snake eyes (2021) Review - spoilers!
The on again/off again friendship and rivalry between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow is the crown jewel of the G.I. Joe universe and the reason a Snake Eyes standalone movie was greenlit ahead of other interesting-in-their-own-right G.I. Joe personalities. Everyone loves a properly set up heel turn and Storm Shadow is one of the original good guys gone bad. Unfortunately, the Robert Schwentke directed Snake Eyes film largely fails to capture the energy and panache of the Storm Shadow/Snake Eyes rivalry until the final act. The last third of the film and its satisfying, sequel bait ending lean enjoyably into G.I. Joe canon. The rest of Snake Eyes is a humorless, low-stakes action romp painfully lacking in consistent tone. The script doesn’t ask much of Harry Golding and his characterization is several orders of magnitude less interesting than co-stars Andrew Koji and Haruka Abe. Golding’s entire arc as Snake Eyes is essentially “revenge is bad” and his performance comes from the Keanu Reeves school of playing every emotion exactly the same. He often just…stares. Golding is likable but lacks the smoldering intensity one would expect from Snake Eyes.
It’s hard to recommend this film to anyone but the most die-hard G.I. Joe fans. Snake Eyes offers little for those not harboring a deep nostalgic connection to these characters. The direction is uneven and features frequently stilted dialogue that would feel at home on a Saturday morning cartoon. Maybe this was intentional? I doubt it. The fight choreography is passable but inconsistent. The bloodless sword fights – you won’t find nary a drop of blood on a sword throughout – are jarring considering that most deaths in the film are by blade. The magical macguffin introduced in the third act feels ripped from an episode of a cartoon and not in a good way. If you go into Snake Eyes expecting a simple live action origin story for Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, you’ll have a C+ time. Everyone else, beware. The costume designs are admittedly awesome but then again isn’t that 90% of the appeal of characters designed to sell toys?