WHAT'S THAT ON MY SEAT-BACK TRAY?: Even if the passenger were expecting a special meal, he or she obviously got something different than what was expected.
For more movie summaries, see Kam's Kapsules.
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WHAT'S THAT ON MY SEAT-BACK TRAY?: Even if the passenger were expecting a special meal, he or she obviously got something different than what was expected. |
Benefiting from the best pre-release hype since The Blair Witch Project, the internet has been abuzz about this picture almost since the day the project was greenlighted by New Line. In fact, the blogosphere actually influenced director David Ellis to do five days of reshoots in order to add R-rated scenes because his fans had come to expect them due to the popularity of a parody on the internet.
This electronic buzz was probably unnecessary, because Snakes on a Plane represents a rare case of cinematic truth-in-advertising. Between the self-explanatory title and the trailers, it is clear exactly what this campy disaster/horror film is all about.
The movie begins inside the cramped quarters of a commercial airliner as the passengers board the plane. Unabashedly politically incorrect, simplistic stereotypes for every character are easily recognizable.
There's the self-important, trash-talking gangsta rapper (Flex Alexander) with a couple of bodyguards (Kenan Thompson and Keith Dallas); the spoiled debutante (Rachel Blanchard) with a lapdog you could dust with; the coward (Gerard Plunkett); the doting mother (Elsa Pataky) with the whining baby; two young brothers (Daniel Hogarth and Casey Dubois) traveling alone; a couple in love (Emily Holmes and Tygh Runyan); etcetera. Even the crew members are archetypes, such as the effeminate flight attendant (Bruce James), the blonde stewardess (Sunny Mabrey), the bottom pinching pilot (David Koechner), and the stewardess (Julianna Margulies), on her last flight before going to law school, who summons up courage she never knew she had.
Troubles in the cabin start even before the jet leaves the ground when everyone in first class is moved to coach to make way for FBI Agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) and eyewitness Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips). Flynn's been assigned to escort him from Hawaii to Los Angeles to testify in the murder trial of mob boss Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson).
However, Kim hopes to cause the plane to crash by having venomous snakes stowed aboard in a crate. They will be released by a timer when the airliner is 30,000 feet in the air over the Pacific Ocean. As patently absurd as this premise sounds, Snakes on a Plane does not disappoint. Samuel L. Jackson enjoys his best outing in years as an FBI agent who loses his composure as soon as all hell breaks lose.
The special effects were created by a convincing combination of computer generated imagery and over 400 real snakes. Additionally, director Ellis comes up with an array of shocking and disgusting ways to kill people.
Tautly edited, these grisly killings are well concealed and are accompanied by a thunderous burst from the score designed to elicit screams from the audience. The film is filled with humorous asides and targeted at teenagers, however, because of all the gore, nudity, sex, and violence, it has been rated R.
Excellent (4 stars). Rated R. Running time: 105 minutes. Studio: New Line Cinema.
For more movie summaries, see Kam's Kapsules.