Is it possible to be disappointed in a movie because it exceeded your expectations? If it is, Snakes on a Plane is the film that will do it. Defying expectations, the much-hyped, mile-high thrill ride starring Samuel L. Jackson isn't so bad it's good, it's actually good, which is almost a problem.
While the internet buzz surrounding Snakes made the film a cult classic weeks, even months before its release, the finished product is surprisingly polished for a movie that everyone expected to be awful. There's only one part of Snakes that's laughably bad, and that's the plot.
In case you missed the film's title, the premise is that there are snakes on a plane. Granted, it's a little more complicated than that -- a notorious gangster kills a cop, and the only murder witness is en route to his court date when the aforementioned snakes are released in an attempt to bring the plane he's on down. Really, the whole film can be reduced to the interplay between the snakes and Samuel L. Jackson, playing calm and collected FBI agent Neville Flynn. While the demand for the role is one-dimensional, Jackson hits his stride from his first frame and does much to carry the film. The rest of the cast, with notables Kenan Thomspon (Saturday Night Live) and David Koechner (Anchorman, Talladega Nights) do a fine job in portraying panicked passengers.
As for the snakes, well, they're awesome too. No body part goes unbitten, and many will have you wincing in pain (and laughing at the horror of it all). Most snakes appearing in the film are computer generated, and the decent rendering combined with the gloomy interior of the plane makes for some convincing reptiles.
Despite the combined awesomeness of Samuel L. Jackson and a planeload of snakes, Snakes seems to find itself in something of a jam. Simply put, after the first two dozen snake attacks, the novelty of snakes on a plane starts to wear off. The rest of the movie is spent watching the passengers try to keep their wits about them while chuckling at the more obscene snake and passenger deaths. Obnoxious product placements hamper a viewer's attempt to "get into" the film, as much as any movie titled Snakes on a Plane can be seriously gotten into. While the ways in which survivors ultimately triumph are clever and amusing, there isn't a whole lot of meat to the premise. So, the film as a whole rests heavily upon Samuel L. Jackson's formidable persona.
The saving grace that elevates Snakes on a Plane above mediocrity is the audience itself. If you haven't seen the film yet, you should probably wait until it comes out on DVD or at Newcomb and round up your friends. Audience participation makes Snakes something greater than the sum of its parts. If you're surrounded by people cheering every time Samuel L. Jackson kills a snake, then you'll certainly enjoy the experience, if not the film itself.
In the end, Snakes on a Plane is a fun movie, in large part because its fans make it so. Not bad enough to be so bad it's good, and not good enough to seriously sell its ridiculous premise, it's nonetheless a fun ride with Samuel L. Jackson and the cuddliest critters you'll see in theaters this year.
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