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“Snakes on a Plane” was hyped as something “so bad that it is good”. While the plot seems far fetched and the internet marketing push was so great you knew it was going to bomb, the film was somehow still enjoyable.
Several spots of comedic relief and good special effects made the movie entertaining. Most notable was a snake vision technique that let moviegoers see the action from a snake’s eye view as it moved in for a strike.
The story begins in Hawaii when the innocent Nathan Phillips (Sean Jones) spots a Los Angeles underworld boss killing a member of the prosecution in his murder trial. Too frightened to call the police, his identity is discovered both by the mob and FBI and he is taken into custody by Jackson’s character, Nelville Flynn, before the bad guys can get their hands on him.
Given the choice whether or not to be a witness or go on the run, Phillips agrees to testify against mobster Eddie Kim. The FBI arranges for his transport back to L.A. but with security tight Kim uses his inside connections at the airport to find out what flight his target will be traveling on and makes special arrangements to ensure the plane never makes it to California.
A few gory scenes and a thousand or so snakebites later, the passengers left on board are secluded to one area of the plane that is snake free. But with both pilots dead from snake venom, Keenan Thompson’s (from “Keenen and Kel”) character, Troy, emerges as the unlikely hero. A member of a high profile rap star’s entourage who was on board lands the plane with the skills he got from thousands of hours on a Playstation II flight simulator game.
Julianna Margulies, known for her role in the T.V. drama “E.R.,” plays flight attendant Claire Miller on her last tour of duty before moving onto a more fulfilling career. She teams with Jackson’s character to be the fearless leader on the plane, guiding the scared and disoriented group of survivors.
While this film likely will not bring home any awards, Samuel L. Jackson turns in a solid performance with several hilarious monologues. The combination of drama, action and comedy make this movie one that moviegoers won’t regret spending a little under two hours to see.
