"Snakes on a Plane" revives a lost art in Hollywood, the B-movie, a movie that realizes its own shortcomings and cheesiness, and relishes such things, following in the recent tradition of "Eight-Legged Freaks" and "Starship Troopers". Therefore you must have the proper mindset going in. If you expect an action movie like "Mission: Impossible III", you will be disappointed. If expect a tense thriller similar to "Die Hard 2", you will be disappointed. If you expect an Oscar contender, you're just plain stupid.
The storyline is largely irrelevant. Strike that. It's entirely irrelevant. The bottom line is that hundreds of poisonous serpents end up on an trans-Pacific flight. The build-up to the anticipated action isn't that bad; but at half an hour, it still takes too long before the snakes appear.
Fortunately for all involved, Samuel L. Jackson is an FBI agent on the flight. Not only is he there to save the flight, he's there to endow the movie with a little respect. As one of the few familiar faces, Jackson is perfect for his role, in which he more or less plays himself, or at least his screen persona. But he is perhaps the only actor who could fill such a part, one that requires a sense of seriousness among laughably wacky situations. He brings with him a gravitas that lends credibility to the movie. His mere presence as an actor elevates the flick beyond its late-night cable pedigree to something worthy of being on a big screen.
Part of the reason "Snakes" fits that pedigree is its lack of subtlety. Like its title, the movie paints in broad strokes, both in plot and character. The people on the flight are little more than caricatures, ranging from a effeminate male flight attendant to a rich chihuahua-toting heiress. That's fine, if not preferred. In a movie where many of the characters are going to soon meet their doom, who cares about any intricacies of spirit? The movie just draws a few necessary outlines before splattering them with blood and snakes.
Much like the avalanche of recent horror movies, the blood and the accompanying screams are the point of the whole shebang. You go to this movie to gleefully cringe at the awful fates and almost equally awful dialogue. You go to scream at the jump scenes, to cheer at motivational speeches, and to recoil in mock shock at just about everything. The difference between "Snakes" and its horror counterparts is that this movie possesses a sense of humor. The movie is so ludicrously over-the-top that you can almost see and hear the makers winking and chuckling behind the camera. So if you see it, do so with a group of friends and overreact to everything; "Snakes on a Plane" is a movie best experienced corporately, although it's definitely not for children or anyone who fears slithering reptiles.
Bottom Line: Good times. 7 of 10 for a wildly entertaining experience that meets expectations wonderfully.
The storyline is largely irrelevant. Strike that. It's entirely irrelevant. The bottom line is that hundreds of poisonous serpents end up on an trans-Pacific flight. The build-up to the anticipated action isn't that bad; but at half an hour, it still takes too long before the snakes appear.
Fortunately for all involved, Samuel L. Jackson is an FBI agent on the flight. Not only is he there to save the flight, he's there to endow the movie with a little respect. As one of the few familiar faces, Jackson is perfect for his role, in which he more or less plays himself, or at least his screen persona. But he is perhaps the only actor who could fill such a part, one that requires a sense of seriousness among laughably wacky situations. He brings with him a gravitas that lends credibility to the movie. His mere presence as an actor elevates the flick beyond its late-night cable pedigree to something worthy of being on a big screen.
Part of the reason "Snakes" fits that pedigree is its lack of subtlety. Like its title, the movie paints in broad strokes, both in plot and character. The people on the flight are little more than caricatures, ranging from a effeminate male flight attendant to a rich chihuahua-toting heiress. That's fine, if not preferred. In a movie where many of the characters are going to soon meet their doom, who cares about any intricacies of spirit? The movie just draws a few necessary outlines before splattering them with blood and snakes.
Much like the avalanche of recent horror movies, the blood and the accompanying screams are the point of the whole shebang. You go to this movie to gleefully cringe at the awful fates and almost equally awful dialogue. You go to scream at the jump scenes, to cheer at motivational speeches, and to recoil in mock shock at just about everything. The difference between "Snakes" and its horror counterparts is that this movie possesses a sense of humor. The movie is so ludicrously over-the-top that you can almost see and hear the makers winking and chuckling behind the camera. So if you see it, do so with a group of friends and overreact to everything; "Snakes on a Plane" is a movie best experienced corporately, although it's definitely not for children or anyone who fears slithering reptiles.
Bottom Line: Good times. 7 of 10 for a wildly entertaining experience that meets expectations wonderfully.