''Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins'' (or simply ''Snake Eyes'') is a 2021 American

superhero film A superhero film (or superhero movie) is a film that focuses on the actions of superheroes. Superheroes are individuals who possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature Action film, ac ...

based on the ''

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), Ac ...

'' toy line character Snake Eyes. It is the third installment in the ''G.I. Joe'' film series. The film is directed by

Robert Schwentke Robert Schwentke (; born 15 February 1968) is a German film director and screenwriter. Life and career Schwentke was born in Stuttgart, West Germany. He graduated from Los Angeles film school, Columbia College Hollywood Columbia College Holl ...

from a screenplay by

Evan Spiliotopoulos Evangelos Spiliotopoulos ( el, Ευάγγελος Σπηλιωτόπουλος; born c. 1973) is a Greek-American screenwriter, film producer, and film director. Early life Spiliotopoulos was born in Greece, and graduated from high school there ...

, Joe Shrapnel, and Anna Waterhouse. It serves as an

origin story In entertainment, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist, and it adds to the overall interest and complexity of a narrative, often giving reasons for their intent ...

for the title character, while also being a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

of the film series. The film stars

Henry Golding Henry Ewan Golding (born 5 February 1987) is a Malaysian-British actor and television host. Golding has been a presenter on BBC's ''The Travel Show'' since 2014. He is known for his film work, playing the role of Nick Young in ''Crazy Rich Asia ...

as Snake Eyes, with

Andrew Koji Andrew Julian Hiroaki Koji (; born 10 November 1987) is a British actor and martial artist. He had his breakout role as Ah Sahm in the Cinemax series ''Warrior'' in 2019. Koji went on to play Storm Shadow in ''Snake Eyes'' (2021) and assassi ...

Úrsula Corberó Úrsula Corberó Delgado (born 11 August 1989) is a Spanish actress and model. She is best known for her roles as Ruth Gómez in ''Física o química'' (2008–2010), Margarita de Austria in the television series ''Isabel'' (2014) and Marta in ...

Samara Weaving Samara Weaving (born 23 February 1992) is an Australian actress and model. She began her career in her home country, playing Kirsten Mulroney on the drama series '' Out of the Blue'' (2008). She came to prominence with her portrayal of Indi Wa ...

, and

Iko Uwais Uwais Qorny (), known professionally as Iko Uwais, is an Indonesian actor, stuntman, fight choreographer, and martial artist. He is best known for acting in the action films '' Merantau'' (2009), '' The Raid'' (2011), '' The Raid 2'' (2014), ...

in supporting roles. The project was first announced in May 2018, with Golding being cast in the titular role in August 2019 and the rest of the cast joining in subsequent months. After initial filming took place in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and Japan from October 2019 to February 2020, reshoots took place in March 2021. ''Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins'' was released in the United States on July 23, 2021, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, who criticized the writing, editing, and direction of the action scenes, but praised the performances and production values. The film was considered a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, grossing over $40 million worldwide against an $88–110 million budget and a $160–175 million break-even point, losing Paramount up to $88 million.

Plot

Living on the run, a young boy and his father are found by their sinister pursuers. Forced to roll dice to determine his fate, the father is murdered after rolling double ones, but his son escapes. Twenty years later, the boy has adopted the name " Snake Eyes" and is discovered by

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

boss Kenta Takamura, competing in an underground fighting circuit. With the promise of help finding his father's killer, he agrees to join Kenta's criminal organization, and is asked to execute a man who infiltrated the gang, but helps him escape instead. The man is Kenta's cousin Tommy, who reveals that they were both in line to lead the Arashikage clan, an ancient

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

society. Banished after trying to have Tommy killed, Kenta still seeks control of the clan. Grateful to Snake Eyes, Tommy brings him to his family's ''dōjō'' in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

to be initiated. Tommy's grandmother Sen, the clan's current leader, agrees to let Snake Eyes undergo three trials to prove his worth. In his first test, Snake Eyes is unable to seize a bowl of water from the clan's Hard Master; realizing this is a test of humility, he succeeds by respectfully asking instead. Unbeknownst to the clan, Snake Eyes has been tasked by Kenta with betraying Tommy; their escape was staged to allow Snake Eyes to win Tommy's trust, and to steal the clan's sacred "Jewel of the Sun". The clan's head of security, Akiko, distrusts Snake Eyes, but he accompanies her and Tommy on a raid of Kenta's gang. They learn through an ally, Major Scarlett O'Hara, that Kenta is allied with the terrorist organization Cobra. Snake Eyes confronts Kenta and his Cobra liaison, the

Baroness Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher th ...

, who warns that stealing the jewel is the only way they will lead him to his father's killer. The clan's Blind Master administers Snake Eyes' second test, a vision of his father, and he bonds with Akiko after telling her about his father's death. For his final trial, he faces the clan's gigantic, sacred

anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus ''Eunectes''. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized. Description Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used to re ...

s. Sensing he is not truly pure of heart, the snakes attack, but he is saved by Akiko. Snake Eyes conceals his deception, but is expelled from the clan. He bids farewell to Tommy as

blood brother Blood brother can refer to two or more men not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is in modern times usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where each person makes a small cut, usually on a finger, hand or ...

s, but breaks into the clan's temple that night, subduing Akiko and stealing the jewel. He delivers it to Kenta, who agrees to give it to Cobra once he has used it to take over the Arashikage. Snake Eyes receives his reward — his father's killer, a former Cobra agent — and forces him to roll his own dice, but spares his life and returns to warn the Arashikage. Tommy puts aside his anger when Snake Eyes comes to his aid, as Kenta uses the jewel's fiery magical powers to lay waste to the ''dōjō''. Scarlett arrives to fight off Kenta's men, but she and Sen are captured. A power-hungry Kenta refuses to hand over the jewel, prompting the Baroness to agree to a temporary alliance with Scarlett and the clan. With his men defeated, Kenta loses the jewel to Tommy, who tries to use its power to kill him. Kenta escapes, but Snake Eyes traps them both in the anaconda pit, where Kenta is devoured. The snakes now judge Snake Eyes as pure of heart, worthy of joining the clan. Sen strips Tommy of his birthright for breaking the family's vow never to use the jewel. Forsaking the clan and blaming Snake Eyes, Tommy vows to kill him should they ever meet again. As Snake Eyes sets out to find him, Akiko gives him a black outfit and helmet, and Scarlett informs Snake Eyes that his father was a member of international peacekeeping organization,

, and invites him to become a fellow Joe. The Baroness invites Tommy to join Cobra, and he declares a new name for himself: "

Storm Shadow Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French low-observable, long-range, air-launched cruise missile developed since 1994 by Matra and British Aerospace, and now manufactured by MBDA. Storm Shadow is the weapon's British appellation. In French service, it is ...

Cast

as Snake Eyes:
A lone fighter with a mysterious past, known only as "Snake Eyes", who is recruited into the secretive Clan Arashikage. The events of the film portray the character prior to becoming the heroic masked agent of the

organization. The character was drastically changed to accommodate a new background, motivation and ethnicity. Max Archibald plays the young Snake Eyes. *

as Tomisaburo "Tommy" Arashikage / Storm Shadow:
A skilled member and the heir of the Arashikage clan, and Snake Eyes' friend and brother-in-arms; who will eventually become his archenemy. *

Haruka Abe is a Japanese actress. Life and career Born in Nerima, Tokyo, Abe grew up in Tokyo, London and New York. She trained at Rose Bruford College in South East London. She appeared in BBC's ''Ideal'' as Miko, and as Marti in Sleepydog's science-f ...

as Akiko:
The Arashikage clan's head of security; who forges a deep tie to Snake Eyes. *

as Ana DeCobray / Baroness:
An elite operative at Cobra, a terrorist organization, who is second only to

Cobra Commander Cobra Commander is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' franchise. He is the supreme leader of the terrorist organization Cobra and the archenemy of the G.I. Joe Team. He was portrayed by Josep ...

. *

as Major O'Hara / Scarlett: An elite agent and Army

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in G.I. Joe and ally of the Arashikage clan. *

Takehiro Hira is a Japanese theatre, film, and television actor. Early life and education Hira was born in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan to actors Mikijirō Hira and Yoshiko Sakuma. He was raised in Japan until he was 15 years old. He went to high school at Mose ...

as Kenta Takamura:
Tommy's cousin, a member of Cobra; who seeks control of the Arashikage clan. *

as Hard Master:
A formidable mentor of the Arashikage clan and the uncle of Tommy. *

Peter Mensah Peter Mensah (born 27 August 1959) is a Ghanaian English actor, best known for his roles in the films '' Tears of the Sun'', '' Hidalgo'', '' The Incredible Hulk'', ''300'', and television series such as Starz' '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'', '' ...

as Blind Master:
A blind mentor of the Arashikage clan. *

Eri Ishida is a Japanese people, Japanese actress. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 9th Yokohama Film Festival for ''Chōchin (film), Chōchin'' and at the 13th Hochi Film Award for ''A Chaos of Flowers'', ''Hope and Pain'' and ''Wutheri ...

as Sen:
The leader of Clan Arashikage, and grandmother of Tommy. * Steven Allerick as Snake Eyes' father *

Samuel Finzi Samuel Finzi ( Bulgarian: Самуел Финци; born 20 January 1966) is a Bulgarian-German actor. Since his start in the late 1980s, he has hundreds of film, television, and theatrical credits. Between 1993 and 2011, he received ten acting a ...

as Mr. Augustine *

James Hiroyuki Liao James Hiroyuki Liao (born February 6, 1976) is an American actor. Liao is known for his television roles as Roland Glenn in the Fox serial drama ''Prison Break'' (2008); Jay Lee in the CBS, and later A&E, police procedural series ''Unforgettable ...

as Yasuzo *

Mojo Rawley Dean Muhtadi ( ar, دين موهتادي; born July 17, 1986) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and former American professional football player. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Mojo Rawle ...

as Bruiser Streetfighter

Production

In May 2018, it was announced the next installment of the ''G.I. Joe'' franchise would be a spin-off film chronicling the origins of the character Snake Eyes. In December, producer

Lorenzo di Bonaventura Lorenzo di Bonaventura (; born January 13, 1957) is an American film producer and founder and owner of Di Bonaventura Pictures. He is best known for producing the G.I. Joe and ''Transformers'' film series. The films he produced have earned over ...

stated that

Ray Park Raymond Park (born 23 August 1974) is a Scottish actor and stuntman. He is best known for physically portraying Darth Maul in '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' and '' Solo: A Star Wars Story'', along with a motion capture performa ...

, who had played the character in the previous films, would not reprise his role for the spin-off.

was set as director the same month. In August 2019,

was cast to star in the title role.

was then cast as

, taking over the role from

Lee Byung-hun Lee Byung-hun (; born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He has received critical acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres, most notably ''Joint Security Area'' (2000); ''A Bittersweet Life'' (2005); ''The Good, the Bad, the Weird'' ...

, who played the character in the previous films. In September,

entered negotiations to join the film as

Hard Master Storm Shadow is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and animated series. He is best known as the Cobra Commander's ninja bodyguard, and for his history with fellow ninja Snake Eyes. Throughout t ...

, and

was cast as

. Uwais was confirmed in October, with

and

added to the cast. Steven Allerick was announced as part of the cast in December. Golding's Instagram revealed that

would play Blind Master, taking over the role from

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name the RZA ( ), is an American rapper, actor, filmmaker, and record producer. He is the ''de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having produced most albums ...

in the previous films. Originally, Koji was not interested in a role in a G.I. Joe movie but ultimately couldn't pass the opportunity saying, "I thought about playing that character because I didn't like the first two films. I can say that. I'm allowed to not like a film. So, I was hesitant, at first, to even accept that. That's a big studio film and my first role in a big studio film, so I was very hesitant because I didn't have that trust in Hollywood to do that. What Warrior taught me and the voice that it gave me helped my work on Storm Shadow. I don't wanna play a character with a six-pack. I wanted him to be human and flawed. He's going through stuff. For me, when I saw the first G.I. Joe films, I was like, 'I don't wanna do that. That's not the kind of thing I wanna do.'" With Golding replacing Ray Park from the original G.I. Joe movies, writer Larry Hama said "Some people are saying that casting Golding 'fixes' the character of Snake-Eyes, but I disagree. I had wanted to keep him ambiguous until Hasbro introduced Storm Shadow as the only Asian character and made him a bad guy. I decided to 'fix' that by delving into his background and gradually turning him into a good guy. This is why Snake-Eyes is a White guy." Filming began on October 15, 2019, in

and was expected to continue until December 9. Filming moved to Japan on January 10, 2020, and wrapped on February 26, 2020. Golding announced in March 2021 that reshoots for the film had occurred. Filming locations in Japan included

Kishiwada Castle is a Japanese castle located in the city of Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Kishiwada Castle was home to the Okabe clan, ''daimyō'' of Kishiwada Domain. The Honmaru Garden of the castle is designated as a ...

and

Engyō-ji The is a temple of the Tendai sect in Himeji, Hyōgo, Japan. History It was founded by Shoku Shonin in 966. The complex of buildings is at the top of Mt Shosha approximately 25 minutes by bus from Himeji Station. The mountain summit can be ...

Release

''Snake Eyes'' was released on July 23, 2021, in

Dolby Cinema Dolby Cinema is a premium cinema created by Dolby Laboratories that combines Dolby proprietary technologies such as Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, as well as other signature entrance and intrinsic design features. The technology competes with IMA ...

and

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

. It was originally scheduled for release on March 27, 2020, before being delayed to October 16, and then a week later to October 23. The film was then removed from the release schedule on July 27, due to nationwide theater closures in the United States in the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Paramount later rescheduled the film for October 22, 2021, before it was moved up to July 23.

Home media

The film received a digital release on August 17, 2021, and was released on

Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional Bl ...

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

on October 19 by

Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...

Reception

Box office

''Snake Eyes'' grossed $28.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $11.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $40.1 million. With a production budget of at least $88 million, the film will need to gross $160–175 million in order to

break-even Break-even (or break even), often abbreviated as B/E in finance, (sometimes called point of equilibrium) is the point of balance making neither a profit nor a loss. Any number below the break-even point constitutes a loss while any number above i ...

. In the United States and Canada, ''Snake Eyes'' was released alongside ''

Old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

'' and '' Joe Bell'', and was projected to gross around $15 million from 3,521 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $5.5 million on its first day, including $1.4 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $13.4 million, finishing second at the box office, behind ''Old''. The opening weekend, while in-line with projections, was deemed disappointing given the film's expensive production and promotional costs, and blamed on the ongoing pandemic, lukewarm critical reviews, and audiences being more selective of what films they were seeing in theaters than in a normal marketplace. The film fell 70% to $4 million in its sophomore weekend, finishing seventh, then made $1.6 million in its third weekend, dropping to eighth.

Critical response

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 37% based on 134 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Far from silent and not particularly deadly, ''Snake Eyes'' serves as a step up for the ''G.I. Joe'' franchise, thanks in no small part to Henry Golding's work in the title role." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, it has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, while

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film a ...

reported 69% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 46% saying they would definitely recommend it. Jesse Hassenger of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' wrote, "''Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins'' doesn't reach the giddy, earnest heights of something like ''

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). The character is a pastiche of Namor. Initially ...

'' or a

Wachowski Wachowski (feminine: Wachowska, plural: Wachowscy) is a Polish surname originating from the village of Wachów, Poland. Notable people with the surname include: * The Wachowskis, Lilly and Lana Wachowski (born 1967 and 1965),Despite the above note ...

project. It methodically sets up sequels—to be recast and released around 2030, judging by the ''Joes''s cinematic track record so far. But the dubiousness of its present-day achievement, the sheer ludicrousness of making the best ''G.I. Joe'' movie in 2021, is part of the dumbfounding fun." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''s

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for ''Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...

said the film "looks almost nothing like a ''G.I. Joe'' movie," and wrote, "''Snake Eyes'', as directed by Robert Schwentke... 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 ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted f ...

films, yakuza films, and international revenge films." Writing for ''

/Film ''/Film'', also spelled ''Slashfilm'', is a blog that covers movie news, reviews, interviews, and trailers. It was founded by Peter Sciretta in August 2005. Podcasts Six podcasts have run on the site. ''The /Filmcast'', hosted by David Chen, De ...

'', Hoai-Tran Bui said that " hefight scenes are almost exclusively shot in close-up and shaky cam, and when they're not, they're edited so much that Snake Eyes might as well have shredded the frames with his sword." Bilge Ebiri of ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' gave the film a negative review, criticizing the action sequences, story, and dialogue, but praised the film for its visuals and production values, writing "The action in ''Snake Eyes'' is instantly forgettable, even if the locations and costumes are sometimes fun. You can occasionally sense director Robert Schwentke ... trying to assert some visual imagination. There's one rain-soaked, neon-drenched street fight featuring long takes and swooping camera moves that gave me some early cause for hope, and Alec Hammond's production design, particularly at the Arashikage Clan's compound, occasionally enchants." Glen Kenny of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' gave the film a negative review, and criticized the story. He wrote "The plot points above are real; however, tbears only coincidental resemblance to an art film. But such are the longueurs of this would-be slam-bang blockbuster directed by Robert Schwentke, that it sure does inspire woolgathering ... For an ostensible action hero, Henry Golding in the title role does an awful lot of standing around and looking tense. The mayhem is frantic yet forgettable, and the possibly inadvertent goofiness extends from dialogue humdingers like 'For 600 years, our ninjas have brought peace and stability to Japan' to a central-casting villainess who looks like she has a side gig as a dominatrix." Johnny Oleksinki of ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' rated the film 2 out of 4 stars, and wrote "All of this is building toward Snake Eyes becoming a Joe, but the martial arts film's connection to the main story feels frail, as if ''

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' is a 2000 wuxia film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung . The film features a cast of actors of Chinese people, Chinese ethnicity, including Ch ...

'' ended with

Michelle Yeoh Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng, ( ; born 6 August 1962) is a Malaysian actress. Credited as Michelle Khan in her early Hong Kong films, she rose to fame in the 1990s after starring in a series of Hong Kong action films where she performed her own ...

becoming an Avenger. The fights, taken on their own, are occasionally OK, but not enough to lift this joke- and fun-free slog." Soren Andersen of ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

'' rated the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, and wrote " 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." He also went on to criticize Henry Golding's performance, writing "That guy

nake Eyes Nake may refer to: *Nake language *Frieder Nake (born 1938), mathematician, computer scientist, and computer artist *Nake M. Kamrany (born 1934), American economist and academic See also

* * Knake (disambiguation) * Knacke (disambiguation) * ...

is supposed to be a super ninja. Lithe and limber. Tough and toned. An enigma. A loner. A total badass. Golding is none of those. ''

Crazy Rich Asians ''Crazy Rich Asians'' is a satirical 2013 romantic comedy novel by Kevin Kwan. Kwan stated that his intention in writing the novel was to "introduce a contemporary Asia to a North American audience". He claimed the novel was loosely based on his ...

'' revealed his forte as being a sexy smoothie. Easy on the eyes. Effortlessly engaging. Not the skill set for Mr. Snake Eyes" and said he lacked "presence".

Future

In May 2020, a follow-up film was announced to be in development, with a script co-written by Shrapnel and Waterhouse. di Bonaventura will return as producer, while the project will be a joint-venture production between

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

and

di Bonaventura Pictures Di Bonaventura Pictures (also known as dB Pictures) is an American film and television production company founded in 2002 by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who is known for producing the ''Transformers'' films. History On September 3, 2002, Lorenzo ...

. With the financial failure of the film, the status of the follow-up is now unknown.

References

External links

* {{Skydance Media 2021 action adventure films 2020s superhero films 2021 martial arts films American action adventure films American martial arts films American superhero films Di Bonaventura Pictures films Entertainment One films Films about terrorism in Asia Films directed by Robert Schwentke Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films produced by Brian Goldner Films produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura Films scored by Martin Todsharow Films set in Japan Films set in Los Angeles Films set in Tokyo Films set in Washington (state) Films shot in Tokyo Films shot in Vancouver Films with screenplays by Evan Spiliotopoulos G.I. Joe (film series) Japan in non-Japanese culture Live-action films based on animated series Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Ninja films Paramount Pictures films Skydance Media films Reboot films Yakuza films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films