“Snakes on A Plane”: Ridiculous Thriller of the Summer

By definition, Ophidiophobia is the fear of snakes. Aviophobia is the fear of flying. Clithrophobia is the fear of being locked in an enclosed place. Put those together, throw in some cheesy acting, and sign on one superstar and you have the summer’s unexpected movie phenomenon, “Snakes on A Plane.” The title alone is cause to be curious.
This movie has built a cult following in the past few months from its buzz on the Internet. Before its release on August 18, the public was curious to know if this film was supposed to be taken seriously. Is the movie really about snakes…on a plane? Has Samuel L. Jackson really signed on to be in such a ridiculous movie?


By Rachel Prichard,
Staff Writer
By definition, Ophidiophobia is the fear of snakes. Aviophobia is the fear of flying. Clithrophobia is the fear of being locked in an enclosed place. Put those together, throw in some cheesy acting, and sign on one superstar and you have the summer’s unexpected movie phenomenon, “Snakes on A Plane.” The title alone is cause to be curious.
This movie has built a cult following in the past few months from its buzz on the Internet. Before its release on August 18, the public was curious to know if this film was supposed to be taken seriously. Is the movie really about snakes…on a plane? Has Samuel L. Jackson really signed on to be in such a ridiculous movie?
The plot is not unlike that of most cheesy thriller/horror movies from recent years. Jackson stars as tough FBI agent, Neville Flynn. Flynn is assigned to accompany witness, Sean Jones (new face Nathan Phillips) on a flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles. Jones must testify against a Hawaiian crime lord in a brutal murder case. Right there you know that something is going down to get this witness. That something is not going to be an assassin, but hundreds of poisonous snakes.
How do these snakes get on the plane? Not only are they smuggled into the cargo area so they can slither around wires and eventually up to the passenger area, but they are smuggled in giant crates containing flower leis doused with a powerful pheromone to make the snakes violent. Basically, “Snakes on Crack,” as Jackson says in the film.
The first 30 minutes of the film are basically to the stereotypical types of passengers one would find on a flight being viciously attacked by snakes. The goriness of the movie is in the true spirit of a tacky horror movie.
Director, David R. Ellis is actually best known for directing “Final Destination 2” and if you have ever seen any of the movies in that series, you know how the death scenes play out and why the movie gets an R rating.
Also, when a snake is ready to attack the audience experiences “snake vision,” or a heat sensitive shot of the person the snake is about to kill. The rest of the movie consists of Jackson and the passengers trying to figure out how to keep the snakes at bay and land the plane since the pilots are dead.
The acting in the movie is definitely not Oscar winning. While most of the characters are supposed to be stereotypical flight passengers, the only real relationship barely formed in the movie is a slight chemistry between Jackson’s character and a head flight attendant played by Julianna Marguilles. Even that onscreen relationship has no time to bloom since the passengers must fight off the snakes with broken bottles on sticks and fire extinguishers.
In most reviews, “Snakes On a Plane” received two and a half stars out of four. New Line Cinema and Ellis wanted it to be seen like any other summer movie.
�We feel that it really works and it is what it is,” said Ellis.
I can say that while the movie consists of vicious killing scenes and less than mediocre acting, I laughed at much of the sudden humor and jokes placed around the violent parts. I even laughed at how crazy the death scenes were, too.
Jackson reprises his role as a “tough and bad” man with such famous lines as, “I’m sick of these mother——- snakes on this mother——- plane.” This is already a well-liked quote by fans.
It has some of the makings of a thriller, but with more follow through in the end then would be expected. If you’re looking for a B movie that will thrill you slightly, but make you laugh more, then this is the film for you.
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