OMG Snakes on a Plane starring Samuel L Jackson

[Tyler E. Martin]

[Andrew Nguyen]

Every time I read this I can't help but laugh at the stupidity of the title of the movie, and the idea behind it.


What the heck is Hollywood addictied on these days huh.

[Ultraseven]

[Bladefist]

[emeGoji]

[emeGoji]

[lhb412]

[kiryugoji04]

[lhb412]

Sorry about that, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it might sound even cooler in Spanish.

[Ultraseven]

Spanish: "Serpientes en un Avión". Good for the french! they kept the campy title.

[kiryugoji04]

[CyHunter]

[MouthForWar]

[Masterz1337]

[Elliot Gay]

[MouthForWar]

[Gfan54]

[emeGoji]

[CyHunter]

From my :

I'm a survivor of Flight 121.

Whew. Okay, the "blogosphere" has been full of commentary on the subject, so nothing I'm going to say in the following paragraph will be original. However, it's a necessary backdrop to the rest of the writing, so I'll be succinct.

Every once in a while a media-dubbed "phenomenon" will sprout. But usually, these are products of a fallout, not a buildup. The grandaddy of these in Hollywood is, of course, the Star Wars explosion in May of 1977. It completely changed the notion of how cinema interacted with pop culture and the resulting paradigm shift opened up whole new industries of merchandise marketing and "buzz" advertising. But Snakes on a Plane is different - a uniquely 21st-century notion, an appropriately uncontrollable beast of internet-driven voluntary hype. If you're perpetually on the precipice of "twenty minutes into the future", to quote the intro of a certain faux-digitized MTV commentator/talk show host/sci-fi character/New Coke spokesperson, you know of what I speak: The line "I've had it with these mother****ing snakes on this mother****ing plane!" was no doubt engrained into your conciousness months before the possibilty to see it uttered by Mr. Samuel L. Jackson on-screen was a reality.

But going into the theater tonight (at the first-showing 10:00 PM), I knew the' phenomenon' would be forever remebered, regardless of whether the film delivered or not. After all, the story of how a writer's blog about his involvement in a film with the seemingly-unmarketable moniker "Snakes on a Plane" became an internet windstorm, snowballing into the creation of a fanbase composed entirely of fans who had never ever seen the then-unfinished film in question, would be history enough. Still, it would be a bit of a drag to have that story tarnished by the footnote that the film's release onto an entirely-too-suspecting public was met with the same kind of reaction that met the aforementioned New Coke. Therefore, even though it would undoubtably be a fun experience going with my friends and meeting a few school chums along the way no matter what happened, there's a part of my mind that was wondering how a movie with this kind of plot could possibly sustain itself over a runtime of nearly two hours.

As the theater filled up (they even had a police officer on hand, perhaps in case any wiseguys decided a real-life "Snakes in a Theater" would be a good idea) and a few last-minute buddies joined our fold - everoyne in the row I was in had a first or second-degree relation to one another, something I've never been a part of before - the trailers began. It became clear the beautiful part of this experience would be that the entire audience would be on the same wavelength - the trailer for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was met with immidiate cheers, laughs, and "w00ts" upon the gracing of Sasha Baron Cohen's mustached visage, as anyone in on the "Snakes on a Plane" joke enough to show up to the premiere was certainly by now in on the Borat joke as well. Finally, the film began, and upon its eerily kung-fu beginnings involving a Korean gangster, a unexpecting witness, and a gun-toting Sam Jackson assigned to protect him, it bagan to sink in that "it" was finally happening. And by the point in the film where the snakes are released aboard Pacific Air 121 and make their first bite, the audience's cheers and hollers signified an ecstact release of mass anxiousness - finally, we could stand by relieved of that doubting part of our minds as we knew that, yes, Snakes on a Plane was everything we'd hoped it would be, and much, much more. Yes, there are mother****ing snakes on a mother****ing plane. But there's also a copious amount of dialogue-driven humor and even a plentiful source of suspense as the situation goes from bad to worse in logical, almost-believable-but-never-boring plotting that unwinds in Hitchcockian fashion like a cleverly-designed machine whose inventor knew exactly what he was doing. Yes, it's unashamed to be a phobia-exploiting horror-action movie made in the same vein as any number of forgettable Sci-Fi Channel Original Pictures, but the difference is that SoaP also has a fairly solid script and a cast of performers who deliver memorable, entertaining, and appropriately likable/unlikable characters who you root for or want to get it. And the movie knows what you want, and gives it to you in spades. You see, snakes on a plane are obviously a menace because they're "snakes" plus "you" in a contained space, but really, there's not many other places to take that beyond smashing snakes with whatever one can find. And yes, you want to see that. So the movie gives you your fill of that. But, by the second act, you're going to want something more. Well, the movie knows this as well, and decides that snakes on a plane also means lots of technical issues with the delicate wiring and life support systems on an aircraft...an aircraft flying over the ocean in the middle of the tropical storm from Hell. Every time Sam Jackson and a cast of dozens seem to have figured out what's going on, something else happens to keep the movie moving. And the process of going from Point X to Point Y is never rote or dull, even when it involves the same seemingly-tedious devices you've seen in a million other movies - because it's a joy to see it done with such precision and, most importantly, a sense of fun. This movie is not a spoof of bad slasher movies, but it's not actually a bad slasher movie, either...it's not even a "tribute" to bad slasher movies, like a Kill Bill or anything...it's something else entirely...it's Snakes on a Plane.

As you may know, I'm a longtime fan of the Japanese Godzilla series, and on many occasions have ventured to some LA-based theater to congregate with a few hundred fellow fans and watch a classic favorite or two. And that's always an amazing experience as well. But the difference is that in those situations, you know you'll like the movie, and you know everyone else will like the movie - you've seen it a thousand times before on worn-out VHS tapes or a subtitled bootleg DVD. And that theater is the only venue in which the event is occuring, and you're not even there with your closest friends - they'd just think you're nutty. But with Snakes on a Plane, you know the same scene has been playing out in hundreds of theaters at the exact same time on the West Coast, and thousands of theaters across the nation but a few hours earlier. And you're there with your friends, family, neighbors, schoolmates, whoever - and everyone, wether you know them or not, is, for once, "in on the joke".

I've never seen so many absolutely gleefully-smiling guys and girls exit out of a movie theater, all hugging each other, quoting lines, laughing, remarking about their favorite gross-out moment or unexpected thrill, and feeling like they were actually on the plane through every turbulent moment up until the final shot. I can't say that it would be nearly as much fun without a live audience to surround it, but I doubt that will be much of a problem: Something tells me we'll be seeing revival showings of this one for a long, long time.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the fright.


P.S.: Thanks again to Krystle for the SoaP lobby poster!

[emeGoji]

"OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" great write up Cy. This film was just on another plane (heh) of existence. The synergy between the film and the audience was just incredible and almost indescribable. It was like Star Wars and Rocky Horror had a grotesquely beautiful love child.

I need to sleep, but I'm just too pumped after this.

[CyHunter]

[RyanClark]

[Elliot Gay]

[gojira_fan]

[Elliot Gay]