Snakes on a Plane - R

Bloody B-movie spoof isn't for kids.

Rating: R for language, a scene of sexuality and drug use, and intense sequences of terror and violence Studio: New Line Cinema Directed By: David Ellis Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies, Rachel Blanchard Running Time: 105 minutes Release Date: 08/18/2006 Genre: Comedy

Common Sense Note

Parents should know that the film isn't for kids. It features frequent jump scenes, with snakes falling or darting out of compartments or from under the camera frame. On-screen or implied deaths are frequent and bloody (man killed with baseball bat, shoot-out leaves bodies, many characters bitten by venomous snakes, producing swelling wounds and visible blood). A couple has sex in the bathroom (and also disable the smoke detector so they can smoke a joint), and are immediately killed by snakes. Infant and children are threatened by snakes; a little boy is bitten, producing gross wound from which a woman sucks the poison (leading to crude comment from observer, who also wants her to suck his hand). Characters chop and smash snakes. Characters use frequent bad language, especially the term often associated with Samuel L. Jackson ("motherf--er").

Families can talk about the fear that planes generate. Why are snakes scary (and how are they exaggerated here to seem slithery, cold-eyed creatures)? How impossible would it be to get a crate full of 300 snakes on a plane? How does the film use clichés and stereotypes (the fat Asian woman, the selfish black rapper, the gay-seeming flight attendant, the noble female flight attendant), and how are these comic or offensive?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs

True to its title, SNAKES ON A PLANE doesn't offer much beyond this basic plot point. It offers some rudimentary setup: Hawaii vacationer Sean (Nathan Philips) witnesses a drug kingpin (Byron Lawson) murdering his legal prosecutor. Instantly targeted for death himself, Sean is rescued by federal agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson), who devises to escort him back to the States to testify.

In order to hide Sean from the bad guys, Flynn and his dead-meat partner set up the kid in first class on a commercial airliner, which leaves displaced passengers -- including snotty Brit Paul (Gerald Plunkett), rapper Three Gs (Flex Alexander), and Paris-Hiltonish Mercedes (Rachel Blanchard) angry. No matter: Within minutes, the snakes that have been smuggled on board are awakened and let loose, as the audience cheers, expecting mayhem.

The chaos is episodic and ridiculous, producing lots of swollen, bloodied bodies as well as stiffly delivered bad dialogue. Flynn and the sensible flight attendant Claire (Julianna Margulies) are plainly the couple-to-be, and they valiantly fight off the menace posed by the snakes and the mostly idiotic (that is, set up to die) passengers. They are helped in their efforts by the many-times-bitten copilot Rick (David Koechner) and Three Gs' video game fanatic bodyguard Troy (Kenan Thompson) (you can guess what role he'll play by film's end).

As kooky and deliberately "bad" as Snakes tries to be, it's mostly just unimaginative. The main action is more repetitive than clever (snakes slide and bite, victims clutch wounds and gasp). For a movie that seems aware of its predecessors, you'd expect more intelligence concerning what made those B-movies so much fun. Their cheesiness was not arrogant or presumptive; it was strange, shrewd, and unexpected.

Families who like this movie might want to see Airport, Airplane!, or Final Destination and Final Destination 2, which is also directed by Snakes' David Ellis.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Three Gs signs fan's breast (and holds it); on the plane, a couple has sex in the bathroom, stripping off each other's shirts (close-ups show legs, man's chest, woman's passionate face); seen from behind, man pees and snake jumps up to bite his penis; several references to masturbation and sex; repeated gay and homophobic jokes involving gay-seeming flight attendant.
Violence Frequent bloody violence, graphic but obviously fake; villain kills prosecutor by smashing head with baseball bat (blood sprays on villain, victim off-screen); a scene with wild gunfire; on the plane, snakes bite ferociously, at various body parts (eye, penis, breast, neck, etc.), usually drawing blood; when a child is bitten, his swollen hand produces grotesque pus; characters die on screen, their bodies left in frame as "props" to indicate the snakes' ongoing threat; characters fight back with axe and fire extinguisher (to chop/smash snakes, and produce blood and gore).
Language 20+ "f--k"s, in addition to multiple uses of other curse words.
Message
	Social Behavior Villains are brutal; victims are ignorant and killed crazily (to shock and entertain viewers); heroes are stoic, obnoxious, and selfless.
	Commercialism Red Bull.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Couple smokes a joint while having sex in bathroom; woman drinks from flask; nervous flyer asks for gin and tonic; hearing that the snakes are responding to pheromones sprayed in the plane, Flynn calls them "Snakes on crack."