A man can deviate from his righteous path in anger, vengeance, or greed. But it doesn’t make a man unworthy. Everyone deserves a second chance to redeem and rectify. And why not? If a human or hero won’t transform, then why do we have stories at all? G.I. Joe Reboot’s story that begins with Snake Eyes gives the character an origin story that explores his hidden history and personal life.
Directed by Robert Schwentke, Snake Eyes gives another chance to the G.I. Joe film series that has already bombed twice with “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) and G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013). Snake Eyes followed the legacy and bombed too at the box office, flushing down hopes for another investment in the series. Maybe, it will see a similar fate to Michael Bay’s Transformer series. Despite its failure to perform, Snake Eyes doesn’t miss all the darts. The performances by Henry Golding, Andrew Koji (known for the Warrior series), and Haruka Abe are worth praise.
Writer Evan Spiliotopoulos gives enough space to its characters Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow to grow and evolve in a formulaic revenge plot. The two have been cut-throat rivals in several G.I. Joe adaptations. The origin film chronicles their stronger than steel friendship that in turns into burning enmity.
Plot Summary
A flashback scene narrates Snake Eyes’ past when 20 years ago, his father was brutally murdered by a paid assassin. The killer judged his father’s fate by throwing two dice that rolled to snake eyes, i.e., both dice got “1”, signifying the loss is inevitable. Snake ran away from the danger and later found out that his father lived under a fake identity. He adapted the expression Snake Eyes as his name to remind him of the vengeful path he walks on.
Twenty years later, Snake is a trained martial arts fighter fighting in an underground Los Angeles fighting circuit. Impressed by his zeal and technique, a Yakuza boss, Kenta employs Snake for an operation and offers to find his father’s murderer in return. Burning with revenge, Snake takes the job and later finds out that Kenta wants Snake to be Kenta’s cousin, Thomas “Tommy” Arashikage, and infiltrate his Arashikage clan to steal an ancestral talisman. Snake falls prey to his pursuit for vengeance and betrays the people who show trust in him, but all is not lost until Snake hasn’t lost his consciousness.
Why did Kenta want the jewel?
Kenta Takamura and Tommy were both next in line to become the leader of the Arashikage clan. Kenta tried to have him killed to remove Tommy from his path of succession. Still, Tommy survived the betrayal and banished Kenta from the clan. Since then, Kenta had been looking out for a way back to head the clan.
Kenta started smuggling guns for the Cobra, a shadow organization devoted to global revolution through violence, fear, and extortion. An elite operative at Cobra, Ana DeCobray, aka Baroness, aided men and ammunition to Kenta to seize a magical jewel that contained the power of the sun. The talisman could help Cobra become indestructible and unleash his supreme power on the world.
Though, in the end, Kenta betrayed Cobra and used the jewel’s power to take control of the clan.
Who killed Snake’s father?
For his whole life, Snake had been looking for a hitman named Augustine. He made a deal with Kenta and Baroness to steal the jewel from Arashikage’s stronghold in exchange for Augustine. Snake found out that Augustine’s dice were fixed (rigged) and always rolled to snake eyes in between the pursuit. Thus, Augustine didn’t even give Snake’s father a chance to survive and wanted to kill him at all cost.
However, when Snake was face to face with Augustine, he discovered that Augustine was just a minion working for Cobra. Snake realized his mistake, shed his anger for a bit, and spared Augustine’s life. It was time to take revenge on the ultimate nemesis, Cobra.
‘Snake Eyes’ Ending Explained
As soon as the truth came out about Snake’s father’s murderer, he tried to rectify his mistake and stop Kenta from destroying the clan. In the last battle sequence, Cobra’s associate Baroness and G.I. Joe agent, Scarlett, briefly joined hands to stop a traitorous Kenta. Tommy, Snake, and Akiko put up courageous combat against Kenta. Still, Snake got him killed by taking Kenta down in the pit of ancient anacondas.
The Jewel of the Sun was restored to the safe depository. However, Tommy’s grandmother and the current leader of the clan, Sen, prohibited Tommy from taking over the clan as he broke the ancestral vow of the clan by using the powers of the jewel in a fight against Kenta. It was Tommy’s eternal dream and unshakable desire to lead the clan, and his very reason for existence was robbed away from him. Tommy blamed Snake for everything and pledged to take revenge on him shortly. Tommy left the family and Tokyo soon after.
Who was Snake’s father?
In the end, G.I. Joe’s agent, Scarlett, revealed Snake’s father’s identity. He was a former Joe agent who infiltrated Cobra’s cell during his service and thus became a target of the adversary. However, the intel recovered by Snake’s father saved thousands of lives at the cost of his own, and that should make Snake feel proud of him.
To follow his father’s legacy and fill the void left by him, Scarlett offered Snake Eyes to become a G.I. Joe. Snake was overwhelmed by the offer, but he had an unfinished business to bring a soul brother back to the clan.
“We all make mistakes. It’s what we do next that really matters.”
Scarlett
‘Snake Eyes’ Post Credit Scene
For Tommy, the thing that came next was to join Cobra. Baroness offered Tommy to become a part of the terrorist group, giving him a more extensive and better army with technically advanced machinery that he always loathed. Tommy took the offer without a second thought and became Storm Shadow, the ultimate nemesis of Snake Eyes.
The post-credit scene turned the slates upside down while making Tommy the new antagonist and Snake a reformed protagonist. Their vengeance and battle will be explored further in combat between Cobra and G.I. Joe. (only if producers decide to produce another Joe movie after a third burn at the box office).
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins is a 2021 Action Drama Film directed by Robert Schwentke. It is based on Hasbro’s G.I. Joe franchise.
