Snakes On A Plane (DVD)

...a whole load of deadly snakes on board the plane, which are released during flight. Although normally snakes are unlikely to attack people (unless maybe severely starved or feeling threatened by them) these snakes seem to have been affected by something that has sent them psychotic. It was suggested at one point that this is caused by drugs, but I'm not sure that it was ever really explained. Before long, the snakes a wreaking havoc throughout the ...
...for this story - releasing snakes on a plane in order to kill one person, really is a crazy one. It's the kind of thing that I would never have imagined happening, and in reality I'm confident that it would not happen. In this sense the story was ridiculously far-fetched. On the other hand, its originality made it that much more interesting. Somewhere I seem to remember reading about a spoof film, and had thought that this was what Snakes on a Plane ... more

This film came on television some time ago, and since I had heard it was a good film, I decided to give it a go. I do remember reading an article about the film before it was actually released, and had, admittedly intended to see it at the cinema. However, I did not have the chance, but I did not mind only getting to see it on television in the end.

Story

A witness to a brutal crime is being taken to Los Angeles, where he is needed to testify. The people he is testifying against want him dead, and so they manage to get a whole load of deadly snakes on board the plane, which are released during flight. Although normally snakes are unlikely to attack people (unless maybe severely starved or feeling threatened by them) these snakes seem to have been affected by something that has sent them psychotic. It was suggested at one point that this is caused by drugs, but I'm not sure that it was ever really explained. Before long, the snakes a wreaking havoc throughout the plane and killing several people. The survivors, with the help of FBI agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L Jackson) who takes the lead, struggle to keep them at bay, creating barricades and fighting back. Flynn has to try and keep everyone working together, but as always in these situations people start to fall out and it gets that much tougher.

The idea for this story - releasing snakes on a plane in order to kill one person, really is a crazy one. It's the kind of thing that I would never have imagined happening, and in reality I'm confident that it would not happen. In this sense the story was ridiculously far-fetched. On the other hand, its originality made it that much more interesting. Somewhere I seem to remember reading about a spoof film, and had thought that this was what Snakes on a Plane was. When I realised it is in fact more of a thriller, I was somewhat confused. There were certain scenes, that, maybe due to my sadistic sense of humour, or perhaps more because it was intended, the snake attacks seemed very funny. I felt awkward laughing, because it is that kind of humour that is probably socially inappropriate, but at the same time, without it the film would have been a bit too dark and depressing.

The story pulls together alright in the end, but only if you can accept the stupidity behind it. Why would people waste ridiculous amounts of money and effort bringing together all these dangerous snakes - which are from around the world - just to prevent one witness from testifying? Frankly, I didn't care. I can ignore that blatant lack of sense, and so I still quite enjoyed this film. If you need there to be more logic or realism in your films, then you may not appreciate this one.

Acting/Characters

The film allows very little time for proper character development, and although by the nature of the story, this was something I could live with, it was a bit of a disappointment. Being set on a plane, there are a huge number of characters, and although most may be extras, there are plenty that have their moment. The problem is that this moment is so brief that you do not have time to learn anything about them. At times I was confused as to who was who, and so when it comes to evaluating the acting and characters in this film, I have found very little to say about any of them.

I normally quite like films with Samuel L Jackson in, because he's a pretty good actor. But really this film was not about character development, and where there was character development, it was not centred around him. He was as good as always, but, in the way it was done, the film would probably have been just as good without him. The only thing that really enhanced the film from him was his line "I've had it with these motherf***ing snakes on this motherf***ing plane!!!", which has become pretty famous since.

Among the only characters that stood out at all was Claire Miller, played by Julianna Margulies. She was one of the stewardesses on the flight and had to look after some of the passengers, including two kids, when the snakes attacked. Although her character's role seems to reflect the old-fashioned traditional female role when caring for injured or frightened passengers, she also comes across as one of the strongest people on the plane. There is a slightly moving moment among the stewardesses, where one has been bitten by a snake and is slowly dying. Their emotion does not last nearly long enough, but frankly if it had, it would have killed the movie. It is hard to add emotive or tragic scenes into a film like this because then you cannot have any triumphant and funny moments later on without seeming very insensitive.

I recognised Kenan Thompson from a kids T.V. show I watched years ago called Kenan and Kel. He is naturally funny and his talent could have been utilised much better to keep the film exciting. He plays Troy, someone who has to help Flynn in getting the plane safely back on land. He pairs up well with Samuel L Jackson and the two could have made the movie a lot more memorable had this occurred earlier in the film.

Film qualities

The music is very up to date in this film, and I certainly expected this. The film even has songs that, I think are made especially for this film and fit in perfectly. But the real effects I was interested in this film in terms of sound were the noises from the snakes. There were very little of these that I can remember, which may be part of the silent creepy essence of the film or may be because it would mean too much noise.

The snakes themselves are apparantly mostly not real, although this is what I had thought, it was hard to tell. The graphics are pretty good and nothing looks over-computerised. The only but that I would say was very unlikely is when a window on the plane is opened to suck out all the snakes. I'm pretty sure that a lot more would have also gone out the window, so this scene is really bizarre, but as I have mentioned above, you simply cannot expect this film to make sense! Still, these bits seem to look as they should, i.e. as thought it was really happening.

Slithering Snakes

If you hate snakes, you might not like this film. Although we are told clearly that the way the snakes are attacking people in the film is not normal behaviour, I'm sure it will only add to the negative view a lot of people already have about snakes. Bear in mind these are exotic, venomous and dangerous snakes from all over the world. In fact, there is even a huge python-type snake that basically squeezes its victim and swallows it whole. The film reminded me of Arachnophobia (spider horror) in the way that the creatures seem intent on killing every creature in sight, but in a sneaky, horror-movie kind of way. I'm not sure I found this particularly scary, but I can understand why it might be.

To Catch A Snake

This is a real challenge. I am not sure they like peanut butter as much as the rats did in Wanted. In the film, you will learn how not to handle a snake and when feeding a snake is not enough to put it off coming after you. Some people get it right, but you may find these scenes quite harsh on the animals. For instance, apparantly microwaving snakes is very effective in creating snake splat. Ensure you use the "snake" button on your microwave. As with Wanted, such scenes are certainly not for animal lovers. Personally I was pretty sure the snakes would not be real and instead found it quite funny, but this is a judgement call for you. It should be noted that there are other animals that suffer too in this film, although you see very little, if this is something that will upset you, you may want to avoid it.

Classification

The film has been given a 15 rating in the UK. Although violence is evident throughout the film, it is mostly too quick, in small spurts, to see much gore. There are one or two pretty nasty scenes (like the snake splat), but nothing too extreme. There is some strong language. The only thing that made me thing that maybe it should have been given an 18 rating is a rather explicit sex scene in the toilets, which, in my opinion, should really not be allowed in a 15 movie.

Conclusion

Although before watching this film I had only heard positive things, as is typical, when I mentioned having seen the film to others, there were mixed responses. One person hated the film, another thought it was alright, well, it does what it says on the tin - there are snakes, on a plane. Just based on this I get the impression this film is going to be like Marmite, you'll either love it or hate it. Lucky for me, I quite enjoyed it. I doubt most people would want to see this film more than twice, so it may not be best to buy the DVD. I watched it on T.V., and I think it is likely it will come on again, so it is worth catching if it does. For this reason only, however, I am recommending the film. The truth is, it really depends whether you can put up with the madness. 

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