YMMV / Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins

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• Audience-Alienating Premise: This film is particularly notable for having two overlapping yet distinct premises that contributed to a Box Office Bomb (not counting the fact it was released in theaters in the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic).
  • It’s another prequel to G.I. Joe. After the previous two films set the stage for the Joes to finally have an all-out brawl with Cobra, seeing this movie abandon that plot thread was bound to lose faith in the franchise.
  • The defining traits of Snake Eyes himself are being voiceless, faceless, and being a master Ninja. All of those traits were removed from this film’s incarnation, resulting in a far less interesting character.
• Complete Monster: Kenta is a power-hungry Yakuza boss who was once the heir apparent to the Arashikage clan. Banished and losing his claim to the clan when he tried to murder his rival, Tommy, Kenta began arms smuggling and war profiteering to form an alliance with Cobra. Working with his new partner Snake Eyes to manipulate Tommy, Kenta sacrifices the lives of dozens of his men in service of a staged fight, and later burns another alive to test the Jewel of the Sun. Upon properly obtaining the Jewel, Kenta marches on the Arashikage fortress and massacres all in his path, planning to wipe out the entirety of the Arashikage as punishment for his banishment, after which Kenta betrays his partner the Baroness to keep the Jewel all to himself for more intended atrocities.
• Critical Dissonance: Despite a 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences have given it a 74%.
• Designated Hero: Snake Eyes betrays the Arashikage clan, handing over the Jewel of the Sun to the enemy and leading to the deaths of many ninja but is ultimately forgiven.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Despite both of them having miniscule screentime in comparison to the other characters, Scarlett and the Baroness are commonly regarded as some of the best parts of the film, even by the movie's detractors.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • The man known only as "Snake Eyes" is a vengeful warrior seeking his father's killer. Teaming up with the Yakuza boss Kenta, Snake Eyes fakes a rescue of Tommy Arashikage to ingratiate himself in Tommy's good graces and join the Arashikage clan. Tasked to steal the Jewel of the Sun from the Arashikage in exchange for Kenta finding his father's murderer, Snake Eyes manipulates Tommy and the clan leaders into trusting him, gains the friendship of the paranoid Akiko, and passes several Arashikage tests through cleverness and skill. After brilliantly stealing the Jewel and supplying it to Kenta, Snake Eyes ultimately realizes the error of his ways and teams up with the Arashikage to take down Kenta as penance for betraying the clan, finally attaining inner peace and outsmarting Kenta to save the day.
  • Ana DeCobray, The Baroness, is a sultry, swaggering Cobra operative who has influenced entire countries with terrorist activities for years, and she serves as the true brains behind Kenta. Discovering that Snake Eyes' father was murdered by Cobra assassin Augustine decades ago, the Baroness imprisons Augustine and uses the offer of handing him over to Snake Eyes to convince the warrior into helping Kenta acquire the Jewel of the Sun. After their deal is complete, the Baroness works with Kenta to lay siege to the Arashikage fortress, where she outwits her G.I. Joe rival Scarlett and shows respect to clan leader Sen. Though betrayed by Kenta, the Baroness doesn't miss a beat in allying with Scarlett to massacre Kenta's men, lay a trap for the Yakuza boss, and then sneak away during the final firefight so as to avoid capture, last seen cheerfully recruiting the disgraced Tommy Arashikage to Cobra's fold.
• Nightmare Fuel: Kenta getting eaten by one of the anacondas. The audience can SEE the bulge in the snake's body as he's swallowed, and you can HEAR him screaming the entire time.
• Older Than They Think: This isn't the first time in which Snake Eyes was given a Race Lift as his 2019 reboot incarnation did the same, though unlike this incarnation, whose ethnicity was from Caucasian to Anglo-Malaysian (the same as his actor Henry Golding), his ethnicity was changed from Caucasian to Japanese.
• Questionable Casting: An interesting variation. Generally speaking, the film is extremely well-cast and full to bursting with incredibly talented martial artists. Unfortunately, all of that martial arts talent feels wasted because the fight scenes are full of quick cuts and Jitter Cam, making it very difficult to see the actual fighting.
• Tear Jerker: Sen weeping silently as Tommy forsake both the Clan and the family, out of anger for being denied leadership. She vainly tried to tell him that he still has a place here. Once again, she has to watch another grandson head down a treacherous path.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Certain things were wasted on Snake Eyes' origin and character like actually giving him a real name or whatever incident caused him to lose his voice or take a vow of silence.

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