Robert Schwentke takes us to an Asia between modernity and tradition: Martial arts fans get their money’s worth as well as Japan friends.
Berlin – The eponymous “Snake Eyes” are what create an impressive scene at the beginning of this action or martial arts spectacle.
This has a lasting impact on the young protagonist and sends him on a mission of revenge: In a forest hut, the little boy has to watch his father being murdered by a cold-blooded killer embodied by Samuel Finzi after he rolled the wrong, in this case a fatal combination of numbers has – two ones, a combination known in dice games as Snake Eyes.
Finzi is not the only German-speaking person involved in the two-hour event: Director Robert Schwentke comes from Stuttgart. The Canadian-American co-production (with an estimated budget of $ 88 million) is part of a small movie universe that goes back to the “GI Joe” toy franchise.
Previous works have titles such as “GI Joe – Secret Order Cobra” (2009 in the cinema) and “GI Joe – Die Abrechnung” (2013). “Snake Eyes” is not just a film about retribution. It’s also about traditions, loyalty and the question of whether or not you are a killer.
Steeled martial artist
20 years after the murder described at the beginning, we experience the former boy as an externally hardened martial artist – whose inner wounds, however, continue to fester: the past catches up with him again and again with the tragic death of his father. What can also be seen in his battle name: With the name Snake Eyes he refers directly to the dice game about life and death.
After a successful appearance at a tournament, a dodgy figure makes him an offer that he can hardly refuse: Again, it’s about Snake Eyes’ murdered father. Snake Eyes is caught between the fronts: here the Japanese yakuza mafia, there black-clad ninjas.
To be accepted into the Arashikage clan, a centuries-old ninja family, our protagonist has to pass three tests. Including the difficult task of coping with huge anacondas in a dark snake pit.
Director Schwentke, who drew attention to himself in 2002 with a dark mystery piece (“Tattoo”), succeeds in getting to know the “GI Joe” universe in an entertaining way with “Snake Eyes”. Even if nothing is completely new about this adaptation – sometimes a saying reminds us of “Spider-Man”, there are always moments that remind us of martial arts classics such as “Tiger and Dragon” or the “Matrix” series.
Despite the action genre, the film takes on a pleasantly unexcited tone. And that even if you haven’t heard of “GI Joe” or seen one of the previous films. In addition to strong mimes like Samuel Finzi and a charismatic-sympathetic Henry Golding (“Crazy Rich”) as Snake Eyes, it is above all the female characters that convince: including the Japanese Haruka Abe (“Cruella”).
Japan – between tradition and modernity
“Snake Eyes” also creates a fascinating picture of Japan: the country in which some of the dark and successful film images (camera: Bojan Bazelli, “A Cure For Wellness”) were made. Schwentke has a fine sense, a good eye for all the contrasts of a country between modernity (all motorcycles used in the film accelerate with whirring electric motors) and tradition (the ninja castle is surrounded by picturesque garden art, not least the ancient Japanese Sword fighting culture, which significantly shapes the film).
The costumes are neither cheap nor kitschy – not a matter of course in such a mainstream production based on toy figures that appeals to a large audience. What remains in the visual memory is the mysterious blind ninja master who takes one of the three exams in a famous, dazzlingly garish kimono.
Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins, Canada / USA 2021, 121 min., FSK from 12, by Robert Schwentke, with Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Úrsula Corberó dpa
