Snakes On A Plane Review

"Snakes On A Plane" reviews

Movie

Snakes On A Plane

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-10-06 22:47:10

Rating

3/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

Come on, it's a plane full of motherf%!#in' snakes with Samuel L. Jackson doing the slicin' and dicin'. What do you think I'm going to say?

Story

Maybe you're concerned Snakes on a Plane isn't going to live up to the hype. Stop worrying. Those fanatic Internet bloggers, who've been raving about the movie just from the snippets they've seen, pegged the movie to a tee. SoaP is everything its cracked up to be and more, a monster movie and disaster flick rolled into one. Granted, the plot is wafer thin: FBI Agent Neville Flynn (Jackson) has to transport a key witness, Sean (Nathan Phillips), from Hawaii to L.A. so he can testify against a nasty mob boss, who, in turn, hatches such a diabolical plan to dispose of the witness that even James Bond would be impressed. That's right. Said nasty mob boss arranges the release of several varieties of poisonous snakes on the flight so either a) Sean will get bitten and die and/or b) the plane crashes. End of story. How can you go wrong with that?

Acting

Jackson is one smart cookie. He heard the title of this movie and said yes immediately--despite the objections of his agents--recognizing the brilliance of a title so obvious, it's foolproof. "My agents have finally figured out that I'm going to do what I want," the actor told Entertainment Weekly. "Every now and then, I want to do a movie that isn't 'stretching my abilities.' It's that simple." All we have to do to be satisfied is watch Jackson scream a few cuss words, lay down the law with the freaked passengers, say lines like, "Well, that's good news. Snakes on crack," and kick some serious serpent booty. There's a bunch of unknown actors also onboard to serve mostly as snake food, but a few do survive, including former ER nurse Julianna Margulies, who does a nice turn as the head flight attendant, sparring with the snakes and getting a little cozy with Jackson.

Direction

In the words of Indiana Jones, "Snakes. Why does it have to be snakes?" There's a distinct phobia in the air whenever you mention those particular reptiles, so that's why the "monster" part of SoaP is even more horrifying--and changing the rating from PG-13 to R makes a world of difference. I mean, um, OUCH. That's basically what I was mumbling through the harrowing parts, watching through splayed fingers. Director David R. Ellis even goes as far as to give you a snake's perspective as it zeroes in on its next victim. Shiver. Yes, the premise is ridiculous. Yes, you have to sit through some silly exposition before the snakes show up and will be able to pick out the ones who'll make it through till the end. But honestly, if you love a good disaster-y thrill ride and don't mind snakes, SoaP is the last summer movie you should see.

Bottom Line

Hollywood.com rated this film 3 stars.

Movie

Snakes On A Plane

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-08-11 15:00:31

Provider

Review

A phenomenon on the internet, months before it was even completed, this movie gained cult status after Samuel Jackson reportedly insisted it be called Snakes on a Plane when a new title was proposed by producers. In fact the actor was sold on the idea before there was even a script.

However, it was the blogs and hundreds of fan tribute sites containing fictitious scripts that caught the attention of news wires, and such was their influence that when the real script leaked fans insisted on adding their own dialogue. Subsequently the film had several scenes added to it after shooting including the gem of the line: "there's mother f***in' snakes on the mother f***in' plane." Hence the more adult rating.

Plotwise it's hardly a stretch on the imagination. Jackson stars as an FBI agent who is escorting an eye witness on a flight from Hawaii to LA. However,things get messy when a crimelord releases hundreds of deadly snakes on the plane in order to eliminate the witness before he can testify. Jackson's FBI agent must protect his witness and the hysterical passengers, as the deadly reptiles threaten to over-run the flight.

Had they thrown in a couple of terrorists this might've been a genuinely scary ride, but Snakes was never meant to be taken seriously. It's an endearingly cheesy B-movie masquerading as a Hollywood blockbuster. So bad it's good? Not quite, particularly after all the hype it's received, but Sam Jackson delivers some killer one-liners.

One of the taglines for Steven Spielberg's Jaws was 'you'll never go in the water again', here, at best, it's a case of 'you'll never go to the toilet again (or for a few minutes after the film).' Perfect in flight viewing!

Movie

Snakes On A Plane

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-08-18 00:00:00

Provider

MyMovies

Review

Aviophobes and ophidiophobes beware 'cos "Snakes On A Plane" is finally with us. This much-talked about B-movie stars Samuel L. Jackson as a Federal Agent charged with safely transporting an important witness in a murder case from Hawaii to LA. Unfortunately for him though, the gang boss he wants to cage doesn't fancy a spell behind bars so he booby-traps the commercial flight Sam and his witness are on with hundreds of deadly snakes, all eager for a bite of anything that comes close.

One of the most gloriously over the top movies in a long time, "Snakes On A Plane" will make you laugh, squirm and jump out of your seat as you endure an hour and 45 minutes of terrifying fun. All starts peacefully enough as director David R. Ellis ("Cellular") introduces us to his crew of stereotypes (a stewardess on her final flight, two kids travelling alone for the first time and a precious rapper and his posse) and slowly ramps up the tension as the first victims are quietly claimed while misbehaving in the loos. But soon the whole cabin is all a-slither as chaos reigns for a ten minute segment that sees snakes of every variety chomping on helpless passengers. And the fun doesn't stop there as Sam tries to keep the plane in the air and everyone alive until they can reach LA. By using a mix of real and CGI snakes, Ellis's reptiles will make you jump and squeal but not nearly as much as his use of every trick in the book to get his audience watching from behind closed fingers as near misses, comedy deaths and some laugh-out loud one-liners prevail.

A truly effective fright fest and one of the most tongue-in-cheek movies in years, "Snakes On A Plane" could have crashed and burned thanks to the almost unprecedented buzz it generated online. Thankfully it's every bit as entertaining as we hoped it would be.