DVD Commentary: Sword Brothers
May. 5th, 2016 10:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xt1meNot being American, I never grew up with GI Joe. I knew who they were, pop culture being what it is it's kind of inevitable. There were adds for the toy growing up and I've read one or two of the comics, and with the inter net, I seen clips and gifs & read crossovers and stuff.
When the GI Joe live action movie came out I decided to go see it since I knew it wasn't going to ruin my childhood. For the most part it was fine, just a harmless action spectacular. And Snack Eyes was the best, of course, because ninja. There was only two or three things that really annoyed me, which is silly because the whole movie was stupid, it had a scene where ice started to sink after all, but I think they annoyed me because they would be so easy to fix.
1: I know that the two kids they got for the flash back were great but they could have at least one transition scene to show the passage of time and the connection between Stormshadow & Snake Eyes. that way they could have even shown Ray Parks face even.
2: there is some line in the underwater battle at the climax where a bad guy says something like 'oh yeah, you and what army' or something and the lead says nothing. That was a line that is only ever said so that the hero can spout off the one liner of 'this one' or something to that effect & he says nothing. That just jammed the whole movie to a stop for me. I know it's a stupid thing to get stuck on but there you go.
3: Vow of silence? Really? Why not just say he can't talk, make it's Stormshadow's fault or something to push the connection between them. It's not like you have much time to develop your many characters as it is.
I think I may have written a rant like this here before but whatever. Enough of this. Time for the fic & commentary.
(This is obviously set in GI Joe: Rise of Cobra, pre-movie, but the great thing about keeping things vague is that I think this can fit into the original continuity as well.)
In a large, empty room Stormshadow knelt, as he always did at this time, facing west. (too many commas) An observer would notice he wore just his mask and a simple sleeveless gi and carried only one weapon. But most of those in the hidden fortress were too intimidated, or simply too involved with their work so that there was no one to see, as suddenly, as if on some hidden signal, Stormshadow leapt up into the air drawing his sword and started a graceful yet deadly dance. (run on sentence again)
In the GI Joe headquarters known as The Pit, Snake Eyes knelt in one of the training areas facing east. There were a few others in training there but they all kept well away. The kata Snake Eyes preformed every week was quite a sight, not least because it was the only time most saw him in anything other them his combat gear. The simple black gi and cloth mask was no less impressive, however. He was asked about this ritual once and in reply, simply pointed to the symbol of the Arashikage Clan he wore. To the Joes that meant it was obviously a ninja thing and he wasn’t asked again. Still, even when it was expected, the moment Snake Eyes leapt into the air drawing his sword still made people jump. (SS is facing west showing that he is in the east because he was born in the ninja clan, SE is facing east showing he is from the west. Symbolism!)
Maybe if someone could have witnessed both Stormshadow’s and Snake Eyes’ performances they could have discover the true answer. Their movements were perfectly synchronised but not always mirrored. If someone was watching they might have noticed the times were one was still the other would move, were one struck high the other struck low and all the while their blades danced though the air with deadly efficiency. But there was no one. (I intently made it vague as to where the were supposed to be facing each other of if there were back to back)
No one to notice the two ninja, separated by distance, loyalties and histories, lower their swords and bow to an opponent (a partner) who wasn’t there.
(I like this fic, for all it just being a bunch of portentous twaddle. Two people who used to be loyal to each other now fighting against each other make for good drama.)
When the GI Joe live action movie came out I decided to go see it since I knew it wasn't going to ruin my childhood. For the most part it was fine, just a harmless action spectacular. And Snack Eyes was the best, of course, because ninja. There was only two or three things that really annoyed me, which is silly because the whole movie was stupid, it had a scene where ice started to sink after all, but I think they annoyed me because they would be so easy to fix.
1: I know that the two kids they got for the flash back were great but they could have at least one transition scene to show the passage of time and the connection between Stormshadow & Snake Eyes. that way they could have even shown Ray Parks face even.
2: there is some line in the underwater battle at the climax where a bad guy says something like 'oh yeah, you and what army' or something and the lead says nothing. That was a line that is only ever said so that the hero can spout off the one liner of 'this one' or something to that effect & he says nothing. That just jammed the whole movie to a stop for me. I know it's a stupid thing to get stuck on but there you go.
3: Vow of silence? Really? Why not just say he can't talk, make it's Stormshadow's fault or something to push the connection between them. It's not like you have much time to develop your many characters as it is.
I think I may have written a rant like this here before but whatever. Enough of this. Time for the fic & commentary.
(This is obviously set in GI Joe: Rise of Cobra, pre-movie, but the great thing about keeping things vague is that I think this can fit into the original continuity as well.)
In a large, empty room Stormshadow knelt, as he always did at this time, facing west. (too many commas) An observer would notice he wore just his mask and a simple sleeveless gi and carried only one weapon. But most of those in the hidden fortress were too intimidated, or simply too involved with their work so that there was no one to see, as suddenly, as if on some hidden signal, Stormshadow leapt up into the air drawing his sword and started a graceful yet deadly dance. (run on sentence again)
In the GI Joe headquarters known as The Pit, Snake Eyes knelt in one of the training areas facing east. There were a few others in training there but they all kept well away. The kata Snake Eyes preformed every week was quite a sight, not least because it was the only time most saw him in anything other them his combat gear. The simple black gi and cloth mask was no less impressive, however. He was asked about this ritual once and in reply, simply pointed to the symbol of the Arashikage Clan he wore. To the Joes that meant it was obviously a ninja thing and he wasn’t asked again. Still, even when it was expected, the moment Snake Eyes leapt into the air drawing his sword still made people jump. (SS is facing west showing that he is in the east because he was born in the ninja clan, SE is facing east showing he is from the west. Symbolism!)
Maybe if someone could have witnessed both Stormshadow’s and Snake Eyes’ performances they could have discover the true answer. Their movements were perfectly synchronised but not always mirrored. If someone was watching they might have noticed the times were one was still the other would move, were one struck high the other struck low and all the while their blades danced though the air with deadly efficiency. But there was no one. (I intently made it vague as to where the were supposed to be facing each other of if there were back to back)
No one to notice the two ninja, separated by distance, loyalties and histories, lower their swords and bow to an opponent (a partner) who wasn’t there.
(I like this fic, for all it just being a bunch of portentous twaddle. Two people who used to be loyal to each other now fighting against each other make for good drama.)
