If you're going to try and reboot the G.I. Joe franchise on the big screen, there are certainly worse ideas than starting with an origin story movie for Snake Eyes. He's arguable the most popular character that the Hasbro toy line has ever had. And by starting there, you can introduce only a handful of characters and don't have to deal with the parade of heroes and villains that have existed over the years.
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins has now been out for about a week, so the most diehard fans have had the chance to check it out. Critics were torn on the film, with most of them either finding the glass half full or half empty, but not not really finding enough in the movie to get them feeling passionately one way or the other. But what do the fans have to say? Let's take a look.
Snake Eyes Has Fans Split
Like critics, fans are largely split on Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, but that doesn't mean they all feel exactly the same about it. With critics, the feeling was largely one of disappointment; either that the movie was good, but with some serious issues, or that it was bad, with a lot of missed potential. Fan reactions run the gamut a bit wider. There are many who feel that Snake Eyes is straight up awesome and that it delivers exactly what it aims to deliver. It's a movie designed for fans and it delivers to fans.
However, not every fan feels quite the same way. For every person who thinks Snake Eyes is exactly the movie they hoped it would be when they dreamed of it as a kid, there's somebody who feels the film really fell flat. While most people seem to be in agreement that Snake Eyes is the best G.I. Joe movie, even if that's something of a low bar, not everybody feels quite that way.
And from the two extremes, we meet in the middle. While some loved and some really hated Snake Eyes, however you want to average out the responses, the answer probably lies someplace in between. Snake Eyes is just a movie. It has some good elements and some bad elements, and the only real question is which side outweighs the other for you personally.
However, even for those who maybe didn't love Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, there is at least one specific part of the film that seems to be getting near universal praise.
Pretty Much Everybody Loves Andrew Koji
Most reactions to Henry Golding as the title character in Snake Eyes are positive. Many people feel he handles the action well, though there are other opinions about the way the action scenes are shot. And a lot of people think the character development of Snake Eyes is solid. However, all of this can also be said of Andrew Koji's Storm Shadow, and a lot of fans think he's actually the real star of Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.
There was already a lot of love for Andrew Koji's action skill prior to Snake Eyes, but for anybody who hadn't already seen Warrior, this movie was clearly one hell of an introduction. While Koji's character may have ended things on the opposite side from Snake Eyes, a lot of fans loved the performance and want to see more from Storm Shadow as much, if not more, than they want to see more of Snake Eyes.
Whether we will get a chance to see more from Snake Eyes or Storm Shadow remains to be seen. While the movie certainly didn't set the box office on fire, the fact is few movies are doing that these days and the metrics of cinematic success are different than they once were. It does seem clear that even though a lot of people didn't love Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, they liked enough of it that they be willing to give a sequel a chance. We'll have to wait and see if the studio feels the same way.
