Snakes on a Plane
The biggest Internet sensation since “The Blair Witch Project”, “Snakes on a Plane” has lifted off. Please stow your sense of disbelief in the overhead compartment and keep your cheese factor locked in the upright position.
We’ve all seen the trailers. We’ve all heard the hype. And I’m glad to say it’s all pretty much true.
I’m not going to bother getting into the specifics about the filmmaking process on this one. Let’s just start with Samuel L. Jackson.
He’s a badass motherfucker.
Okay, on to Julianna Margulies. She plays the smart, capable stewardess on her last flight (omen?). Basically, once the snakes get loose (sorry if I gave away anything) she turns into Nurse Hathaway from “ER” – which worked just fine.
There are also some fun supporting roles provided by fun supporting actors such as David Koechner, Bobby Cannavale, Todd Louiso and Kenan Thompson.
Enough about them, what about the snakes?
The snakes look good, they move well and they kill a lot. I even have to give a crazy amount of credit to the filmmakers for breaking some of the traditional Hollywood scenarios and allowing certain things to die.
I’m sure those of you who know me have heard my rant about more children and animals needing to die in films. (Not in real life, that would be wrong … oh, what do I care?)
I don’t want to spoil it but I was marginally surprised (and very elated) about this aspect.
The film unfolds as you would expect. People board a plane. Snakes get loose. People die. Snakes die. Will the plane crash or land safely? Will there be anyone left alive? Yada yada yada.
You’re not seeing this film for the story anyway, so what does that matter?
The dialogue is about what you would expect in this type of cheesy, wanna-B-movie. And there are a couple of trademark monologues by Shaft, which warm the cockles of my heart.
I was hoping for more really obvious and stupid lines but if you pay attention to what the passengers are saying in the background, some good fun is to be had. I especially liked when the lights go out onboard the plane and you hear a passenger say “Snakes!”
There's even some scenes that feature "snake-cam", a greenish tinted view kind of reminiscent of "Predator". I only wished they would have kept it up for the duration of the film. Snake-cam starts strong but starts to fade in regularity as the film progresses.
Even with all that fun, I do have some other complaints about the film. I wanted even more death. I wanted more nudity. I wanted more Samuel L. Jackson yelling as he talks. I wanted the crappy music video they play as the credits roll to die a fiery death and be replaced by either a gag reel or the footage from the set before they added in digital shots of the snakes biting people (though many snakes are real which is a huge plus).
Still, I had a lot of fun and this is the type of film you should see with a packed audience … especially one in an “urban” neighborhood. If you aren’t yelling at the screen and applauding snakebites, you’re not really getting into the spirit of the film.
I realize that reading this review shouldn’t change anyone’s opinion on the film. This is a textbook example of a critic-proof film. You either already want to see it, or have absolutely no interest.
I can say that it lives up to the hype fairly well and stays just below that mediocre line in B-movie town. Which is a good thing as far as this film genre is concerned.
It was a great decision to go back and re-shoot some scenes to get the R rating. A PG-13 version would have been far less entertaining. I can only hope that when the DVD comes out, there will be a Sam Jackson Creature Feature Pack offered as well that include “Snakes on a Plane”, “Jurassic Park” and “Deep Blue Sea”. Now there’s a film trilogy I can get behind!
I’m giving “Snakes on a Plane” a 4 out of 5. It’s a very average film but considering all the hype and the beats a film like this is supposed to hit (and it generally does), they did about all they could do.
Buckle up, the snakes are loose and the cheesy, summer fun has finally arrived.
We’ve all seen the trailers. We’ve all heard the hype. And I’m glad to say it’s all pretty much true.
I’m not going to bother getting into the specifics about the filmmaking process on this one. Let’s just start with Samuel L. Jackson.
He’s a badass motherfucker.
Okay, on to Julianna Margulies. She plays the smart, capable stewardess on her last flight (omen?). Basically, once the snakes get loose (sorry if I gave away anything) she turns into Nurse Hathaway from “ER” – which worked just fine.
There are also some fun supporting roles provided by fun supporting actors such as David Koechner, Bobby Cannavale, Todd Louiso and Kenan Thompson.
Enough about them, what about the snakes?
The snakes look good, they move well and they kill a lot. I even have to give a crazy amount of credit to the filmmakers for breaking some of the traditional Hollywood scenarios and allowing certain things to die.
I’m sure those of you who know me have heard my rant about more children and animals needing to die in films. (Not in real life, that would be wrong … oh, what do I care?)
I don’t want to spoil it but I was marginally surprised (and very elated) about this aspect.
The film unfolds as you would expect. People board a plane. Snakes get loose. People die. Snakes die. Will the plane crash or land safely? Will there be anyone left alive? Yada yada yada.
You’re not seeing this film for the story anyway, so what does that matter?
The dialogue is about what you would expect in this type of cheesy, wanna-B-movie. And there are a couple of trademark monologues by Shaft, which warm the cockles of my heart.
I was hoping for more really obvious and stupid lines but if you pay attention to what the passengers are saying in the background, some good fun is to be had. I especially liked when the lights go out onboard the plane and you hear a passenger say “Snakes!”
There's even some scenes that feature "snake-cam", a greenish tinted view kind of reminiscent of "Predator". I only wished they would have kept it up for the duration of the film. Snake-cam starts strong but starts to fade in regularity as the film progresses.
Even with all that fun, I do have some other complaints about the film. I wanted even more death. I wanted more nudity. I wanted more Samuel L. Jackson yelling as he talks. I wanted the crappy music video they play as the credits roll to die a fiery death and be replaced by either a gag reel or the footage from the set before they added in digital shots of the snakes biting people (though many snakes are real which is a huge plus).
Still, I had a lot of fun and this is the type of film you should see with a packed audience … especially one in an “urban” neighborhood. If you aren’t yelling at the screen and applauding snakebites, you’re not really getting into the spirit of the film.
I realize that reading this review shouldn’t change anyone’s opinion on the film. This is a textbook example of a critic-proof film. You either already want to see it, or have absolutely no interest.
I can say that it lives up to the hype fairly well and stays just below that mediocre line in B-movie town. Which is a good thing as far as this film genre is concerned.
It was a great decision to go back and re-shoot some scenes to get the R rating. A PG-13 version would have been far less entertaining. I can only hope that when the DVD comes out, there will be a Sam Jackson Creature Feature Pack offered as well that include “Snakes on a Plane”, “Jurassic Park” and “Deep Blue Sea”. Now there’s a film trilogy I can get behind!
I’m giving “Snakes on a Plane” a 4 out of 5. It’s a very average film but considering all the hype and the beats a film like this is supposed to hit (and it generally does), they did about all they could do.
Buckle up, the snakes are loose and the cheesy, summer fun has finally arrived.
posted by Upgrayedd at 8/17/2006 03:02:00 AM
9 Comments:
How does SOAP come out against King Cobra?
An excellent question.
There is an ambiguosly gay character that I guess is the equivalent of Erik Estrada as the hairdresser in "KC".
There are cobras in "Snakes", as well as a constrictor, but no KING COBRA with the ability to hide its massive 30foot frame behind a 10 foot tree or slink away in the blink of an eye.
I'd say "King Cobra" is the B-movie and "Snakes" is the Hollywood equivalent 35,000 feet up in the air.
Both similar and yet unalike. Both cheesy and yet worthy.
Both make me proud to be an American.
Go USA!
I also want to say that this is one of the first films where I had the ultimate idea for snake eradication and it actually happened!
"Neato" is what I say to that.
You mentioned the all important "gay character" link between the movies, but is there a character worthy of comparison to Mr. Myagi? Or is that the role of the bad motherfucker?
I'll be seeing it at 10pm tonight (the first possible time for us movie civilians in Indy)
Well, the role of herpetologist went to Todd Louiso who played the shy record store clerk in "High Fidelity".
But you're right that really the heart and sole of the film is Mr. Jackson whereas Pat Morita was the glue that held "King Cobra" together.
Whenever you say King Cobra, I think about a 99 cent fohty. Then I think of Pat Morita drinkin' a fohty. Then I laugh.
I still haven't seen SOAP though.
Bring that "fohty" to SOAP ... it only intensifies the experience ... or should I say "fortifies the experience"?
Here's my review quote for the SOAP movie ads:
"Much like my former roommates - my SOAP is collecting dust, and I haven't seen it." - Ken Lombard, IEFD.com
Well played, sir. Well played.
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