The "10" rating is for this moving doing EXACTLY what it sets out to do, and never once straying from its mission. You get, as the title says, snakes on a plane. Lots of them. Poisonous too! To top it off, the drug lord who is trying to kill the federal witness that Agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) is charged with protecting.
The supporting cast is rather thin, because Jackson was a surprise lead who asked the director to be in the film, saying in interviews that this is the type of movie he always wanted to see on Saturday afternoons as a kid. A few studio execs had returned from a three-martini lunch, and, as is apparently custom in Hollywood, threw out some wild ideas in a meeting; one of them was to put killer snakes on a plane.
My main problem with this movie is not with its plot, but its excessive use of CGI. Producers and directors are in love with CGI, even though its quality will always be inferior to using the real thing. While one can get away with CGI for convenience, such as with a car crash that is not central to the plot, the use of obviously fake "snakes" (apparently 25 of them were real but 400 were not) definitely detracts. Creative filming and judicious use of close-ups on the snakes would have led to a far richer film experience. On the other hand, the graphics have a bit of an Ed Wood appeal, so even there they get by.
This is an unapologetic, old-school "B" movie of the type Jackson spoke of in interviews. Back in the old days, major stars would occasionally appear in films like this as a diversion, or for the same reason that Jackson appeared in this one. Because it's just plain FUN.
Too bad Christopher Walken didn't play the drug lord.
The supporting cast is rather thin, because Jackson was a surprise lead who asked the director to be in the film, saying in interviews that this is the type of movie he always wanted to see on Saturday afternoons as a kid. A few studio execs had returned from a three-martini lunch, and, as is apparently custom in Hollywood, threw out some wild ideas in a meeting; one of them was to put killer snakes on a plane.
My main problem with this movie is not with its plot, but its excessive use of CGI. Producers and directors are in love with CGI, even though its quality will always be inferior to using the real thing. While one can get away with CGI for convenience, such as with a car crash that is not central to the plot, the use of obviously fake "snakes" (apparently 25 of them were real but 400 were not) definitely detracts. Creative filming and judicious use of close-ups on the snakes would have led to a far richer film experience. On the other hand, the graphics have a bit of an Ed Wood appeal, so even there they get by.
This is an unapologetic, old-school "B" movie of the type Jackson spoke of in interviews. Back in the old days, major stars would occasionally appear in films like this as a diversion, or for the same reason that Jackson appeared in this one. Because it's just plain FUN.
Too bad Christopher Walken didn't play the drug lord.