Snakes on a Plane

So usually, I turn up my nose at monster/creature/slasher flicks, but I have been intrigued by the whole SoaP thing. I first heard about it ages ago, and it sounded pretty darn amusing. So when Mr. Duck, who luuuuuurves the monster/creature/slasher flicks got off early today, we went to catch it.

Loved it.

It started off all cheap tv-movie style, following some hotshot showing off his rad moves on his motorcycle in the Hawaiian countryside, like some movie about the underdog coming from behind and kicking ass at the motocross finals might start. And then it went kinda Jackie Chan, with the hero unwittingly witnessing a brutal killing by an over the top Asian-American mobster. And then it went all cheesy cops-interogate the guy as the melodramatic music swells. And then we got to the airport, and witnessed The Lineup of Stock Characters - witness the sexy stews, one of whom just got into law school, the famous rapper and his posse, the Hitlon-wannabe heiress, the newlyweds, the kids flying alone, the uptight businessman, and the list goes on.

And then, we get to the plane, and yeah, it was fun. Giggled my ass off. The movie makers were just over the top enough, without making it dumb, and didn't take themselves seriously for a second. For instance, the snakes were, by and large, true to real-life sizes, and many were identifiable even to a snake-plebe like me. They included a method of driving the snakes all crazy, so they would get hyper-aggressive. Lots of people died, in icky ways.

But they made it fun - the snakes didn't go for the ankles, oh no. They went for nipples and eyes and necks (accept for those characters who were supposed to survive a while). The snakes were literally jumping and holding themselves out perpendicular from their victims while biting - not too realistic, but an effective graphic. At this point, it was straight up Sci-fi movie of the week, but somewhat higher budget. Awesome.

And then, it went all airplane-in-jeopardy, amature-has-to-land-the-plane cliche. Why? Because it had to. They could only show snake deaths in so many ways, and they had run out of cabins for the characters to retreat to. So they said hey, we are on a plane here! There are dozens more cliches we could incorporate! That they did so is a testament, in my opinion, to the high artisitic integrity of the filmakers. ;-)

Sooooooo much fun.

And while driving home, Mr Duck and I couldn't stop reciting the tag line, which half of the theatre recited with Samuel Jackson. All in all, there was a plane, and lots of snakes, and it was awesome. Highly recommended for a good brainless giggle.