"Snakes on a Plane" is kind of a combination disaster/horror movie. The disaster movie part is people in peril on a plane; the horror movie part is people being killed by something or someone with no help in sight. "Snakes on a Plane" is like "Anaconda" without the escape route. I must warn you will need to suspend a lot of disbelief to watch this movie.
The movie opens with the main character, Sean (Nathan Phillips), witnessing a murder. He draws attention to himself but gets away before the bad guys can get a good look at him. That's okay. The little litter bug left behind a piece of evidence that led the bad guys right to his front door. In fact, the bad guys are breaking into his apartment just in time for the evening news, which is reporting on their earlier handiwork.
Enter FBI agent, Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson). He knows where the witness lives, too. Don't ask how. You're suspending disbelief, remember? Anyway, Agent Flynn saves Sean from the bad guys and clues him in to just how bad Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson), a ruthless organized crime lord, and his minions really are.
Now, we come to the plane ride that will take Sean from Hawaii - of which we sadly see precious little - to Los Angeles, Kim's base of operations, to testify. Naturally, Kim has other plans. As the passengers wait to board the plane, we're introduced to a prima donna rapper (Flex Alexander) with issues, a newlywed couple (Tygh Runyan and Emily Holmes), a pampered princess (Rachel Blanchard) and her dog (it looks like a Chihuahua), and two boys (Casey Dubois and Daniel Hogarth), traveling as unaccompanied minors. These two are left in the capable hands of Claire (Julianna Margulies), a stewardess and recent law school graduate who's on her last flight before becoming a "legal eagle."
We're introduced to more passengers and crew members as the passengers board the plane. Claire (Margulies) and Tiffany (Sunny Mabrey) inform the boarding passengers that the seats in first class have been commandeered by the FBI and, of course, one of the passengers - an obnoxious English businessman (Gerard Plunkett) - complains loudly. Let's just say he's the resident anal orifice. Every movie like this has at least one character that everybody loves to hate.
The tension builds slowly as the snakes that were smuggled in by the bad guys begin to make their way through the plane. The first unlucky victims are a young couple (Taylor Kitsch and Samantha McLeod) who decide to join the "Mile High Club" in one of the restrooms. This scene, for me, is reminiscent of all those "Friday the 13th."
This movie is bad. It's chock full of stereotypes but only one really offended me: rapper Three Gs' best friend/bodyguard, Troy (Keenan Thompson). His behavior in the cockpit made me want to cover my head, even though I was watching this movie alone in my own home. Up until that point, I liked Troy because he served as a much needed reality check and voice of reason for his neurotic rapper friend.
"Snakes on a Plane," which is rated R, because of brief nudity, language, and violence, would go on my list of guilty pleasure movies. I really did find it entertaining; however, Samuel L. Jackson and Julianna Margulies had such an obvious lack of chemistry that it made me wonder why the final scene between them wasn't rewritten or deleted altogether.
Despite poor story line, poor acting -- by some, not all -- the shameless stereotypes and the total lack of chemistry between two of the main characters, "Snakes on a Plane" is worth watching if you want some humor. I give it a rating of ** because it was a little funny ... and a little nostalgic for someone who grew up watching those '70s Airplane disaster movies.
The movie opens with the main character, Sean (Nathan Phillips), witnessing a murder. He draws attention to himself but gets away before the bad guys can get a good look at him. That's okay. The little litter bug left behind a piece of evidence that led the bad guys right to his front door. In fact, the bad guys are breaking into his apartment just in time for the evening news, which is reporting on their earlier handiwork.
Enter FBI agent, Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson). He knows where the witness lives, too. Don't ask how. You're suspending disbelief, remember? Anyway, Agent Flynn saves Sean from the bad guys and clues him in to just how bad Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson), a ruthless organized crime lord, and his minions really are.
Now, we come to the plane ride that will take Sean from Hawaii - of which we sadly see precious little - to Los Angeles, Kim's base of operations, to testify. Naturally, Kim has other plans. As the passengers wait to board the plane, we're introduced to a prima donna rapper (Flex Alexander) with issues, a newlywed couple (Tygh Runyan and Emily Holmes), a pampered princess (Rachel Blanchard) and her dog (it looks like a Chihuahua), and two boys (Casey Dubois and Daniel Hogarth), traveling as unaccompanied minors. These two are left in the capable hands of Claire (Julianna Margulies), a stewardess and recent law school graduate who's on her last flight before becoming a "legal eagle."
We're introduced to more passengers and crew members as the passengers board the plane. Claire (Margulies) and Tiffany (Sunny Mabrey) inform the boarding passengers that the seats in first class have been commandeered by the FBI and, of course, one of the passengers - an obnoxious English businessman (Gerard Plunkett) - complains loudly. Let's just say he's the resident anal orifice. Every movie like this has at least one character that everybody loves to hate.
The tension builds slowly as the snakes that were smuggled in by the bad guys begin to make their way through the plane. The first unlucky victims are a young couple (Taylor Kitsch and Samantha McLeod) who decide to join the "Mile High Club" in one of the restrooms. This scene, for me, is reminiscent of all those "Friday the 13th."
This movie is bad. It's chock full of stereotypes but only one really offended me: rapper Three Gs' best friend/bodyguard, Troy (Keenan Thompson). His behavior in the cockpit made me want to cover my head, even though I was watching this movie alone in my own home. Up until that point, I liked Troy because he served as a much needed reality check and voice of reason for his neurotic rapper friend.
"Snakes on a Plane," which is rated R, because of brief nudity, language, and violence, would go on my list of guilty pleasure movies. I really did find it entertaining; however, Samuel L. Jackson and Julianna Margulies had such an obvious lack of chemistry that it made me wonder why the final scene between them wasn't rewritten or deleted altogether.
Despite poor story line, poor acting -- by some, not all -- the shameless stereotypes and the total lack of chemistry between two of the main characters, "Snakes on a Plane" is worth watching if you want some humor. I give it a rating of ** because it was a little funny ... and a little nostalgic for someone who grew up watching those '70s Airplane disaster movies.
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