Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins

Snake Eyes, as directed by Robert Schwentke (“The Divergent Series: Insurgent”), has style and verve, with a diabolical family plot that creates a reasonable quota of actual drama. The movie is also a synthetic but infectiously skillful big-studio hodgepodge of ninja films, wuxia films, yakuza films, and international revenge films.

As shamelessly corporate popcorn movies go, Snake Eyes is better than most. That’s not high praise, but considering the film’s dopey pedigree, it’s not nothing.

Snake Eyes collapses in a crosscurrent of conflicting character motives, joyless plot twists and who-cares violence.

If the assignment was to rebuild the series largely from scratch essentially, perhaps the producers should have taken a risk by entrusting “Snake Eyes” with a director who could bring something specific or startling. This is still a derivative, paint-by-numbers effort that can’t decide if it wants to build a franchise or a character.

The drama is muddled, the action is murky, and the storyline can’t help but get goofier and goofier until, by the end, every attempt this movie makes to ground the “G.I. Joe” series gets blown up. It’s hardly the worst film the “G.I. Joe” series has delivered, but it’s certainly the least interesting.

The fight scenes, full of swordplay and gunfire, are choppily edited and somehow lackadaisical. It’s as though Schwentke was operating from a checklist of expected action-movie clichés and hurries through them all.

Watching Snake Eyes (full title: Snake Eyes – G.I. Joe Origins) is not a physically painful ordeal. But it is an emotionally harmful one – a soul-deadening exercise that approximates satire, minus the self-awareness.

the story is awesome, we see a man struggling to get revenge and at the same time trying to find a meaning for his life, the story is balanced and well put out the graphics and the cinematography is top-notch i was having a smile the whole time but the only bad thing i saw is the ending conversations in the last 15min some actors seem abit fake or rushed maybe i don't know but i enjoyed the film

Snake Eyes: GI JOE Origins will remind you of another origin film: Wolverine. Both are also underwhelming action pictures, anchored by a charismatic lead, designed as a start or support a film franchise. It is not a bad film, mind you, but its has fairly basic plot and some good set pieces. It is literally a throw in but the kitchen sink type of film. Yes, you have both yakuzas & ninjas in this film. The sole positive point, worthy of a '6' on my review, is Henry Goulding. Handsome and charismatic, he has a great screen presence and I was quite surprised that he was a complete acting newbie when he starred in Crazy Rich Asian. What a great find. Seeing this film, I imagined him a perfect candidate for another franchise, one whose main actor is having his last hurrah this October...James Bond. He is the perfect candidate for it. Hopefully, being that this film is a flop, will not impede his career.

In case you don’t know (I didn’t), the G.I. Joe franchise is a whole world of action heroes, much like the Marvel Universe. The titular character (played by Henry Golding, whose not especially charismatic and lets British accent slip a few times) is taken from his hard knock street fighter life in LA to the world of ancient Japanese clans and ninja warriors. He undergoes 3 challenges in his training, but struggles with the losses from his past. The fight scenes are snappy, but they’re shot with such a dizzying camera that it’s often hard to see what’s really happening. As the genre goes, this is a competent addition, but one that will also quickly be forgotten.

Its incredibly boring and the story and characters all felt very hollow as well

It seems like the production team is trying to pay tribute to Asian cinema but failed; the action sequence doesn't feel like blockbuster quality and tries too hard in wanting to impress, which leads to a B-grade final product. The leads are likable but, unfortunately, not leading man material.