I think that year, the "Transformers" series of movies became popular around the world, but unfortunately, Hasbro did not take advantage of the chase, but wanted to carry forward another series of "Special Forces".
As a result, the two films "Special Forces: Rise of the Cobra" and "Special Forces 2: Total Strike Back" were both bad reviews, directly leading to this series of stillbirths.
Paramount Pictures had no drama to shoot for the next 10 years, or perhaps seeing the positive praise of "Transformers" prequel "Bumblebee", he turned "Special Forces" upside down, painted scoops according to the gourd, and filmed this prequel "Special Forces: Snake's Eye Origins".
When I first started watching it, it was hard to understand why I had a "snake's eye" in the first movie that didn't have a single line as the protagonist.
Who knows, the film added a background story to the character, and it was also directed by Robert Svenk, the director of "Red Flame Battlefield" and "Underworld Police Station", although the expectations were not big, but there were still some surprises.
In keeping with the series' inherent routines, Special Forces: Snake's Eye Origins also has very dense action scenes, but it is not as bombastic and exaggerated as the first two films.
A large number of "ground-to-ground" fights, whether it is a sword competition, a fist-and-foot fight, or a cornice walking on the wall, all of which are brilliantly photographed.
In particular, the action scenes in the first half of the film combine jianghu films with Hollywood large-scale action movies, which makes the film add a bit of martial arts film flavor.
The exaggerated action scenes only appear in the final road chase scene, and the excitement and eye-catching degree are definitely better than the first two films.
Compared to the previous two films, which have a mechanical thrill and a chaotic plot, "Special Forces: Snake's Eye Origins" has really made the best effort to adapt it to make the story seem reasonable.
The male protagonist's mental journey is between realism and magic, which is also in line with the popular taste of superhero movies and is quite grounded.
After all, this may be the first part of this cinematic universe, and the plot paves the way for future character appearances.
However, the second half is obviously too hasty, and the character's appearance is particularly abrupt and exaggerated, and if you have not seen the first movie or story, you will be confused.
Snake Eye witnessed his father being killed as a child and grew up determined to find his father's enemy. One day, he meets Kenta and claims that he can offer his father's enemy as long as he performs a mission.
Snake Eye deals with Tommy of the Gangster Family for this purpose, and also blends into the Lanying Family. Subsequently, Snake Eye was actually involved in Lan Ying's family struggle, and the truth of his father's murder gradually surfaced...
01. Originally did not have much expectations for the movie, but was stunned by several action fights
After watching the first two works of the series, I did not expect any plot of the movie to speak of, I only hoped that there would be a series of action thrills, and as a result, not only was there no disappointment, but also very surprised.
Unlike the previous "Mortal Kombat" fight, this movie does tell a story of the combination of Eastern and Western cultures.
However, the action scenes do not seem to have excessive curiosity or cultural differences, and the Japanese kendo and gangster culture are integrated into Western action blockbusters, and they are not as contradictory as "Wolverine".
Start a dock melee, from fist and foot kung fu to sword and light sword shadow, combined with large chase battles, the action scenes are quite large, and the design of the moves is extremely tricky, looking pleasing to the eye, has a preemptive effect, and makes people completely forget the shortcomings of the first two movies.
After that, whether it is a training scene or a chase fight scene in the back alley after the night in Tokyo, a little carelessness will become like "Mortal Kombat".
But this movie has both a sense of excitement and realism, and it does not have the color of Hollywood's curiosity about oriental culture, and even has a bit of a taste of Chinese martial arts films.
Kenji Tanigaki, a famous Japanese martial arts instructor, has made a large number of good works in both Japanese and Chinese films, and this successful integration of Japanese martial arts into Hollywood blockbusters has become the most outstanding link.
02. The film integrates the background well into the story
Almost none of the Hollywood films with a Japanese background have good results, but this movie can be fully integrated into the story.
The first two movies do have dense action scenes, almost without asking the reason from the beginning to the end, coupled with exaggerated and unrealistic action fights, which definitely make the audience tired, but no matter how big the scene is, it is only reduced to an empty nervous stimulus.
The film learned its lessons, in addition to martial arts competitions, several large-scale action scenes did not flow excessively exaggerated, like a rainy night chase in the middle, but also fully integrated into the Japanese urban geography.
Combining magic and realistic action scenes, in addition to the explosion and chase battle of the finale, the emphasis is on the gorgeous and eye-catching action scenes, and every move can be clearly appreciated.
The finale of the road chase, both gun battles and short soldiers meet the moment, the same very exciting thrill of action blockbusters, but not the exaggeration of the first two movies, even if the grand finale of the first battle of the large siege scene, but also implement the realistic and grounded fight.
In terms of plot, it may be difficult for the audience to understand what to play since there is a "treasure", but the action design is still very thoughtful.
In the year 2021, you may have seen too many numbing action blockbusters, and this movie is simply a clear spring in action movies.
In addition to the poor plot, the chaotic and absurd anti-intellectual plot of the first two films is also a major failure of the story.
"Special Forces: Snake's Eye Origins" seems to be a prequel personal story, who knows it is a reboot story, completely erasing the plot of the first two movies, and then arranging a "birth" background for it, and adding "special forces".
Compared with the previous two films, "Special Forces: Snake's Eye Origin" definitely has a clearer script and story background, describing the growth process of Snake's Eye's training and learning, the brotherhood between him and the White Ghost, which also has the variables of the middle game.
As a prequel film, it does create a heroic character, and it also gives a new energy to the characters in the first movie who do not even have lines.
03. There is some rush to pave the way for the movie universe
Laying the groundwork for a cinematic universe is itself in a hurry. However, this movie has almost no "foreshadowing", if you have not seen the original, you probably can't understand the purpose of these characters.
If the film were just an independent solo film, bringing out only the background of the protagonist, the story might be more concise.
Since the movie is called "Special Forces", it is clear that If Paramount Pictures wants to turn it into a movie universe, it must lay out more characters and villains.
The first half describes how the prodigal son of "Snake Eye" entered the "Special Forces" through "Lan Ying" and how he learned the art to face his own demons.
But in order for the story to pave the way for a war between good and evil and the appearance of the White Ghost, it must arrange a worthless conspiracy.
The male protagonist's "origin" story has not yet been fully explained, and he has joined a series of "conspiracies" and good and evil wars, whether it is a plot reversal or the character's mental journey, it seems top-heavy and careless, and the lines about friendship are too exposed, which is a failure.
Even if it is a rebooted story, it is true that the previous snake eyes and white ghosts should be recreated, but other characters such as Scarlett and Baroness are arranged to appear.
These characters can be said to have nothing to do with the main line, and they do not help the protagonist to perform tasks, forcing these characters to appear, only to make the story appear extremely abrupt.
In this way, it is as inexplicable as a random character, and it also wastes the main line of characters such as the "Raid" series Iko Uas in the movie played the Master Hader.
All in all, Special Forces: Snakeeye Origins is one of the best action movies of 2021, with a pleasing design of action sequences.
From sword and light sword shadow to fist and foot kung fu, to guns and bullets, the process is smooth and gorgeous, looking very enjoyable, and there is no lack of tense and exciting thrills.
Coupled with the background of the typical Japanese gangster and Bushido, there is no hunting style of indifference, and the tricky and sky-high action scenes are fully presented, and the effect is better than the first two films.
Henry Golding does not act in romantic comedies such as "Picking Gold" and "Last Christmas", and he also has an eye for playing an action hero in this movie.
Unfortunately, as the origin story of the reboot series, the second half is too greedy, and the plot twist is extremely abrupt, but the dispensable characters are like mirrors, paving the way for the sequels later.
It really makes Ursula Corbero, who plays the heroine Tokio in "The House of Bills", and Samara Viven, who plays the heroine Grace in "Ready to Go", have a good relationship.