To be fair, it’s not like Ninja Assassin, The Hunted or any of the American Ninja sequels were big hits in their day. Like Cruella, you’ll wonder how much better Snake Eyes could have been without having to rely on known IP. Alas, neither hero/villain comes off well regarding value to the proceedings.
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Úrsula Corberó vamps like a champ as Baroness, while Samara Weaving makes a serviceable action figure as Scarlett. Snake Eyes is enjoyable enough as a singular ninja action drama that it suffers via the eventual intrusion of the G.I. I don’t know how faithful this is to the Larry Hama comics, but it works for the movie. At least one early second-act reveal recasts everything that’s come before and everything that follows without undercutting the previous 40 minutes. The film offers a few genuine twists or at least plot beats/character reveals that go comparatively off-script for these kind of IP exploitations. Both Peter Mensah and Iko Uwais bring an action prestige to the proceedings. Abe is fine with what she’s given but her character and her increasing emphasis feels like a midway “no homo” “course correction” even while neither of Snake’s primarily relationships are romantic in nature. It’s frankly a problem when Thomas takes a backseat to a not-quite-romance between Snake and Akiko (Haruka Abe). Koji is dynamite in this film, almost stealing the picture and casting a striking action figure alongside the more famous top-billed star. The screenplay, primarily penned by Evan Spiliotopoulos (whose The Unholy is one of the year’s best horror movies), makes the wise choice to focus on the bromance/friendship between Snake and Tommy as well as the process by which the future Joe might become part of the family. In gratitude and friendship, Thomas offers “Snake” a chance to earn his way into the sect and find a purpose to an aimless life.
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The new friend isn’t a Yakuza mobster but rather a high-ranking member of an ancient Japanese clan. Things improve once he gets recruited for weapons smuggling and crosses paths with Thomas “Tommy” Arashikage (Andrew Koji) and saves his life at the near-expense of his own. Set mostly in Japan, this flick gets off to a wobbly start with our young hero watching his father get shot dead, a scene that provides a laughable reason for his nickname. The Skydance/Hasbro/MGM flick cost $88 million, compared to the $135-$175 million predecessors, but it looks gorgeous and cinematic in a way we used to take for granted in the pre-Netflix Originals days. Henry Golding, Samara Weaving, Andrew Koji and Ursula Corbero in 'Snake Eyes: G.I.