Snake Eyes

Would you be willing to learn the meaning of Selflessness? Can you learn the meaning of Honor? Would you betray a brother for vengeance?

Everything you want out of life, comes at a price and every warrior has a weakness.

While being a great movie on many levels in this Snake Eyes origin story directed by Robert Schwentke whom you might remember from R.I.P.D (Rest in Peace Department with Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges), vastly differs from the original premise presented in G.I. Joe’s: Rise of Cobra as it centers around Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow who don’t meet until adulthood. A twist in this origin story, Snake Eyes is the villain and Storm Shadow is the honorable one.

Of all Hasbro’s G.I. Joe characters (Heavy Duty, Cover Girl, Scarlett, General Hawk, Breaker, Ripcord, Duke, Roadblock, Lady Jaye, and Flint), Snake Eyes (played by Henry Golding) was always the most mysterious and also the only one who had a rich back story to work with. In the first G.I. Joe (Rise of Cobra) Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow (played by Andrew Koji) had a very different origin story than the one you will see in this movie. In Rise of Cobra the two grew up together as rivals only for one to betray his sensei the Hard Master and wind up with Cobra.

In G.I. Joe Retaliation the second installment, Snake Eyes origins differ slightly as it mentions the Arashikage (a 600 year old wealthy and powerful clan), and introduces Storm Shadows cousin Jinx trained by the Blind master who is also in this latest film. In Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins he is one of Snake Eyes trainers in the Ninja martial arts. Although at first it seems that the writers (Evan Spiliotopoulos, Joe Shrapnel, and Anna Waterhouse) seem to stray away from what was the original concept of the origin story for Snake Eyes, they did follow along somewhat with the underlying theme of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow having a history together before Cobra and G.I. Joe.

The story starts 20 years before Snake Eyes joins G.I. Joe. Snake Eyes is a boy living with his father in a “Safe House” and hiding a secret. We never actually learn Snake Eyes real name but do discover how he renamed himself since even in adulthood, he has no name and no past. The two are soon found from whoever Snake Eyes father was hiding from and Snake Eyes witnesses the brutal murder of his father. From that moment on his entire life is centered on the goal of finding his father’s killer.

When Snake Eyes becomes an adult after having spent his life surviving on the streets in America and earning a living in the fighting pits, he shows how tough a warrior he truly is. “They may call you Snake Eyes but you always win”. Snake Eyes is made an offer by Kenta; a yakuza crime boss, to have his father’s murderer found in exchange for working him, the first of many different and strange alliances throughout the movie. He accepts the offer in order to finally have vengeance.

Kenta has Snake Eyes working for the yakuza transporting guns in a fish factory in Los Angeles while finding a way to infiltrate the Arashikage with whom Kenta has a blood feud with. Snake Eyes succeeds after he rescues Tommy Arashikage aka Storm Shadow who is next in line to rule the clan and the last of the Arashikage bloodline. After escaping they head back home to Tokyo, Japan where Snake Eyes is introduced to the leader of the Arashikage clan and is asked by Tommy to stay join the clan, and to be brothers. In learning the family history he discovers that Kenta is Storm Shadows cousin who tried to kill him.

Kenta’s real goal is to have Snake Eyes steal a family heirloom known as the ‘Jewel of the Sun’ but Kenta isn’t the only one who wants the jewel, Cobra does as well as in which Kenta has an alliance. Of course wherever Cobra is involved you can bet G.I. Joe will be there too. We see Scarlett from Rise of Cobra (played this time by Samara Weaving) arriving on the scene as the first G.I. Joe to meet Snake Eyes as he first learns of both Cobra and G.I. Joe. Another character from Rise of Cobra is the Baroness (played this time by Úrsula Corberó). When Snake Eyes learns of the history between the two organizations he begins to doubt his involvement with Kenta and Cobra even more but when he realizes that Cobra is holding his father’s killer he has to make an even harder choice.

In order to stay and become a part of the Arashikage clan Snake Eyes must pass the three challenges of the warrior. Which if he doesn’t pass will mean his death. If he wants to find his father’s killer, he will have to submit to those challenges but in passing those challenges he will gain access to the clan’s knowledge and power if he swears loyalty. The challenges are designed to reveal a warriors character.

As we see Snake Eyes start his training and pass his challenges we also see him start to grow towards being an honorable warrior, the question is, now that he is developing friendships, family and a home, will he betray that to pursue his father’s murderer. We also see a very different Storm Shadow, as being very highly regarded by the clan with plans for the clans survival for the next 100 years. We also learn how Storm Shadow got his name, it seems when he is about to do something reckless he gets a look “The shadow before the storm”.

Because of Snake Eyes loyalties being divided living on both sides of the mirror, it’s interesting to watch him evolve and wonder which is more important to him, who he is becoming or the past that he has to resolve. The one aspect that I liked about this movie is that while having great fight scenes it is not about Snake Eyes skills as a warrior and how well he can fight. None of the challenges actually involve him having to win a physical battle, but instead a battle for his heart in learning about himself and what’s truly important to him. The story didn’t focus on the fighting and martial arts skill as it does with the character of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. The great plot twist is that we can see how the roles could have easily been reversed with Snake Eyes joining Cobra and Storm Shadow joining G.I. Joe and how both organizations have been involved in their lives since childhood.

Final thoughts: It can be hard to choose between something that you have wanted all of your life, and something that you’ve needed all of your life. Weather you were wronged in childhood or adulthood. In the end only you can decide what is right for you and what is truly worth it in your heart.

Spoiler Alert! Be sure to see all of the credits to see how Storm Shadow got recruited by Cobra!

Ending Credits

My Rating: 7.00

Worth Adding to the Movie Collection: Yes

Category: Action, Adventure, Fantasy (PG 13)

Official Fan Sites: https://gijoe.hasbro.com/en-us , https://gijoe.fandom.com/wiki/Snake-Eyes

Company Credits: Hasbro

Filming & Production: Paramount Pictures, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Skydance, eOne (Hasbro), dB pictures

On Sale At Amazon:

Video: https://amzn.to/2W2s39i

Sound Track: https://amzn.to/3meJcXS

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