By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
As a middle-aged man surrounded by far too many little plastic soldiers, I’ve been waiting decades for Hollywood to give us a proper G.I. Joe film. Sure, we got two movies featuring big names like Channing Tatum and Dwayne Johnson, but from the weird rocket boots to the bizarre Baroness origin, those films never really felt like they got this strange sci-fi/military universe quite right. Fortunately, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origin finally provided most (though not all) of what I wanted from such a film, and you can now stream this ninja adventure on Netflix.
Snake Eyes Is For Fans New And Old
While Snake Eyes is streaming on Netflix, this film focuses on a title character who was winning over nerds in the ‘80s, decades before the advent of streaming (heck, even VHS felt futuristic back then). Snake Eyes is a young man who gets recruited to learn the ways of an ancient ninja clan. However, drama within and drama without threatens his newfound family, as does the arrival of forces from two very familiar organizations: G.I. Joe and Cobra.
Anyone tuning into Snake Eyes on Netflix can look forward to a solid cast, albeit one without very many big names. Our title character is played by Henry Golding, someone best known for his knockout performance in Crazy Rich Asians. Andrew Koji (best known for the Cinemax show Warrior) plays his ninja brother, and Samara Weaving (best known for Ready or Not and Guns Akimbo) plays Baroness, everyone’s favorite Cobra bad girl.
Snake Eyes is finding new fans on Netflix, but when it was first released, it was a box office bomb, earning only $40.1 million against a budget of $88–110 million. Critics didn’t love it, either, and the movie currently has a 35 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. That brings us to a question so obvious even the Arashikagi Clan’s Blind Master could see it coming: why the heck am I recommending that you stream a box office failure that got absolutely savaged by critics?
Time For Redemption
For one thing, the release of Snake Eyes on Netflix has helped more people discover what I discovered: namely, that this is a very solid action movie with occasional moments of greatness. It quickly became popular on the streaming service, becoming Netflix’s fourth most-streamed movie shortly after it was added. And while Rotten Tomatoes shows how much critics hated this ninja misadventure, the Popcornmeter audience rating is 74 percent, showcasing that the vast majority of those who watched this movie liked what they saw.
Additionally, those watching Snake Eyes on Netflix will get to enjoy a deep dive into the franchise’s most popular character. Part of why the earlier G.I. Joe movies were a hot mess is that they had to successfully introduce two rival armies’ worth of characters and deliver a compelling story, and they arguably failed on both fronts. Snake Eyes has some solid characterization built around only a handful of characters, and everyone gets to shine that much more when they aren’t jammed into an already-crowded ensemble.
Plus, even if you aren’t a major G.I. Joe fan, you can enjoy this movie for what it is: a fun and slightly lighthearted action film. Your mileage may vary, but I spent far too much time over the years watching bad kung-fu films in the wee small hours of the fight…er, night. Snake Eyes isn’t the very best, but it’s better than most, and it provides a great way to scratch that late-night itch for cheesy martial arts action.
Now, if you are a fellow G.I. Joe fan deciding whether or not to stream Snake Eyes on Netflix, here’s a warning: the film plays fast and loose with the canon of our titular character and the comic universe that he sprang from. The biggest change is that Snake Eyes is now Japanese. In the original comics written by Larry Hama, the character was a white Army soldier who became close with a fellow soldier named Tommy. This soldier was Japanese and later invited Snake Eyes to come to Japan and learn the ways of the ninja.
If you aren’t too precious about franchise canon, it’s easy enough to enjoy Snake Eyes on Netflix. Will you enjoy all the martial arts madness as much as I did or is one film you’d rather see disintegrated by the M.A.S.S. Device? You won’t know until you stream it, but we’re confident you’ll be yelling “Yo Joe!” by the time the credits roll.