I finally went to the theater to see Snake Eyes a few weeks ago. I haven’t been to a movie theater since the COVID pandemic started in March 2020. This was the second weekend of the Snake Eyes movie being out and when the movie started, I was the only person in the theater. Granted, it was an 8:30pm showing on a Saturday night but the entire cinema building was a ghost town. None of the interior signage was turned on with movie screen information. It was a bit eerie.
Back to the movie. I went into the movie not really knowing what to expect. I’ve kept myself pretty isolated from videos on social media and only watched the trailers. The trailers did a good job of not revealing too much so I didn’t feel that anything was spoiled by watching them. I was a bit skeptical given how the last two G.I. Joe movies went but found this movie to be very enjoyable and a much different take on a very familiar character. The back-story that this movie presented for Snake Eyes makes it very clear that this is not in the same universe as the other two Joe stories.
And this is my biggest complaint about the movie: I feel that they missed a huge opportunity to produce a story more in-line with the comic book back story for Snake Eyes.
Some history for those of you who may not have grown up reading the G.I. Joe series. In issue 26 of the comic, it’s revealed that Snake Eyes and Tommy Arashikage (better known as Storm Shadow) were soldiers in a recon patrol in Vietnam. Snake Eyes suffers serious injuries after an ambush and Tommy saves his life. After recuperating and returning to the States, Snake Eyes finds out that his family was killed in a car crash so he is completely alone. Tommy invites him to join him as he returns to Japan to move into the “family business”, which ends up being a ninja clan.
This is where I feel they missed an opportunity. With us just recently wrapping up a 20-year war, how cool would it have been to adapt the back story from the comics from taking place in Vietnam to be in Afghanistan? Tommy and Snake Eyes could have been in a patrol together in that theater of war and the rest of the story could mirror exactly.
Also, the story that they tell in the Snake Eyes movie gets the job done but it really paints the title character in a much different light. I think what’s missing is the military background that has been historically key to the members of G.I. Joe. I think that many of us always viewed Snake Eyes as a gifted soldier that is trained in multiple forms of martial arts. I think that the movie reveals how tough he is but not in a way that is consistent with how we grew up viewing Snake Eyes.
I’m very curious where they are going to take this character in future stories if it’s picked up for sequels or used as a spring board to reboot the G.I. Joe cinematic universe. In the comic, part of the mystic of Snake Eyes is his inability to speak due to wounds (issue 27). In the movie, that is an aspect of the character (the silence) that is totally missing so I’m wondering how they are going to work that into future stories. If they don’t make him silent eventually, I think there may be a revolt from those of us who grew up with the Joes in the 80s.
White Noise 
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