It’s frustrating that with all of the franchises we have today, filmmakers haven’t been able to effectively modernize G.I. Joe. And while “Snakeeyes”, it’s newest attempt to reboot the mythology succeeds with one of it’s coolest characters, the actual G.I. Joe material is easily the worst part of the film.
We get Henry Golding in a long overdue leading role, as a drifter who’s trying to avenge the death of his father. When a run-in with the Yakuza drops him in with a camp of legendary ninjas, it’s up to Snakeyes to learn their ways and stop the evil COBRA terrorist organization, all while trying to figure out what happened to his dad.
There is a lot to unpack here. Both good and bad.
Golding is great. And director Robert Schwentke gives us a good martial arts slugfest of a movie. The action is just so well done here and it never overstays it’s welcome. Andrew Koji and Huruka Abe also compliment Golding really well. I was having fun for most of the film.
But when the GI Joe angle enters the narrative, we get bad special effects, and a magical element which could have been introduced better. The Baroness (Ursula Corbero) and Scarlett (Samara Weaving) art stuck wading through some terribly bad dialog unworthy of the legacy of the characters their playing. Let’s hope the next outing gives our favorite GI Joe characters much better stuff to work with.
On the strength of Golding and the actual Snake Eyes component of the movie, I’ll reluctantly recommend it. But for the non initiated Joes, they might find themselves rolling their eyes once again for what should have been a slam dunk action movie win.
Snake Eyes G.I Joe Origins
Grade: C+
Running Time: 2 hours 1 minute
Rated: PG 13