Terror at 40,000 feet

When the Internet buzz over "Snakes on a Plane" started this past spring, most everyone assumed the film would either be so totally over-the-top it would rival "Bad Boys II" for pure popcorn ridiculousness, or be just another formula horror flick that somehow managed to grab a big-name actor to generate box-office revenue. David R. Ellis' much-hyped "Snakes" actually manages to be a little bit of both, with a healthy dose of "Scream"-style self-deprecation thrown in for good measure. Think Jules Winnfield meets "Anaconda" at 40,000 feet.\n As for the particulars, Samuel L. Jackson is an FBI agent in charge of escorting a critical witness (Nathan Phillips) on a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles to offer his testimony in court. Those he plans to testify against are none too happy about it, and decide to release several hundred ill-tempered snakes on- you know it - the plane. The snakes are released, passengers are attacked and Jackson goes into hero mode. From there on, "Snakes" plays on two of humankind's greatest post-9/11 fears: commercial air travel and deadly serpents\n The fact is that without the presence of Jackson in the lead role, this movie wouldn't work, nor would the massive hype have surrounded it in the first place. Sans Sam, we'd have just another Sci-Fi Channel original movie of the month to grapple with. Jackson, as Neville Flynn, bleeds the same intensity that made some of his most memorable characters (Zeus Carver, Elijah Prince, Mr. SeZor Love Daddy) memorable, and you can tell he's having a damn good time starring in a movie with no critical expectations.\nIt's also thankful that, once the buzz began to overtake this movie, Ellis and Jackson decided to reshoot for an R-rating, since it's difficult to imagine "Snakes" at PG-13. It would be like watching "Friday the 13th Part V" on TNT; all machete swinging and no gore or bare breasts in sight. At least now we have snakes biting every conceivable body part and couples eagerly joining the mile-high club.\nSpeaking of the snakes themselves, the special effects don't look nearly as bad as one might assume, though Industrial Light & Magic they are not. Some of the snakes look more realistic than others, and a few look as cartoonish as the shoddiest work Roger Corman ever puked up. Fortunately, the limitations of a grainy theater screen give most of this a pass, but DVD should be far less kind.\n In many ways, "Snakes on a Plane" is the perfect cult movie that people might still be watching years from now. In other ways, it's the perfect straight-to-video cable original that could end up on shelves beside such classics as "Boa vs. Python," "Mansquito" and "Chupacabra: Dark Seas." The difference, heightened production values aside, is Sam Jackson, and while his claim at this year's MTV Movie Awards that "Snakes" will win Best Movie in 2007 are doubtful, he's a virtual lock for Best Male Performance.