, once in his 3 hour, global trek for MI-6. When you go see a G.I. Joe film, you expect sporadic action and traitorous allies. What makes this origin addition so delectable is that traitorous allies are at the epicenter. Most characters like, Kenta (Takehiro Hira) and Storm Shadow, have an underlying desire for revenge, but nobody quite like Snake Eyes and his desire to avenge his father at all costs.
While Snake Eyes is a comic-book hero, I enjoyed watching his origins being that of a torn villain, and the same thing can be said for my fave, Storm Shadow, being a frustrated hero. If anything this story is about a pack of ninjas, Arashikage, struggling to embrace old ideas on what is moral, even they are inherited by one’s past or family. While I would have loved some more richer conversations that embedded Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes brotherhood, and why everyone clutched to their morals and philosophies, this is G.I. Joe not Game of Thrones. Thus, maybe, my expectations were oddly low, even though I had feeling I would enjoy it. In the end the film exceeded, for me, because it highly entertaining and has Andrew Koji.
Koji’s voice could narrate every Amazon audio book from here to Goodnight Moon, and I would finally attain the inner peace I so desire. He gives an emotional weight, that feels natural, in a film that, at times, can rush through feelings to get the fighting. Yet, again, I expected that, and was happy to see even Grandma Sen (Eri Ishida) and The Baroness (Ursula Cordoba) get in on the ass-kicking. The latter is one that most intrigues me because of what she means to the comics, Storm Shadow, and the potential of a sequel that can be better than its first.
Directed by Robert Schwentke, as a beginning, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins was really good, and left the foundation for a sequel that could be even better, especially if it does some smoothing between action sequences and more enlightening dialogue. Written by Evan Spiliotopoulos ,I can genuinely say I would see the film again and go for Part 2. The movie satisfies its purpose as an action thriller to give us a simple, good time at the theater, which a lot of us have been missing. Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins comes out July 23.
