CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Snakes on a Plane

Director

David R. Ellis

Year

2006

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Snakes on a Plane became an Internet phenomenon as soon as Samuel L. Jackson joined the production and the studio decided to keep the ridiculously silly (yet brilliant) original title. I am part of the so-called online community, so I followed its progress from scratch. The movie reached its peak, buzz-wise, before the summer even started, but then clips of the movie were shown at Comic-Con in San Diego and the balloon started to deflate. By the time it opened in August the novelty had worn off and it just didn’t click. Now that I’ve seen it all I can say is that I’m glad people didn’t respond to the hype. The movie is horrendous.

FBI agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) is put in charge of getting a witness, Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips), in protective custody from Hawaii to L.A. But the man he’s about to testify against manages to put hundreds of snakes in a cargo shipment so they will break loose when the plane is traveling over the sea. The plan works, and hell unravels.

The problems begin with the screenplay, which is credited to John Heffernan and Sebastian Gutierrez. But director David R. Ellis is unable to make much of it either. That’s a pity, since I really enjoyed his previous movie, Cellular (2004), and I think he is quite capable of doing a good directing job. Not here though. Most of the scenes feel clumsily directed and there was certainly a potential for more.

But the main reason why the movie doesn’t work is because it wants to be many things at the same time. One minute it’s a comedy, then it’s a drama, then it’s violent, then it’s plain gory, then it’s satiric; no one seems to make up their mind as to what they want it to be. My personal opinion is that you have to choose a tone and stick to it. If you’re going to do a dead-serious movie about snakes attacking people on a plane then go, write characters that feel real and play with the notion of what would really happen. But I think it would’ve been much more fun if it had been an over-the-top horror comedy. I know it’s a difficult genre to tackle, but it’s been done before and the material screams for it. Here you have a serious plot about a witness taken care of by this formal cop, and then you have a completely laughable ending in which one of many caricature-like supporting characters is able to land a plane because he’s a videogame expert. Ellis and company didn’t make a movie for the geeks, they mistakenly tried to make a movie for everybody and it turned out a disaster.

As for the snakes, they’re believable enough. Sometimes the CGI looks fake, but that’s not necessarily bad for this kind of flick. And there is a certain level of fun to be had with the many ways snakes are killed and disposed of. The snakes even make their first appearance in a clever way, first by eating a cat and then by killing a couple having sex in the bathroom. I wish it would’ve stayed that way, but then it turns insufferable. Even when Samuel L. Jackson utters his now-infamous line (“Enough is enough! I've had it with these motherfuckin' snakes on this motherfuckin' plane!”), the moment feels protracted, for the scene was shot long after principal photography had ended and inserted without caring that it didn’t ring true of the character to say something like that. What he does after this specific scene is quite unexpected and exciting though.

The cast, which is mostly comprised of unfamiliar faces, all do what they’re required to. Samuel L. Jackson plays it straight, just as Julianna Margulies and Bobby Cannavale, while most supporting characters go for broad comedy or uninspired satire. You can’t really blame any of them, since they’re stuck in a circus with no clear command.

“Somebody get this fucking snake off my ass!”

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Other reviews of Snakes on a Plane (2006): Groucho

Review

Snakes on a Plane

Director

David R. Ellis

Year

2006

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Snakes on a Plane seems to “bravely” tackle a new approach at moviemaking: the filmmakers couldn’t have thought of it as a quality film, but it relies on incredible excesses, a popular star, an overblown Internet hype that lasted a whole year, and an awesome title. Nobody ever thought a movie with this title could be good, but nobody could resist watching it. You just know what to expect, you go ahead, you watch it, you get what you expected, and then you complain? No. What you gotta do is take it as lightly as it should be taken. Nothing more, or less.

To be honest, the film is entertaining. It’s a sort of modern-day B-movie / millionaire disaster film that goes too far every two seconds but still goes on and on like nothing happened. In that way, it’s pretty hilarious. The feeling of laughing a minute after a kid has been violently bitten by a cobra is rather eerie, but that’s the inevitable reaction. The fact that everyone around is laughing too is a sign that you’re not all that unethical. After a few minutes you just sit back and relax, expecting lots of scares and lots of laughs, and that’s what you get.

But even in that frequency, the film goes too far. I would’ve loved it to be scary enough and funny enough, but why make it gory and often disgusting? It’s that belief (incorrect, I hope) that modern audiences need all-too-graphical action to get what’s going on. Isn’t subtlety powerful anymore? All those decades of masterful filmmakers creating suspense more from the unseen than from what was on the screen have gone to the trashcan? I refuse to believe it. It’s a cheap, stupid approach that underestimates viewers, turns out more expensive but quite lazier, and reduces the filmmaking standards when the movie becomes a blockbuster. I can accept a story where passengers are horribly killed by reptiles, but why show us every bit of carnage that comes from that premise?

Samuel L. Jackson stars as Hawaii detective Flynn, who protects a young eyewitness, Sean (Nathan Phillips), from the mobster he can testify against, Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson). In the attempt to transport Sean to LA in order to get his testimony, they face Kim’s new mischief: he has filled the plane with venomous snakes that are furious and willing to kill about everyone who crosses their path. In the way there’s action, drama, willing and unwilling comedy, and some true scares.

Most performances are one-note or routine, but some actually surprised me: Flex Alexander as an obsessive-compulsive superstar, Lin Shaye as a stewardess who could’ve retired before the flight, and Todd Louiso as a snake expert.

I understand this movie is already a cult classic. That’s all right. Since I saw it last weekend, I have recommended it a couple of times. It’s rather fun, you know, for a good, mindless time. I don’t regret at all seeing it, but I wouldn’t mind it if it didn’t exist altogether.

“Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!”

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Other reviews of Snakes on a Plane (2006): Morris