Spoiler alert! The following post discusses important plot points and the ending of “Snake Eyes” so beware if you haven’t seen it yet.
Henry Golding jokes that his ninja training for ‘Snake Eyes’ helped his dad skills at home
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The new “G.I. Joe” reboot “Snake Eyes” (in theaters now) offers origin stories for the title commando and the Cobra ninja Storm Shadow and, by its climax, places them on opposite sides of a global war – though Snake Eyes himself has a ways to go before becoming the familiar character from 1980s kids’ childhoods.
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Played by Henry Golding, Snake Eyes is a loner recruited by his new Japanese “blood brother” Tommy (Andrew Koji) into the ancient Arashikage ninja clan, though Snake Eyes is also working for the bad guys, secretly infiltrating Tommy’s family organization in exchange for information on who killed his father. Snake Eyes steals a very powerful gem protected by the Arashikage for the Yakuza gangster Kenta (Takehiro Hira), and while Snake Eyes realizes the errors of his ways – and teams up with Scarlett (Samara Weaving), a member of the G.I. Joe counterterrorism squad – Tommy’s incensed by the betrayal.
Unfortunately for the man also known as Storm Shadow, Tommy’s problems get worse: In battle against Kenta, Tommy uses the gem to protect his family, though in doing so means by family law that he cannot lead the Arashikage. Doubly angered, Tommy storms away from his clan as well as his frenemy.
Soon enough, he’s found a new ally: In a mid-credits scene, Tommy is on a private plane ready for takeoff when a flight attendant brings him champagne. However, the woman turns out to be the Baroness (Úrsula Corberó), an operative with the shadowy criminal terrorist group Cobra, who wants to work with the dangerous free agent: “You lost an army, Tommy,” she says. “But I can give you a better one.”
Is Storm Shadow a man wanting a new clan or does he want to use Cobra’s increasing global influence for his own needs? “It could be a bit of both,” Koji tells USA TODAY. “In my gut it would be leaning towards using them. I think he’s in a very, very dark place at the end of the film. He’s just looking for something to figure out how he can move forward with his stuff.”
Video: Trailer – Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (Screenplay)
Trailer – Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins
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Review: Henry Golding proves he’s a franchise-ready man of action in stylish ‘Snake Eyes’
Which means a serious clash is coming between him and Snake Eyes if there’s a sequel: “To Tommy at the end of the film, Snake Eyes is on the blacklist – he’s irredeemable maybe,” Koji adds. “We’ll find out, hopefully.”
Meanwhile Snake Eyes also gets an offer to join a new crew: Scarlett shows him classified files explaining that his father was a Joe (codename: Brightsword) and he was murdered by Cobra. And like Baroness, Scarlett mentions she could use someone with Snake’s skill set.
“You’re saying I could be a Joe?” Snake Eyes asks Scarlett, who responds that “anything’s possible.” More important for Snake Eyes, though, is making amends with Storm Shadow, and he puts on the signature black helmet and scoots off on a motorcycle before the credits roll.
The fan-favorite comic-book version of the character not only rocks black headwear – because of a disfigured face – but also doesn’t talk, though Golding’s Snake Eyes is still chatty and sporting the actor’s handsome mug at the end of the movie.
He, for one, is glad to gradually transform into the G.I. Joe ninja people know and love over multiple films should they happen. “Something so transformational and iconic as a disfiguring of the face or loss of the voice, if that happened in the first movie, it’s like, ‘Yeah, OK, That’s cool.’ But if it happens in the third movie, then you’re just like, ‘GASP!’ Mind actually physically blown,” Golding explains.
Henry Golding voices his action-figure self in ‘Snake Eyes’ PSA
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“Building that is something special. And if we have the ability to really grow the universe, don’t you want to see us take its time and do justice to every aspect of every Joe’s life? That’s something to look forward to.”
The last two “G.I. Joe” movies – 2009’s “The Rise of Cobra” and 2013’s “Retaliation” – were “fantastic and fun,” Golding says, but they didn’t flesh out the Joes’ colorful, action-packed personalities. “To be able to focus on these pure in-depth character profiles such as Snake Eyes, it’s important to growing this franchise.”
With theaters back up and running, and Hollywood returning back to normal, it’s time to catch up on the must-see movies of the year so far.
Anthony Hopkins won an Oscar for his astounding portrayal of a man wrestling with dementia and a gradually decreasing hold on reality in “The Father.”
Here’s how it ranks against the rest of the best movies of 2021:
20. “The Water Man”: Hoping to help his ailing mom, young Gunner (Lonnie Chavis, with Amiah Miller) searches for a mythical figure in the forest said to hold a key to immortality in director David Oyelowo’s old-school family adventure with a 1980s sensibility.
19. “Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar”: Kristen Wiig (left) and Annie Mumolo are middle-aged BFFs who stumble onto a plot to take out a Florida vacation spot in a bizarro comedy featuring killer mosquitoes, a helpful water spirit and the very earwormy song “I Love Boobies.”
18. “Honeydew”: After getting stranded in the middle of nowhere, Riley (Malin Barr) wonders about their strange host’s home cooking while Sam (Sawyer Spielberg) chows down in a rural thriller that’s a gory mix of “Hansel & Gretel” and “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”
17. “Zola”: Stefani (Riley Keough, left) involves her new friend Zola (Taylour Paige) in some seriously shady dealings in director Janicza Bravo’s bonkers but empowering comedic thriller based on A’Ziah King’s infamous Twitter thread.
16. “Plan B”: Strait-laced Sunny (Kuhoo Verma, left) and her rebel BFF Lupe (Victoria Moroles) are South Dakota high schoolers on an epic trip to find a morning-after pill in director Natalie Morales’ fun and heartfelt one-crazy-night caper.
15. “In the Heights”: Anthony Ramos plays a New York bodega owner who dreams of returning to the Dominican Republic in Jon M. Chu’s infectious movie musical version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway show.
14. “Raya and the Last Dragon”: Young warrior Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran, left) teams up with legendary water dragon Sisu (Awkwafina) in an epic and sassy animated fantasy adventure for youngsters not yet ready for “Game of Thrones.”
13. “Come True”: The intriguingly freaky and clever sci-fi horror thriller centers a troubled teen (Julia Sarah Stone) who dreams of disturbing dreamscapes at night and enlists in a sleep-disorder study where the darkness of her subconscious arrives in reality.
12. “Quo Vadis, Aida?”: A UN translator (Jasna Đuričić) fights for her family’s safety while dealing with inept Dutch officials and ruthless Serbs rounding up Muslims in the excellent and harrowing Oscar-nominated Bosnian war drama.
11. “Night of the Kings”: A jailed pickpocket (Bakary Koné, center) is forced to become a storyteller in a prison run by its inmates in director Philippe Lacôte’s absorbing drama, which pays tribute to the oral tradition of the tale-spinning West African griots.
10. “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”: The Mitchell family – Katie (from left, voiced by Abbi Jacobson), Linda (Maya Rudolph), Rick (Danny McBride) and Aaron (director Mike Rianda) – team up with some screwed-up robots in the joyful animated comedy.
9. “Judas and the Black Messiah”: Daniel Kaluuya (center) plays influential Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in director Shaka King’s timely period drama, which functions as political thriller and historical vehicle.
8. “Cruella”: Emma Stone gamely plays Disney villainess Cruella De Vil as a young London designer in 1970s punk-rock London who tussles with a chic and ruthless fashion icon in an intriguing, colorful exploration of nature vs. nurture.
7. “Riders of Justice”: Mads Mikkelsen (far right) is a soldier who comes home to take care of his daughter (Andrea Heick Gadeberg) and exacts vengeance on the street gang responsible for his wife’s death in the brutal and heartwarming Danish action-comedy thriller.
6. “The Sparks Brothers”: Edgar Wright’s rock doc chronicles the five-decade career of Sparks, how the art-pop band was huge overseas but never in America, and what keeps brothers Russell (left) and Ron Mael passionate and still together today.
5. “The Vigil”: A Jewish New Yorker (Dave Davis) of lapsed faith takes an all-night job that turns into a battle for his soul thanks to the arrival of a demonic dybbuk in a chiller that scares up serious religious mythos and haunting historical connections.
4. “Together Together”: A 45-year-old bachelor (Ed Helms) unlucky in love but who badly wants children, hires a 20-something barista (Patti Harrison) to be his surrogate in Nikole Beckwith’s feel-good pregnancy dramedy.
3. “Summer of Soul”: Sly and the Family Stone perform at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival in the splendid new documentary, directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and featuring a slew of never-before-seen performances from the event.
2. “I Care a Lot”: Rosamund Pike plays a conniving conservator who bilks aging clients out of their money in the dark crime satire, a genre-exploding effort that’s awash in ethical quandaries and severely lacking in good guys.
1. “The Father”: Anthony Hopkins stars as an elderly London man with dementia trying to make sense of his constantly shifting reality in writer/director Florian Zeller’s immersive character study and exceptional drama.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spoilers! How that chilly ‘Snake Eyes’ ending sets up an ‘iconic’ G.I. Joe franchise feud
