[sbartek1974]

There should be a thread for those that don't mind freely discussing and reading about the new Snake Eyes movie and there be spoilers.

I for one don't mind spoilers. And at times it's hard to discuss a movie without letting out a little spoiler information. So if you want to discuss the movie here with no holding back let's do it. If you don't mind reading spoilers, like me, this can be the place. If you don't like spoilers, this can't be the place for you.

So if you've seen the movie, or if you haven't and don't mind reading spoilers, let's do it here.

[pankratiast]

Ok. I will start off with a general statement that is not too specific ion spoilers but gives a general feeling of the Snake Eyes character in this movie. Just coming out of the movie it struck me that while the comic book Snake Eyes is all about duty and honor I don’t see it in Golding’s portrayal. In fact it seems that Snake Eyes causes much of the problems for the Arashikage clan and Storm Shadow in particular. Not my Snake Eyes.

[Jmacq1]

Guess nobody's going to see this or wanting to discuss it much, and given all the negative nancies around here I can't say I'm too surprised.

So anyway, I liked it. I didn't LOVE it, but it was a decent mid-budget action flick with a mostly solid cast who weren't really given enough to do.

What I loved:
I love that the Joes clearly have history (and a lot of it) in this world. They're not a "new" thing. Also that the Joes have long-standing alliances with other groups around the world. I enjoyed that aspect of the worldbuilding.

Ursula Corbero was born to play Baroness. Small part but she played very well off of Samara Weaving's Scarlett and is hella good at vamping it up.

Blind Master and Hard Master (And Granny Arashikage). That is all.

Andrew Koji's Storm Shadow was fantastic, and they really sold his arc. He's got legitimate beef with Snake-Eyes, and while he perhaps takes it to an unnecessary extreme due to his own flaw (ego), Snake-Eyes does genuinely deserve his ire.

What I liked:
Henry Golding's got leading-man charisma, but it's a shame that his part was just...not very well written (more on that below). I didn't hate him in the role, mostly because it seemed like he was trying really hard to sell it.

Samara Weaving's Scarlett was a pretty solid intro but wasn't a big enough part to really get a full picture. Her intro was a little shaky (no pun intended) but her performance was good.

I liked that they set aside a whole bunch of the gripes: Snake-Eyes still has no real name that we know of. Snake-Eyes is still American. There's even a cabin in the woods, albeit used in a different context than we're used to.

They kept the cheese to a minimum, which was actually mildly surprising to me.

Overall the acting was pretty solid. Nobody seemed to just be "phoning it in."


What was meh:
Snake-Eyes' arc seemed unnecessarily drawn out and cliched, and as my wife pointed out kinda made him into an asshole. Also they really needed a training montage and something giving a sense of time passing because as it stands the whole movie takes place in about a week. I can buy him being a badass before he gets there but...probably more than a week to become a full-fledged Ninja.

I'm not a fan of Shaky-Cam, but I found the Shaky-Cam to not be the completely insufferable type. I could tell what was going on in the action sequences even with the shaky-cam and with a few exceptions (Scarlett's intro stuck out a little) it didn't seem like it was being used to cover up deficiencies in the actors' fight choreography. I'd like to see less of it, but it wasn't as bad as some folks will no doubt make out.

Kenta was a super-weak villain in terms of the role. I get they needed a "original" character so that they didn't kill off a major Cobra character in the first movie or something, and wanted something with ties to the Arashikage, but I feel like it could have been done far better. He should've been the Night Creeper Leader or something. Likewise while the Joe world-building was pretty decent I feel like Cobra's was lacking. I didn't need MUCH more but something beyond just a few symbols and the Baroness showing up to really sell it.

Akiko seemed like she was there just to be a female action character that wasn't Scarlett, and it felt like either a fair bit of her role got cut or that they simply didn't quite know what to do with her. I appreciate that she wasn't any kind of overt love interest but at the same time they kinda drop hints that she's crushing on Snake-Eyes for...no real fathomable reason besides Henry Golding being a handsome sumbitch...but then they don't really follow-through on it. The actress was fine and did the best she could with what she was given, I think,

The introduction of "the costume" was just...bizarre and anticlimactic. No other Arashikage are in gear like that, there's no explanation of why he's getting a special suit or whatever, or even if the suit IS special. It's like at the last second they remembered that the title of the movie is "Snake-Eyes" so we should probably show him in the traditional form before the credits roll.


All told I'd give it a B+. It ain't bad. It ain't great. Diehards are going to hate it because change is bad and they'd rather have two hours of the early 90's live-action toy commercials that played before the movie because they think that'll really connect with modern audiences. My Wife was/is not a Joe fan but she liked the movie overall. I don't think it'll be the renaissance we're hoping for but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing what a more "complete" Joe film set in this universe might look like.

[theprocess]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmacq1

Guess nobody's going to see this or wanting to discuss it much, and given all the negative nancies around here I can't say I'm too surprised.

So anyway, I liked it. I didn't LOVE it, but it was a decent mid-budget action flick with a mostly solid cast who weren't really given enough to do.


All told I'd give it a B+. It ain't bad. It ain't great. Diehards are going to hate it because change is bad and they'd rather have two hours of the early 90's live-action toy commercials that played before the movie because they think that'll really connect with modern audiences.

I think that's a spot on review. Its not the greatest movie in the world. It is what is and I think the fans anticipation and having to wait might have killed the excitement.

[sbartek1974]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmacq1

Guess nobody's going to see this or wanting to discuss it much, and given all the negative nancies around here I can't say I'm too surprised.

So anyway, I liked it. I didn't LOVE it, but it was a decent mid-budget action flick with a mostly solid cast who weren't really given enough to do.

What I loved:
I love that the Joes clearly have history (and a lot of it) in this world. They're not a "new" thing. Also that the Joes have long-standing alliances with other groups around the world. I enjoyed that aspect of the worldbuilding.

Ursula Corbero was born to play Baroness. Small part but she played very well off of Samara Weaving's Scarlett and is hella good at vamping it up.

Blind Master and Hard Master (And Granny Arashikage). That is all.

Andrew Koji's Storm Shadow was fantastic, and they really sold his arc. He's got legitimate beef with Snake-Eyes, and while he perhaps takes it to an unnecessary extreme due to his own flaw (ego), Snake-Eyes does genuinely deserve his ire.

What I liked:
Henry Golding's got leading-man charisma, but it's a shame that his part was just...not very well written (more on that below). I didn't hate him in the role, mostly because it seemed like he was trying really hard to sell it.

Samara Weaving's Scarlett was a pretty solid intro but wasn't a big enough part to really get a full picture. Her intro was a little shaky (no pun intended) but her performance was good.

I liked that they set aside a whole bunch of the gripes: Snake-Eyes still has no real name that we know of. Snake-Eyes is still American. There's even a cabin in the woods, albeit used in a different context than we're used to.

They kept the cheese to a minimum, which was actually mildly surprising to me.

Overall the acting was pretty solid. Nobody seemed to just be "phoning it in."


What was meh:
Snake-Eyes' arc seemed unnecessarily drawn out and cliched, and as my wife pointed out kinda made him into an asshole. Also they really needed a training montage and something giving a sense of time passing because as it stands the whole movie takes place in about a week. I can buy him being a badass before he gets there but...probably more than a week to become a full-fledged Ninja.

I'm not a fan of Shaky-Cam, but I found the Shaky-Cam to not be the completely insufferable type. I could tell what was going on in the action sequences even with the shaky-cam and with a few exceptions (Scarlett's intro stuck out a little) it didn't seem like it was being used to cover up deficiencies in the actors' fight choreography. I'd like to see less of it, but it wasn't as bad as some folks will no doubt make out.

Kenta was a super-weak villain in terms of the role. I get they needed a "original" character so that they didn't kill off a major Cobra character in the first movie or something, and wanted something with ties to the Arashikage, but I feel like it could have been done far better. He should've been the Night Creeper Leader or something. Likewise while the Joe world-building was pretty decent I feel like Cobra's was lacking. I didn't need MUCH more but something beyond just a few symbols and the Baroness showing up to really sell it.

Akiko seemed like she was there just to be a female action character that wasn't Scarlett, and it felt like either a fair bit of her role got cut or that they simply didn't quite know what to do with her. I appreciate that she wasn't any kind of overt love interest but at the same time they kinda drop hints that she's crushing on Snake-Eyes for...no real fathomable reason besides Henry Golding being a handsome sumbitch...but then they don't really follow-through on it. The actress was fine and did the best she could with what she was given, I think,

The introduction of "the costume" was just...bizarre and anticlimactic. No other Arashikage are in gear like that, there's no explanation of why he's getting a special suit or whatever, or even if the suit IS special. It's like at the last second they remembered that the title of the movie is "Snake-Eyes" so we should probably show him in the traditional form before the credits roll.


All told I'd give it a B+. It ain't bad. It ain't great. Diehards are going to hate it because change is bad and they'd rather have two hours of the early 90's live-action toy commercials that played before the movie because they think that'll really connect with modern audiences. My Wife was/is not a Joe fan but she liked the movie overall. I don't think it'll be the renaissance we're hoping for but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing what a more "complete" Joe film set in this universe might look like.

I like your review Jmacq1. Can't wait to see it.

[pankratiast]

One of the reasons I didn’t like it was that it had some solid martial artist/ actors and the shaky camera work took away from their abilities. I also agree with the comment that said Snake Eyes came off as an asshole. Again, not the hero I want to see coming out of this movie.

[Jmacq1]

On a side note, the pre-show at Alamo Drafthouse was maybe the best I've ever seen there. Wall to wall trailers for the old cheesy 80's Ninja flicks, mingled with old GI Joe Toy commercials (and a trailer for GI Joe: The Movie), and a couple of their typical utterly bizarre music videos.

[jlw515]

Jmacq1’s review is spot on.

I thought it was good action and good acting, but weak plot. I hate the way they portray Snake Eyes, when you watch the movie you’ll understand what I mean.

I think it’s the best of the 3 movies so far. Hopefully the sequel develops the actual Joe team even further without making Snake Eyes the center of attention.

I just hope Hasbro has a 4” action figure line up in store.

Jason

[Jmacq1]

The only thing my Wife hated about the movie was The Baroness' shoes, because one of her major, major, major peeves in movies is anyone in action sequences wearing stiletto heels.

She liked Scarlett though! (And Akiko mostly, even if she agreed her role was kind of off).

[Steevy Maximus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlw515

I just hope Hasbro has a 4” action figure line up in store.

Jason

Nope, aside from the Walmart exclusive Retro line which won’t have movie figures, it seems.

And I don’t see Snake Eyes being a big enough hit to warrant that investment unless/until a sequel hits. As is, I have doubts Classified will see anything beyond the 5 figures we’ve seen.