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Snakes on a plane' ssssurprisingly good
Good acting masks ridiculous premise
"Snakes on a Plane" Running time: 105 mins. MPAA rating: R Grade: B+
I can't think of a more ridiculous premise for a movie than "Snakes on a Plane." OK, maybe I can: "Daschunds on a Rickshaw." But I wouldn't get hammered with a bunch of my friends and then go to the theater to see them. I would, however, call my posse to see Sam Jackson go off on a planeload of venomous assassins.
"Snakes on a Plane" is the participation movie of the year. It's not really a horror movie, not quite a comedy. It's just a full-on funfest of goofy gore, titillation and watching Sam Jackson be Sam Jackson.
The plot is one of the dumbest ever conceived (and I'll tell you why in a moment): A mobster named Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson) kills a Los Angeles prosecutor in Hawaii. The murder is witnessed by a surfer dude named Sean (Nathan Phillips).
Kim sends a hit squad to kill Sean, but the attempt is foiled by badass FBI agent Neville Flynn (Sam Jackson). Sean is then told he has to fly back to Los Angeles to testify against Kim.
Then things get really dumb: Instead of just hiring a hitman to off the surfer dude, Kim has a huge crate filled with poisonous snakes smuggled onboard Sean's plane. In order to get the snakes to attack, massive amounts of female snake pheromones are pumped through the plane's air system. The pheromones will make the snakes highly aggressive and territorial. They will kill anything in their path. Once the plane is over the Pacific, the Big Ol' Box O' Snakes busts open and things get messy.
 | | Samuel L. Jackson reports his discovery of a massive viper to the cockpit in the surprisingly thrilling "Snakes on a Plane." Jackson saves the movie from the top of the Do Not Watch List, making it instead a camp classic. |
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Now here's the background I promised you: The idea for "Snakes on a Plane" was originally conceived at a dinner party with a bunch of writers trying to one-up each other on the worst movie pitch ever. "Snakes on a Plane" won.
But thanks to Sam Jackson taking control over the movie, and New Line listening to suggestions from Internet fans, what would've been another bland PG-13 August throwaway flick is now on its way to becoming a camp classic.
Let's hope they shoot even more footage for the DVD.
(c) 2006 King Features Synd., Inc.
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