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Snakes On A Plane Reviewed by Rich Drees
To prevent a
witness (Nathan Philips) from testifying against him, a major West
Coast crime boss (Byron Lawson) arranges for a crate of poisonous
snakes to be let loose on the jet airliner transporting him from
Hawaii to Los Angeles. The only thing standing between the
passengers’ lives and a plane full agitated, deadly, slithering
reptiles is tough-as-nails FBI agent Flynn (Samuel Jackson).
Snakes On A Plane’s premise straddles the horror and thriller genres and transitions between the two fairly effortlessly. While most of the film’s action would be at home in any conventional thriller, the film’s first big snake attack is intense and graphic enough to keep the more faint of heart awake at night. The passenger list/cast of characters is made up of the usual potential victims of such horror films- young lovers, the courageous single mother with a baby, the arrogant, rich businessman, the flighty rich girl. Though well done, the character beats are strictly by the book, with very little guess work required as to who would be disembarking the plane under their own power in the film’s final reel.
If anything, Snakes On A Plane is a throwback to the simple recipe used for action exploitation films in the 70s. There’s a charismatic lead stuck in a situation that feels as if it were dreamed up by studio execs over a three martini lunch, a dash of gratuitous T & A in case the violence and language weren’t enough to ensure an ‘R’ rating and just a smattering of characterization and plot to keep things moving along. While at times Snakes On A Plane may take itself a bit more seriously than its premise deserves, the film still succeeds in delivering more genuine thrills than one would expect. It’s about as far away from Oscar-bait as you can get, but that doesn’t stop it from delivering a decent, two-hours worth of summer movie, popcorn fun. |
Even in the ever churning sea of recent motion picture hype, it has
been nigh impossible to avoid hearing about Snakes On A Plane.
And while future marketing majors may spend much of their college
career studying how the film stands as an early example of the
success of viral advertising in implanting a product into the public
consciousness, current cinema-goers are left to wonder if all of the
internet buzz generated off the film is actually in service of a
good movie. 