George Miller long ago professed his love of pure cinema, or cinema as visual music. His celluloid illustrations of this stance have not only influenced their genre, but the entire cinematic experience itself. So when watching Rene Perez’s foray in this arena, Dr. George’s words again filtered to my ear.
Perez having a natural aptitude and mastery of music applies Miller’s methodology with his Snake Eyes tribute; the essence of the real power of the movies, functioning entirely without dialogue. Of course, to the casual viewer, I can appreciate this experience may be jarring. But for those with a wider appreciation and deep passion for the motion picture know, all too well, that before the advent of sound…this is what movies where like. The skill of the filmmaker on center stage, showing the audience everything they need; forcing participation on some level.
Miller’s Fury Road is an absolute masterclass in action movie making, and here, Rene Perez, the Robert Rodriguez of Redding, showcases (in a similar fashion) not only his action storytelling chops, but what is possible today on a small scale; a petite though triumphant piece of film-making, boxing above its weight class in terms of the size of the production to what one experiences as the picture unfolds.
Perez shines consistently with his fluid camera work and editing style, set against the backdrop of the glorious vistas at his disposal. The mixture of these elements with the age old story of a man on a mission makes this a work of depth, not short-changing the viewer in terms of suspense and intrigue, considering the genre. Patterned after his beloved G.I. Joe (America’s highly trained special mission force), Perez winks back across the years at Joe-lovin’ youngster he used to be: “G.I. Joe were my favorite action figures and comic books when I was a kid. I always had Snake Eyes version 1 or 2, in my pocket when I was little,” Perez remarked.
Rene makes films about characters driven by strong ideals. They overcome imposing odds to secure, not merely internal peace or the slaying of an old demon, but to also make amends for an old hurt; leaving nothing left unsaid, leaving no deed undone. “In these fight scenes in particular, I wanted to show that Snake Eyes has a code of honour when fighting hand to hand, that he is also a tactical thinker when it comes to using firearms.”
Teaming up once again with producer Joseph Camillari, Perez’s collaborator on The Insurrection and the (currently in production) western Righteous Blood, together with a cast that includes Beauty Queen Miss Nevada 2020, Victoria Olona (as Snake Eyes’ wife), and seventh-degree black belt Juan Manuel Olmedo as the title character.
We all enjoyed (at least I did) grabbing a handful of G.I. Joes and going all Stephen Sommers (long before that sort of thing was popular) in Mum’s garden beds. Anything went, as the cinema of our mind’s eye focused as we led brave soldiers in their never-ending fight against Cobra, the ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world.
After the dust settles on the great conjunction of unfortunate events that is 2020, we shall slowly witness the emergence of the work that those with the ability to harness their creativity and the tools afforded them have made. Rene Perez made a blinding, kick-ass action valentine to his favorite of the Joes – code name: Snake Eyes.
WATCH IT NOW!!!