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Overall Rating : 7.5/10
Directed By : David R. Ellis
Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction)
Julianna Margulies (Ghost Ship)
Nathan Phillips (Wolf Creek)
Rachel Blanchard (Without a Paddle)
Supplied By : New Line Cinema
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Dec. 20, 2006
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| PLOT When an unsuspecting bystander witnesses a brutal mob murder, it falls to FBI agent Neville Flynn to escort his charge safely from Hawaii to Los Angeles to testify. But in an act of self-preservation, the crime boss in question smuggles hundreds of poisonous snakes onto the commercial aircraft in a crate, timed to release its deadly cargo halfway over the Pacific Ocean. Flynn, along with a frightened flight crew and passengers, must band together in a desperate attempt to survive the “flight of their lives.” |
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| THE REVIEW In SNAKES ON A PLANE, FBI agent Neville Flynn is scheduled to transport Sean, a young kid from Hawaii to Los Angeles, in order for him to testify against a crime boss for the slaying death of his prosecutor, in which he witnessed. Now even though Sean is now in the protective custody of Agent Flynn, Eddie Kim will stop at nothing to make sure Sean doesn't make it to testify - thus the airline has blocked off the entire first class section and reserved it for both Flynn and the witness. The blocking off first class sends the passengers into an uproar as many are force to demote their First Class status to Coach. While all of the confusion is setting in for the passengers, it seems that Eddie Kim and his gang has cooked up a plan - a plan in the form of various venomous snakes from around the world. Set on a timer, the poisonous snakes would be unleashed and the Hawaiian Leis that were given to the passengers as they departed, would be the bait, as the suspects have sprayed them with a strong pheromones that would encourage an even more violent behavior in the snakes once unleashed. The snakes do eventually come out and play and they have one mad black man in Flynn and a group of passengers with their survival instinct intact - what it is, is a fight to live, some do die and some live, but what SNAKES ON A PLANE proves to be is a action packed thrill adventure, that yes, isn't all the time serious. To be honest, in my opinion not since STAR WARS, has a film created such a buzz for itself, and with the internet now in full force for this generation, SNAKES ON A PLANE'S buzz was seemingly multiplied. Even so much as New Line allowing a 5 day reshoot, because many fans on the 'net were unhappy about the proposed and photography wrapped version of the film - additional scenes were added to move the film to an R rating including the now infamous "'I've had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane" line uttered by Jackson's character. When you have such a large ensemble cast such as the one in SNAKES ON A PLANE, it could mean either two things, hit or miss. Often when there are so many people together in one place, things could go wrong, take a family reunion for instance.... not everyone is bound to get along well there. But as for SoaP, I found that the cast worked out very well, it consisted of very diverse individuals, so what you get from the character's are essentially very different types of acting. A big reason, for why I believed the cast worked so well is in how the filmmakers chose to introduce all of the characters in the beginning, this gave as a strong sense of who each of them are and made as root for their survival in the end. Most of the face paced actions of the snakes are indeed CGI animation, and admittingly so, some of the action looks downright cheesy, but I was impressed by the realism and effectiveness of some of the effect used. When looking at SoaP's pretty impressive cast including A-lister Samuel L. Jackson, don't get it confused, this film IS a 'B-Movie' in every sense of the term, but it is a damn good one at that While most creature features of the same type know they're silly and outlandish and still try to remain a serious film, it's comforting to see that this film knows just how silly and fun it is, and at the same time is able to make us laugh. Sam Jackson took this project on a whim, as he thought with a title like SNAKES ON A PLANE, it was bound for cult status, and I guess it's safe to say, his gamble paid off. Jackson, as the badass he normally likes to portray surprisingly works well here, as the character of Neville Flynn is highly likeable, and tough. Just as with any movie, however if the main character is not backed up with fairly strong supporters, they character may not be as effective but fortunately Flynn has a lot of them. Julianna Margulies, whom has seen a similar role in GHOST SHIP is great as head attendant Claire, an attendant that goes beyond her duty unexpectedly to save others. It was also nice to see Sunny Mabrey in a role also, as I have not seen her since SPECIES III, she is an incredibly hot and talented actress, and I can't forget the now, I guess veteran Kenan Thompson, whom has come along way since his Nickelodeon days, and is quite funny here. SNAKES ON A PLANE, became a cult hit overnight it seems and initially I didn't get all of the buzz, but now I see it clearly - It is just a flat out adventure of fun, and it is not weighed down by an over serious intention, it's only intention is to entertain you - and that it does.... \ | ||||
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| GORE
METER 5.5/10 Let me tell you, I was rather impressed with the special effects(most of which I assume were done during the reshoots) I really like the snake wrapping itself around a victim and later swallowing whole and the snake attack to one's eye socket. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 5.5/10 The score was rather upbeat and up-tempo with it's intensity increasing when the action does - but then again the score is more times than not drowned out with all of the action |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM At first look when the ads began running last summer for this film, I thought it would be just another Horror film filled with useless, unrealistic CGI. What we get here is indeed a film with CGI and the use of real snakes, but it is all done in a very believable way. I for one thought this one to be one of the more entertaining films to come out lately, and I do highly recommend! This DVD will be available on January 2, 2007 |
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