I love movies, but I barely go to the theaters. In fact the last film that I saw in the theaters was Revenge of the Sith. I don’t go to the films primarily because I’ve got a great home theater set up and because it so damn expensive. I also tend to find that the crowd detracts my attention from the films. Whether it’s ringing cell phones, crying babies or just rude talkers, I’ve found that watching a DVD has more enjoyment then seeing a film.
When I first saw the buzz for Samuel L Jackson’s Snake’s on a Plane, my first reaction was to defenitely wait until this came out to DVD, but after seeing an audience participation script online and learning more about how Jackson’s used the internet to preserve the integrity entertainment of the film. I was convinced that this was one movie that wouldn’t be the same at home as it would in the theaters. When I got to the theater it was about half full and filled with mostly 20 – 30 year olds who had clearly read about the film online as well. During the movie people shouted out lines from the script and there was plently of laughing, cheering and ohh no they didn’t's throughout the whole film. When it was over most people actually sat through the credits and cheered.
It would be easy to overthink this film and dismiss the simple plot or the sometimes rough acting as a sign of how bad it is, but the truth is that if you go into the film with the lense of a critic then you will be disappointed, but if you go in wanting to see some bad ass mofo snakes on a mofo plane, then prepared to be very satisfied. In the same way that Chuck Norris movies kick ass even though they are so bad, there is a similar appeal to SoaP. It’s in your face, no holds back attitude is what ends up making this film work.