"Whatever you do, do it well."If that was the motto of the creators of Snakes on a Plane, then they get an A! The much-hyped, Internet-driven movie starring Samuel L. Jackson, a 747 and a butt-load of snakes never once diverted from its course of campiness and B-movie fun. A movie like this one, with such a huge expectations to be horrible, but fun has a great chance to just be horrible. All it takes is the slightest injection of seriousness and the movie fails. In viewing Snakes on a Plane, I don't think seriousness was on the same flight.
During the opening scene there is a suspicion that the creators might be trying to go for more. That feeling last approximately two minutes and after that you know that Snakes on a Plane will be just right - bad and with no apologies. Obviously the plot is far fetched and because of that you cannot help but laugh at everything thrown the audiences way. Every character is a caricature; the dialogue is paper thin.
Lets see... there is the hip-hop rapper signing teen-aged fans' breasts in the airport terminal, we have the stewardess on her last run (Julianna Marguiles), the flamboyant male-steward, the crazy pilot (SNL's David Koechner), the slutty stewardess, the snooty Brit, the newly-weds, the unescorted school-aged brothers, etc, etc, etc. Oh yeah, and a crate full of the world's deadliest snakes! Wait... AND Samuel L. Jackson as the FBI agent who ain't going to take shit from anyone, including the snakes.
Its a five hour flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles. The first class passengers have been relegated to coach, you can expect some turbulence as we fly through a thunderstorm and beware the snakes. In true B-movie fashion, the first attack strikes two young lovers aiming to join the mile high club in the bathroom. Yes, we get to see bare breasts and on top of that, a snake strikes one of those breasts, met with a chorus of laughter. Later there is the guy who gets bit in his junk. Real high brow stuff.
One chihuahua and a full grown man later (they were eaten by a Boa) we arrive at the climax of the movie wherein Sam Jackson yells his famous line, "I'm tired of these muthaf**king snakes on this muthaf**king plane!" Solid gold material!! They finally are able to land the plane solely on the experience of one of the rapper's bodyguard's (SNL's Keenan Thompson) Playstation 2 flight sim experience. Whew!
As I've already said, this movie could have simply been bad. But because the creators were able to keep it light and avoid any seriousness at all, this movie worked. When you read the title, you know what you expect and it is exactly what you get - a very stupid premise that is hilarious in its ridiculousness. Watch this movie with a large group of friends, the more the merrier. It isn't a great movie, but it is great at what it is supposed to be - Snakes on a Plane. 8/10
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