Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)
The film follows Snake Eyes, a tenacious loner who is welcomed into the ancient Arashikage ninja clan after saving the life of their heir apparent. In Japan, he is trained in the ways of the ninja and begins to find the home he has long wanted. As secrets from his past surface, his honor and loyalty are tested. He is eventually forced to choose between the trust of those closest to him and the path that leads to his destiny.
Narrative Score
Full Plot & Ending Explained
Intro
As a child, a boy and his father are hunted by an unseen enemy after being forced to drive to a remote cabin; when the father is made to roll dice and gets snake eyes, he is shot dead, the cabin is burned, and the boy escapes with a lifelong obsession with finding the killer. As an adult, he lives as a drifting underground fighter known as Snake Eyes, until Yakuza boss Kenta Takamura recruits him with a promise to reveal the man who murdered his father.
Turning Point 1
Kenta sends Snake Eyes to infiltrate the Arashikage-linked world in Los Angeles by delivering weapons and then orders him to execute a captive man named Tommy, who is actually Tommy Arashikage, Kenta’s cousin and the heir of a powerful Japanese ninja clan. Snake Eyes refuses to kill Tommy and instead helps him escape, stealing a truck and fleeing armed pursuers; Tommy learns Snake Eyes’ loyalty and brings him to Japan.
Turning Point 2
In Tokyo, Tommy takes Snake Eyes to the Arashikage compound, where Tommy’s grandmother Sen, the clan leader, and her security chief Akiko decide to test him through three trials. Snake Eyes passes the first trial by showing humility to the Hard Master, but Kenta has already been manipulating events from behind the scenes to gain the clan’s sacred Jewel of the Sun and to turn Snake Eyes against Tommy.
Turning Point 3
Akiko and Snake Eyes begin to investigate Kenta’s scheme, and Scarlett O’Hara appears as an ally who reveals that Kenta is working with Cobra. Snake Eyes continues the clan trials, earns trust through combat and discipline, and grows closer to Tommy, but the truth emerges that his earlier rescue of Tommy was staged as part of Kenta’s plan to buy Snake Eyes’ loyalty before betraying the Arashikage.
Turning Point 4
Kenta’s forces attack the Arashikage, steal the Jewel of the Sun, and expose Snake Eyes’ secret mission, causing the clan to lose trust in him. Even after the betrayal, Snake Eyes and Akiko fight back, and Tommy is forced to confront Kenta’s claim to leadership, while Snake Eyes realizes that revenge over his father’s killer has made him vulnerable to manipulation.
Turning Point 5
Snake Eyes eventually reaches the man who killed his father: a former Cobra operative who explains his role in the past murder and the rigged dice game. Instead of killing him, Snake Eyes forces him to confront his crime but ultimately spares him, choosing honor over revenge and returning to warn the Arashikage that Cobra and Kenta are still a threat.
Ending
Snake Eyes is accepted more fully into the path of the Arashikage after proving that he can choose loyalty and restraint over vengeance, while Tommy’s bond with him is restored despite the earlier deception. The film ends with Snake Eyes committed to standing with the clan against Cobra, having found a new home and a new purpose.
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