Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins

Story

A young boy watches his father die and swears vengeance on the man who killed him. As an adult, this boy calls himself Snake Eyes (Henry Golding) after the roll of the dice that ended his father’s life.

Working as a street fighter for a living, Snake Eyes takes plenty of beatings but always triumphs over his opponent. He’s sought out by a man called Kenta (Takehiro Hira), who offers to track down his father’s killer. Kenta is also recruiting an army of assassins to defeat a rival, but Snake Eyes refuses to be a common killer. Instead, he saves the life of Kenta’s rival, Tommy (Andrew Koji).

To pay back this debt, Tommy takes Snake Eyes to his home in Japan where he’s next in line to lead a famous clan of ninja warriors sworn to protect a precious gem with infinite power. Tommy wants Snake Eyes to join them and become a protective warrior too. But to do so, Snake Eyes must pass 3 dangerous tests, all designed to reveal whether he possesses a pure heart as well as the skills of a ninja. Snake Eyes feels the pull towards a home and a family he’s never had, but his desire for revenge is even greater.

When Kenta teams up with the evil Baroness (Ursula Corbero) to steal the gem and destroy Tommy and his clan, Tommy enlists help from his old friends, the Joes. They give Snake Eyes a new perspective and help him see that there’s a greater enemy than the man who ended his father’s life.

Themes

Revenge; murder of a parent; good versus evil; violence as a means to solve conflict; traditional values versus new age thinking

Violence

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins has some violence. For example:

Snake Eyes and another man fight in a cage. They punch, hit, throw, pin down, and kick each other in the chest and throat. They smash each other’s heads into concrete. One man attacks the other with a sledgehammer, while the other strangles his opponent with heavy chains.
A man holds a knife to Tommy’s throat while Snake Eyes is ordered to kill him.
There are many martial arts fight scenes in this movie. Characters fight with swords. They hit, stab, punch, slice, slam, shove, kick, throw and flip their opponents.
Snake Eyes is stabbed in the chest when multiple swords are shoved through the canopy and sides of a truck.
Snake Eyes and another man fight over bowls of water.
A woman uses frying pans to smash several men.
A girl fights back against men who are trying to kill her.
A Russian mafia member shoots a character twice in the chest.
Snake Eyes holds a sword to the neck of the man who killed his father.
People flip over cars and motorcycles as they drive recklessly through traffic. They fight with swords, kick, punch and push people out of moving vehicles as they go.
Kenta explodes people using the power of the gemstone.
Characters have a gun fight while a home and temple go up in flames.
One man takes on many others with an axe.
A character is strangled with chains.
Tommy’s grandmother runs from the fire while Kenta blocks her in, trying to burn her alive.
There are many ninja fights in which one character takes on dozens of opponents.
A car explodes, and a character gets an arrow through the eye.
Tommy’s grandmother slices throats with her fan.
A grenade explodes, and many characters disappear.
Tommy tries to blow up Kenta using the power of the gem but Kenta disappears as well.
A character is stabbed in the chest.
Kenta chops off the head of a giant snake, and another snake eats him alive.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins shows some use of substances. For example, some characters drink whisky.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no nudity and sexual activity in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins: a Hyundai is shown with a close-up of its logo.

Coarse language

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins has some coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins is an action adventure with a fast-paced although predictable plot. It’s a prequel to the previous G.I. Joe movies and is based on main characters from the comic series.

Full of violence, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins isn’t a family movie. It isn’t suitable for children under 14 years, and we recommend parental guidance for children aged up to 16 years. This movie is best suited to fans of the franchise as well as mature audiences.

The main messages from Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins are that power comes from discipline and that we all make mistakes. What we do after our mistakes is what really matters.

Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include courage, discipline, teamwork, truthfulness and loyalty.

This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like:

focusing all your thoughts on vengeance
using violence to sort out conflict
murdering people and having no regard or respect for life
doing whatever it takes to achieve power
being set in your own way of thinking and refusing to look at new possibilities
getting angry quickly and reacting, rather than acting after you’ve thought about things.