Review of Snakes on a Plane (2006) by Jakob S — 18 Jul 2010

Citing this movie's supposedly secure mantle as a revered fan favorite, the studio refused the persnickety critics an advanced screening of Snakes on a Plane, an unapologetic whammy of A-list B-cinema...and rightly so. Normally, it would be bad form for a reviewer to cite an outside instance such as this, but the director himself seems unable to let go of the movie's pre-buzz. Even the title card winks knowingly at us with a slow striptease: "Snakes...On a Plane." The problem is: The movie caves into what it thinks the audience wants once too often, occasionally trading pure camp for pure crap.

In this R-rated thrille, a young man (Byron Lawson) witnesses a gangland killing, so a mob boss time-releases 400 venomous snakes on the witness's plane flight to testify--all under the watchful eye of an FBI agent (Jackson) and a flight attendant (Marguiles).

If Jim Fowler and William Castle had had a love child, it would most certainly be director David Richard Ellis. Served well by helming gruesomest death contest Final Destination 2, Ellis searches out every possible unnerving way in which to kill a human being by snake attack. And boy, do those critters love genitalia! The scenes done in re-shoots to appease a building fan-base, however, are somewhat obvious (the gratuitous mile high sex scene and Jackson working the title into an F-bomb-laden tirade). People seemed giddy enough with plain old Snakes on a Plane. Why the studio and Ellis felt they had to second-guess a no-brainer and include unnecessary additional schlock is beyond comprehension.

Bottom line: Plane average.