Film Review: Snake Eyes ('21, Dir: Robert Schwentke)

 

Snake Eyes (2021)

Directed by Robert Schwentke

Written by Evan Spiliotopoulos,  Joe Shrapnel, and Anna Waterhouse

This is my least favorite kind of review to write. It's not as if Snake Eyes was one of my most anticipated movies, although I was intrigued by the trailers and I am rooting for Henry Golding in every way. I think he deserves to be a massive star, with charm and charisma to spare, and this being his first big leading role in a franchise movie was exciting. Alas, exciting is not a word I would use to describe this film. Not in any way, shape, or form. Somehow Robert Schwentke has made ninjas and martial arts boring. There is such a lack of energy and excitement, such a dull and rote approach to this film, that it boggles the mind how anyone thought the choices made were the right ones. So yeah... I hate writing this type of review. Snake Eyes is simply terrible. 

The high points of Snake Eyes exist when Henry Golding's Snake (yes, he's never given or called by another name, and frankly much of the film's unintentional hilarity, and there's a lot of it, comes during attempts at super dramatic moments that are immediately undercut by someone calling him Snake in a serious fashion) and Andrew Koji's Tommy are building their friendship. The two actors ooze charisma and physicality, and all of the right ingredients were there to make a solid core to the film. The film has a huge bit of dramatic inertness at its center, though, and it's that our supposed hero is actually rather unlikable. I'm all for complex and challenging protagonists, but the reality of the writing of this film is that Tommy, at least as written, is and should be the lead, the one we root for, the one we follow. He's a solid secondary character, but the film take's Snake's perspective (it's right there in the title) and I was almost constantly confused and baffled by the motivation and actions Snake's character enacts throughout the film. The character writing across the board lets the entire cast down, with almost everyone else, from Samara Weaving to Iko Uwais to Peter Mensah, all talented and charismatic performers, being wasted. The film attempts to build an epic dramatic narrative between warring ninja factions and then also throws in a side dose of G.I. Joe world-building that falls utterly flat every time. It's almost hilarious how this film tries to have its cake and eat it too, and in an era when so many attempts to start a franchise get bogged down by setup for future installments instead of delivering a cohesive internal dramatic arc for the film in question, this is one of the most egregious examples. 

The film's biggest failing, however, is in its action. Look, character and drama are important, but I'd wager the majority of people going to see a movie called Snake Eyes G.I. Joe Origins are here for the action. On paper, assembling this cast (IKO UWAIS!) is a brilliant move, and hiring Kenji Tanigaki as second unit director and fight coordinator is a stroke of genius. Kenji is one of the greats of martial arts cinema, working predominately in Hong Kong on many bonafide action classics. And frankly, it's easy to see the intent behind the design of the action. Neon soaked streets. Sword fights. Motorcycle chases. All of this should be incredible and thrilling. On set, on the day of, perhaps it was. Three people have come to the party to all but ruin the efforts of the cast and the stunt team. Somehow, director Robert Schwentke, cinematographer Bojan Bazelli, and perhaps worst of all editor Stuart Levy have rendered the action in this film nearly unintelligible. Every time Iko Uwais is about to do something awesome (and you know it's going to be awesome) or the setup is there for a seemingly dope sword fight or chase, the camera shakes and swings and the film cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts away from what we should be seeing. American action fans have been spoiled by the John Wick and Mission: Impossible films, and Snake Eyes is just another film in what is becoming a crisis in Hollywood of horrifically shot and edited action. This may not be the worst example, but on the giant IMAX screen I saw the film on, I may as well have been looking at the floor.

What a shame this film is. From its poor dramatic choices in writing and unfortunate unintentional hilarity to its failures in filmmaking, it wastes every ounce of potential this very game cast brings to the table. I am still a fan of Mr. Golding (and a new fan of Andrew Koji; in fact, I may go check out his TV show Warrior) but the sooner I can forget about this film the better. And as for the sequels it sets up? Unless there's an entire new team behind the camera... no thank you.