What’s It About
An ancient Japanese clan called the Arashikage welcomes tenacious loner Snake Eyes after he saves the life of their heir apparent. Upon arrival in Japan, the Arashikage teach him the ways of the ninja warrior while also providing him something he’s been longing for: a home. However, when secrets from Snake Eyes’ past are revealed, his honor and allegiance get tested — even if that means losing the trust of those closest to him.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Finally, a movie worth honoring my childhood memories of the animated series G.I. Joe. The best part is the character they chose – Snake Eyes. If you remember the cartoon, you know it was childish cheesy fun. They had unbelievable plots, their weapons shot lasers instead of bullets since it was a kids’ show, and nobody ever died, no matter how many times they were shot at or how far they fell. That was the life of an eighties cartoon, and if you were a kid, that’s about as violent as the censors would allow it to get. Now, it’s 2021, and the censors are a little more lax. Because of this, stories are retold to take advantage of the current rating restrictions. The new origin of Snake Eyes falls somewhere in the middle. Guns shot bullets, but there’s no blood. They use swords extensively, but it’s never graphically grotesque – and once again, there’s no blood. They even got away with a few hardcore curse words. As for the story, it was as close to the series as you were going to get, but with a lot of Hollywood liberties sprinkled throughout. In the comics, Snake Eyes is blonde with blue eyes, doesn’t talk, and had a relationship with Scarlett, to name a few. In the film, he’s not blonde, has dark brown eyes, talks all through the movie, and it’s too soon to see if he will have a thing with Scarlett. This is an origin story, and all of those familiarities are still possible with a second film. Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins introduces as much of the series in this 2-hour release as possible. There’s mention of General Joseph Colton, the original G.I. Joe, and their purpose within the U.S. Military. Both Scarlett and Baroness are there, with a brief explanation of their skills. Cobra is cryptically explained as is the norm when it comes to the enemy of the Joe’s. Snake Eyes’ character has a story that could have easily spanned several episodes of a television series. Still, since this is just a two-hour movie, all of his upbringings are missing, including any formal combat training types. To save time, nearly every character has dialog that explains the who, what, when, where, and why we’re in whatever the situation is. When they’re not describing an issue, they’re fighting through one, and the fights were awesome. The most significant problems with this movie are the large amounts of backstabbing and the, unfortunately, very noticeable, horrible CGI in the pit. Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins is leaps and bounds above the other two movies. With an ending that guarantees a sequel.
OUR RATING – A YO JOE 6.5
MEDIA
- Genre – Action
- Street date
- Digital – August 17th, 2021.
- DVD/Blu-Ray October 19th, 2021
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2.39:1
- Sound – English Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1, French/Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles – English SDH, Spanish, French
Extras
- Morning Light: A Weapon with Stories to Tell – Discover the secrets of Snake Eyes’ legendary sword, Morning Light, in this all-new short film
- Deleted Scenes – What you didn’t see in theaters
- Enter SNAKE EYES – Find out what it took to bring the iconic hero’s origin story to life
- A Deadly Ensemble – Meet fan-favorite heroes, villains, and new characters in the G.I. JOE franchise
- Arashikage – Dive into the elite ninja warrior world of the Arashikage clan