Reviews by:
@ryan_the_nixon
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Snake Eyes
2021
12A
director: Robert Schwentke
starring: Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Haruka Abe, Takehiro Hira, Eri Ishida, Iko Uwais, Peter Mensah, Ursula corbero, Samara Weaving etc
An ancient Japanese clan called the Arashikage welcomes tenacious loner Snake Eyes (Henry Golding) 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 honour and allegiance get tested even if that means losing the trust of those closest to him. Yikes what a mess this film was.
Let’s be nice and start with some positives as there was some. The set up and character motivations was good. As well as the strong action and cinematography, likeable characters and performances. I thought the set-up scene was strong. It set up good chemistry and motivation for snake eyes as a character and was an intense and emotional opening that started the film off well. This character motivation set up a good arc for snake eyes and had importance to the plot. The action was also very strong, apart from a lot of issues with the editing the action scenes for the most part were great. They were inventive, fun and thrilling and incorporated swords and creative weapons in a fun and entertaining way. The cinematography was also very strong. Visually the film was stunning, with some amazing uses of colour and shots that really enhanced and played around with the colour, the scope of the film was also very impressive with its action scenes. I also thought the film had likeable performances and characters. In particular with Haruka Abe. Her character and her performance was charming, emotional and she was amazing to watch. The performances from Henry Golding and Andrew Koji were also particularly strong.
My first few negatives would be the unlikeable character decisions, rushed pacing and annoying shaky cam. As well as a passive main character. The film made all the characters very unlikeable especially the main character. And when you don’t like the main character there is an issue. He was forming genuine friendships and a new family with the clan but decided to backstab them on multiple occasions just to get revenge for his father’s death that never really materialised, but by the time this happened they had gone too far and made Snake eyes a very unlikeable character, it also didn’t help that the characters turned on each other every 15 minutes. The film also had very rushed pacing, it would rush over so many scenes that would leave them underdeveloped or not explained, leaving a lot of plot holes or cutting to scenes that you didn’t really know what was happening, it really made the film clunky and messy. The shaky cam was also very annoying. The action scenes were often ruined by extremely shaky cam or way too many cuts. It made it hard to concentrate, didn’t show off the action well at all and was very frustrating to watch, taking a lot of the fun and entertainment out of the action sequences. Finally, the main character was very passive for a lot of the film. For a lot of the film Snake eyes was just doing what other characters were telling him to do and being influenced by others, never really being an active protagonist, he would just go from scene to scene following the other characters, this didn’t make him a compelling character to watch at all.
My final few positives would be the set locations, interesting twists. Some fun and intense scenes. As well as a strong female cast and entertaining action scenes in the final act. The films set locations were beautiful. The clan’s home and the general setting in Japan was so visually stunning and just amazing to look at. There were also some interesting twists, I didn’t see a lot of the twists coming which I respect. And a lot of them added an interesting layer to the plot and characters that kept me invested just long enough to care about the plot in parts. There were also some fun and intense scenes. The scenes involving Snake Eyes training were a lot of fun to watch, as he learned to think like the Arashikage, also the scenes involving the massive snakes were inventive and tested the characters to see if they were pure of heart, with some very intense scenes incorporated throughout. I also thought the female cast was very strong. There was a healthy mix of male and female characters. And the female characters could easily hold their own within the action scenes and the plot, and it was just nice to see such strong female characters. Finally, the final act had some entertaining action sequences. The final act itself was a mess, but it did deliver with the action. They toned down the shaky cam and therefore the action scenes were much more enjoyable to watch, and the final act was action packed so it did have some entertainment factor.
My final few negatives would be the inconsistent character motivations. The lack of character depth, unsatisfying character arc and a messy final act. This film had so many inconsistencies with its character motivations, snake eyes switched about 5 times from working with the antagonists to get revenge for his father’s death, but also building a family with the clan and finally having a home. It was never clear what his motivations were and that didn’t add mystery, it made the film lazy and inconsistent. There was also a complete lack or character depth. All of the characters were very one-dimensional including snake eyes as a character. His only form of depth was his dad’s death and how that impacted him, but it became so repetitive and stale that the character lacked any form of like ability or depth to connect with him. The character arc for snake eyes was also very unsatisfactory and poorly executed. The film built up an arc for Snake eyes to get revenge and justice for his father’s death, but it was so sloppily executed. The man was just handed to him, and then there was a bland twist and Snake eyes let him run free for that one reason and it made so much of the basic depth they gave the character seem pointless. Finally, the final act was an absolute mess. The characters turned on each other every 10 minutes and the dialogue was terrible. With some lazy and oddly executed character decisions, and a bland set up for more films, and a frustrating set up, with the GI joe helmet that is iconic to the franchise was used in 1 scene for 10 seconds for a sequel that almost definitely isn’t happening.
Overall, Snake eyes has some visual appeal and entertainment factor. With some likeable performances. But is a jumbled, messy and inconsistent train wreck. That didn’t have a clue what to do with its characters. And is the perfect example of all style no substance.
Overall rating 37/100
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