Review of Snakes on a Plane (2006) by Oliver J — 16 Jun 2011

It's easy to criticise 'Snakes on a Plane' for it's ridiculous premise and/or cheesy acting and gags. It supposedly falls under the genre horror alongside action but it isn't very scary or creepy for a 'horror' film, it is however action-packed. The film according to the title doesn't dissapoint, there are snakes and they are released on a passenger plane, why and how are there snakes on plane?

The opening scene shows the brutal murder of a prosecutor, he is beaten to death by mobster Eddie Kim. However, there is a witness, the prosecutor's friend Sean Jones (played by Nathan Phillips). Neville Flynn, an FBI agent (Samuel L Jackson) saves Jones from some of Kim's men at his appartment and then escorts him to the airport. It's here Jone's must take a flight to LA to testify in Kim's trial. In a crazy scheme Eddie Kim has a crate of poisonous snakes placed aboard the plane, the passengers of the plane are all given flower necklaces as a souvenir of Hawaii but one of Kim's henchman has sprayed these with a drug that causes hyper-aggression in the snakes. The snakes cannot be traced by searches because they are cold blooded. A timer goes off as the plane leaves Hawaii releasing the snakes, they make their way through the cargo hold, into the planes toilets and cabin and finally into the main part of the plane. Jones and two FBI agents (one of the Flynn) have the whole of 1st class to themselves and have time to react and form a plan as the venomous snakes bite terrified passengers. Flynn's first priority is getting Jones to the trial alive and the real problem proves to be keeping the plane in the air as snakes mess with circuitry and attack the pilots.

One of the better aspects of the film is the host of passengers we meet, these include: Claire Miller (Julianna Margulies) one of the flight attendants on her last flight, Mercedes (Rachel Blanchard) a posh woman who brings her pet chihuahua on board, Three Gs (Flex Alexander) a rapper and his two comic bodyguards Troy and Big Leroy, Chen Leong (Terry Chen) a kickboxer, a selfish old businessman and two children who are flying on their own for the first time. These are most of the main characters alongside the co-pilot (David Koechner), Special Agent Harris and Flynn's contact on the ground and Dr Stephen Price, a venom expert.

The concept of the film seems slightly less ridiculous after you've heard the motives behind planting snakes on the plane but surely a bomb or gas would have been more easy and effective! 'Snakes on a plane' is a serious attempt at a not so serious movie, Samuel L Jackson isn't on top form as Neville Flynn but none of the acting is special. I wouldn't say the gags are particularly funny, the snakes are quite realistic but I wouldn't classify 'Snakes on a Plane' as horror, just as a disaster action movie. It doesn't deserve so much criticism and was mildly enjoyable as an action film.