Things are a little different in terms of movie magic as a spectator sport post Covid but I'm luckier than most as my tech-E Navy Veteran, Army Intelligence active duty hubby believes in super sound technology and sharpest imagery big screen teles. The moment I spied the larger than life poster months prior coasting on my express bus from Jersey to NYC I knew this film was going to be the saving grace of the Hasbro enterprise. Needless to say the other two Joe films fell woefully short of my expectations.
Right down to the name this film followed the winning Marvel recipe, Snake-Eyes came up all lucky 7! They kept it simple, the origin of a would be hero born out of tragedy, father killed right in front of a young boy who later grows up strong, healthy and angry with one obvious goal in mind, vengeance for his poor, dead daddy. All of the actors played the role to perfection. Henry Golding might have seemed too elegant for the role but he proved that he can get down and dirty with the rest of the action heroes and look authentic doing it. Andrew Koji is a living, breathing samurai that we are treated to watch at work and play. As the blood brother and later, nemesis of Snake-Eyes he's pretty damn convincing at being passionate to his cause and clan yet his ambition and impatience threaten to bubble to the surface to place him on an entirely different path.
So quelle est le probleme? I just finished watching Geena Davis's documentary on Netflix: This Changes Everything and I couldn't help but become a counter of women. One solid female character, two peripherals and on the writing and producing side: a whopping one: Anna Waterhouse who's writing credits include: The Aftermath, Seberg and Rebecca. I couldn't help but contemplate what would the female perspective look like in a film like this? Hey, where's the mama? What does her life look like? What kind of woman is she? What kind of mother is she? How does her influence manifest in her son's life? Here's the thing - I wanted to know. I am curious. How different would this film be? Would it be any different? I myself am so imbued with the male perspective that I can't imagine my own sex's take. Why is that? The answer is because the film industry is saturated with testosterone and always has been. In fact, like in most industries there has been a purposeful movement to keep women out. Why? One thought comes to mind, there was a study that I read - or heard - abstractly - at some point in time - a bunch of men were asked what is it that they fear most about women - the overwhelming answer, "they would laugh at me." Women were asked what do they fear most about men and their overwhelming answer was "they would kill us." These questions and subsequent answers paint a very telling picture. In any case, I didn't quite mean to make this a soapbox moment but I had to include my thoughts as they were. I for one am looking forward to seeing more of the female perspective in the film industry. In short, I don't really know if I a film is great simply by default. I have made my choices based on options given. This has shaped my perspectives and opinions my whole life. But that's largely because I've had to pick the best out of a handful of choices and unknowingly have been denied other options that simply have been shut out of the opportunities to present. Film is art, art is life, not some people's life, all people's life. Show me all and give me the real choice of choice.
It's not easy to recognize that you've been bamboozled so that I'm in the know, movie reviews don't seem quite as fun as they once did. So I left you with more than you bargained for. Wonder if it struck a chord within you. As my dear old dad is known to say - interesting.