Snakes on a Plane

Snakes on a Plane is a strange film. One built around a fevered internet fan base and pretty much a title alone. A film that has been hyped beyond all recognition months before its release and encumbered with a title that will go down in history regardless of the content of the film. In fact it will probably come as a surprise to many people that the film isn’t so bad it’s good, in fact it’s a pretty decent over the top horror / action / monster movie with enough excitement humour and Samuel L Jackson to keep most cinema audiences entertained. This is the movie equivalent of Ronseal – it does exactly what it says on the tin, and on the tin it says Snakes on a Plane! Samuel L Jackson is cool, there’s no two ways about it. Without him the film just wouldn’t work and I can think of no other actor today that a) people would want to see battling hundreds of poisonous snakes at 35,000 feet or that b) would want to actually star in said film. All credit to Jackson who has been behind the project from the start, he knows exactly what kind of film this is and his committed performance and love for the fans make this film a blast, it’s ridiculous and even admits as much, but he somehow grounds the film and stops it achieving a campy level of humour that would not have worked. As it is we get a surprisingly decent bunch of, rather stereotypical but interesting, side characters, some really intense sequences and some nasty snake attacks. The film does not shy away from the violence, which of course makes it all the more involving and over the top. It is not perfect, in fact bits of the film are down right absurd and there are elements that could have been expanded upon and some of the acting is slightly questionable, but on the whole, the film delivers what it has set out to do and remains inventive enough to ever stop from being boring. It wastes no time getting going, keeps you entertained and delivers tonnes of snake fuelled action. If you like crazy monster movies with a twist and Samuel L Jackson doing his ‘cool as’ shtick then you’ll enjoy Snakes on a Plane. Oh and in case you were wondering ‘the line’ is awesome! Great popcorn cinema! Ridiculous, crazy and packed with screams and laughs this is a schlock horror film that delivers on its promise of entertainment and Sam Jackson kicking some serious snake behind!