Snake Eyes

8/10

Snake Eyes is a GI Joe spinoff movie (for a new reboot universe, not related to the last two films). It tells the origin of the titular ninja and GI Joe member (played by Henry Golding) and how he ends up being trained by a secret ninja clan.

The trailer seemed like a fairly basic action film to me, however, I'm pleased to say this was better than I expected. Now let me make it clear, in general the movie operates on a general storyline. It's not the best out there or too groundbreaking, but a lot more effort was put into the details than you'd expect. (I think the creators realized the biggest issues with the last two films was the scripts.) There is more effort given to characterization. Snake Eyes' journey has more going on than expected. Characterization and dialogue is surprisingly solid and there are a few good reveals and fun ideas, too. Not to mention that the big fight on the end, though your traditional finale battle, had more thought and planning given the action than expected. 

With the movie running at approximately two hours, I do admit that that the story could've been shortened. Fight scenes are few and far between, and I can see some viewers getting bored.

A lot of hardcore GI Joe fans won't be happy with the huge changes made to Snake Eyes. The whole thing that made him popular was that he was a mysterious guy, his face unseen and voice unheard, and had this distinctive ninja armor that had a visor for some reason. Now, the costume's barely in this and the mystery is completely gone. This does reek of the producers having a lack of faith in what made the character. If you're unable to get past this, there's really nothing about this movie I think can really convince you other wise. 

There is some surprisingly strong acting in this. There's a guy playing a Yakuza boss, who's got about one line of dialogue, but he puts such a crazy amount of effort into it. Henry Golding does a fine job puling off the lead, but the most credit needs to be given to Andrew Koji as Tommy, the man who recruits Snake Eyes into the ninja life. He delivers a truly emotionally complex character. 

Overall, this was an interesting film. I don't think you need to pay top dollar to watch it in the theater or at home, but when this movie gets less costly to watch, you should give this a try. It's definitely the best of the GI Joe movies. (Live-action. The animated film has the Joes fighting Cobra on jet packs and such over the Statue of Liberty with the GI Joe song playing. Nothing is going to match that.) I also felt it was better plotted than the kinda similar ninja action film The Wolverine.