Martial arts master: the official "Ray Park is Snake-Eyes" thread

[Bug-Eyed Earl]

The official thread for discussing the most popular casting choice and the equally popular character.

 

[DOG LIPS]

 

[Jake Cassidy]

This is the greatest casting in a comic book/cartoon adaptation ever. Perfect.

 

[chamber-music]

Parks the man. His short like Jet Li but they could both probabley kick your ass.

 

[November Rain]

snake eyes can't be a midget. You need a tall character to carry the fact he isn't going to be saying much...

silent people lead by example and studies have shown that the taller these people are, the more influence they have over others. It's one of the reasons why they made wolverine taller in the x-men films because he was a powerful silent/type character.

his fight with storm shadow is going to be a higlight so they have to do it properly, i hope it works out well.

 

[JP]

I've never seen the appeal of Park and why so many people thik he should play every character who knows martial arts.

But I guess this is good casting.

 

[Zaed]

Best Casting Choices of all time!

1. Bale=Batman
2. Toby=SpiderMan
3. Park=SnakeEyes
4. Norton=Banner
5. Downey Jr=Iron Man

Now all they need do...

Statham=Deadpool
Urban=Thor
Reynolds=Flash

 

[Raiden]

One of the best casting for this movie, and a perfect one for Ray Park because he is always hindered by his thick Scottish accent, and playing a silent ninja commando will allow him to showcase his martial arts skills even moreso than his Darth Maul character. I hope there are many scenes that will allow Park to perform many amazing stunts.

 

[Gotham]

I love that he was cast.

 

[Golgo-13]

He better stay masked for the entire movie.

 

[chamber-music]

One of the best casting for this movie, and a perfect one for Ray Park because he is always hindered by his thick Scottish accent, and playing a silent ninja commando will allow him to showcase his martial arts skills even moreso than his Darth Maul character. I hope there are many scenes that will allow Park to perform many amazing stunts.

He didn't have a thick scottish accent in X-Men as Toad. He sounded english. Gerard Butler, James McAvoy and Kevin McKiddhas have thick scottish accents and get work so I'm not sure his accent was holding him back that much

 

[November Rain]

Best Casting Choices of all time!

1. Bale=Batman
2. Toby=SpiderMan
3. Park=SnakeEyes
4. Norton=Banner
5. Downey Jr=Iron Man

Now all they need do...

Statham=Deadpool
Urban=Thor
Reynolds=Flash

Eh?

best cast ever was Patrick for Xavier, there is no one else that can play charles xavier in this period.

and tobey is a horrible spidey, his peter parker is only relevant to before he becomes spidey.

 

[chamber-music]

Eh?

best cast ever was Patrick for Xavier, there is no one else that can play charles xavier in this period.

and tobey is a horrible spidey, his peter parker is only relevant to before he becomes spidey.

I agree. Alot of other actors could of done better with the Peter Parker character. Not that maguire was bad just that he wasn't the defining portrayal of the character.

 

[Golgo-13]

Best Casting Choices of all time!

1. Bale=Batman
2. Toby=SpiderMan
3. Park=SnakeEyes
4. Norton=Banner
5. Downey Jr=Iron Man

Now all they need do...

Statham=Deadpool
Urban=Thor
Reynolds=Flash

You haven't even seen Downey's Iron Man performance, nor Norton's Banner. They could be fricking terrible for all we know.

 

[TheVileOne]

Picture of me with Ray Park. He's pretty average height actually, since I'm a little over 5'7". He's taller than Tom Cruise .

 

[Jake Cassidy]

Best Casting Choices of all time!

1. Bale=Batman
2. Toby=SpiderMan
3. Park=SnakeEyes
4. Norton=Banner
5. Downey Jr=Iron Man

Now all they need do...

Statham=Deadpool
Urban=Thor
Reynolds=Flash

Christopher Reeve is the greatest ever.

 

[Jake Cassidy]

Picture of me with Ray Park. He's pretty average height actually, since I'm a over 5'7". He's taller than Tom Cruise .

I knew it. You're a total dork.

 

[TheVileOne]

I fully embrace it, but if I am one, then so are you.

 

[DocHoliday]

Greatest is easily Sly Stallone as Judge Dredd.

 

[DarthRekal]

love this choice

 

[Jake Cassidy]

I fully embrace it, but if I am one, then so are you.

I just pictured you differently. Don't know why.

 

[TheVileOne]

This role is a huge deal for Ray Park. This is in fact the biggest and most important role of his career.

At the end of the day, what was Darth Maul in Phantom Menace? A minor character that fanboys really liked and thought looked cool. He had the big lightsaber duel, and he looked menacing under a ton of makeup, but he didn't really do much at all.

Ray Park did the stuntwork for Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, and was also the one to play the headless Horseman in the actual headless and fight scenes.

A year later after Star Wars he played Toad in X-men, another minor villain role. But Ray Park finally got to show off his personality more, and although small he proved that he has a physical, and dynamic charisma to really create a full character. Toad had a sense of humor and charm and he left an impression. This was a character that was always the butt end of the joke in the comics and for many fans, he was a character no one cared about. But suddenly X-men comes along and Ray Park did something Marvel Comics could never do, he made Toad COOL.

I think what hurt Park was Ecks vs. Sever. He had a slightly larger role in this movie, but what was he this time? Once again typecast as the main villain's henchman. The movie was an utter flop, and people were talking less about Park after this. There was always rumors and chatter of Park being the one to play Danny Rand in Iron Fist, but so little happened there as well.

Since that movie, Park has kind of been laying low and been doing very little. He's failed to appear in anything really notable or prolific, or had a role that really cements him not just as a martial artist but a true performer in the business. Despite his appearance in the script, ultimately Fox cheaped out once again on the X-men sequel, and Ray Park did not get to bring Toad back to life. The storyboarded sequence and sure to be excellent fight between Toad and Nightcrawler never happened, even though the set for the fight was built.

Interestingly enough, in the lazy, confusing, and stupid X-men 3, a bunch of Toad men appeared in the final battle, that were able to somehow mimic all of Toad's attributes despite not being Toad at all. Brett Ratner, 20th Century Fox, Kinberg and Penn . . . go figure.

This role is so important and crucial for the future of Park's career. Because for one thing it finally gives him the chance to step out of the archetype he was usually typecast as: the villain's henchman. Now Park actually gets to play not just the hero, but one of the leads, and really marquee characters of the entire GI JOE franchise. Snake-Eyes is without hyperbole the most popular character to play GI JOE.

The other thing about this role is that Park will have to use every tool in his arsenal because for the most part he won't be talking at all, but he'll have to emote a great deal, but not only without speaking but most likely without ever showing his eyes or face either (if Snake Eyes is masked or disfigured through much of the movie). Based on previous experience, it is something he can handle, but editing, direction, and execution could also play a major part in this, and some of that is out of Park's hands.

 

[Heretic]

Picture of me with Ray Park. He's pretty average height actually, since I'm a little over 5'7". He's taller than Tom Cruise .

This has nothing to do with anything, other than I think its funny...

 

[Golgo-13]

 

[KenK]

This role is a huge deal for Ray Park. This is in fact the biggest and most important role of his career.

At the end of the day, what was Darth Maul in Phantom Menace? A minor character that fanboys really liked and thought looked cool. He had the big lightsaber duel, and he looked menacing under a ton of makeup, but he didn't really do much at all.

Ray Park did the stuntwork for Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, and was also the one to play the headless Horseman in the actual headless and fight scenes.

A year later after Star Wars he played Toad in X-men, another minor villain role. But Ray Park finally got to show off his personality more, and although small he proved that he has a physical, and dynamic charisma to really create a full character. Toad had a sense of humor and charm and he left an impression. This was a character that was always the butt end of the joke in the comics and for many fans, he was a character no one cared about. But suddenly X-men comes along and Ray Park did something Marvel Comics could never do, he made Toad COOL.

I think what hurt Park was Ecks vs. Sever. He had a slightly larger role in this movie, but what was he this time? Once again typecast as the main villain's henchman. The movie was an utter flop, and people were talking less about Park after this. There was always rumors and chatter of Park being the one to play Danny Rand in Iron Fist, but so little happened there as well.

Since that movie, Park has kind of been laying low and been doing very little. He's failed to appear in anything really notable or prolific, or had a role that really cements him not just as a martial artist but a true performer in the business. Despite his appearance in the script, ultimately Fox cheaped out once again on the X-men sequel, and Ray Park did not get to bring Toad back to life. The storyboarded sequence and sure to be excellent fight between Toad and Nightcrawler never happened, even though the set for the fight was built.

Interestingly enough, in the lazy, confusing, and stupid X-men 3, a bunch of Toad men appeared in the final battle, that were able to somehow mimic all of Toad's attributes despite not being Toad at all. Brett Ratner, 20th Century Fox, Kinberg and Penn . . . go figure.

This role is so important and crucial for the future of Park's career. Because for one thing it finally gives him the chance to step out of the archetype he was usually typecast as: the villain's henchman. Now Park actually gets to play not just the hero, but one of the leads, and really marquee characters of the entire GI JOE franchise. Snake-Eyes is without hyperbole the most popular character to play GI JOE.

The other thing about this role is that Park will have to use every tool in his arsenal because for the most part he won't be talking at all, but he'll have to emote a great deal, but not only without speaking but most likely without ever showing his eyes or face either (if Snake Eyes is masked or disfigured through much of the movie). Based on previous experience, it is something he can handle, but editing, direction, and execution could also play a major part in this, and some of that is out of Park's hands.

Couldn't have said it better myself. This certainly is Park's moment to shine. And I definitely agree, Snake Eyes is synonymous with GI Joe, and there's no way they could do anything GI Joe-related without including the character (we'll forgive GI Joe Extreme, though. It was the mid 90s, no one knew any better!).