Who would have thought?
Although the movie generated the most Internet hype since "The Blair Witch Project," skepticism abounded about the Samuel L. Jackson thriller "Snakes on a Plane."
And after New Line Cinema announced last month that it would not be screening the flick for critics, many thought that was a sure sign that "SoaP" would be a bad movie.
So what's a blogger to do? How about switching up your viral marketing campaign and embrace the rumors with a "So-Bad-It's-Going-To-Be-Great" attitude.
But it turns out everybody was wrong, because this film is great — in it's own very workable way.
I know I'm not supposed to like it, but Jackson is right — he will be going home with the MTV Movie Award for Best Actor in the Best Movie next year!
"Snakes on a Plane" works on so many levels. First off, the casting by Mindy Marin, Heiki Brandstatter and Coreen Mayrs is excellent.
The actors, including Jackson, Julianna Margulies, Keenan Thompson, Rachel Blanchard and a slew of other babealicious players you've probably never heard of — make you believe, make you laugh and make you squirm appropriately.
After one passenger is attacked by a King Cobra while taking a leak, you'll laugh so hard you might have to visit the john yourself. Just don't take your eyes off the bowl, guys.
Director David R. Ellis tells David Dellasandro and John Heffernan's story so well by letting scenes play out with dialogue (Sebastian Gutierrez is also credited with the screenplay), amazing snake action, and the use of a SnakeCam — a green blur indicating the slippery serpents' point of view.
"SoaP" has FBI agent Nelville Flynn (Jackson) escorting a prosecution witness from Hawaii to Los Angeles so he can testify against the notorious Eddie Kim, a ruthless killer who's gotten away with murder for far too long.
Kim — played with a nice mixture of tough guy and cheese by journeyman actor Byron Lawson, loads the plane with dozens of poisonous snakes from around the globe, making the hunt for anti-venoms on the ground all the more difficult.
Meanwhile, up in the sky, snakes are busy wreaking havoc — biting, squeezing and eating whatever is in their path.
Blanchard plays Mercedes, a Paris Hilton-esque little rich girl toting the requisite chihuahua named Mary-Kate, with such aplomb you might forget she's really not Hilton herself.
Margulies is quite believable in her role as a flight attendant who's on her last tour of duty before departing for law school, and she strikes just the right poses as she helps Jackson slay those beasts.
And Thompson is hilarious as R&B star "Three G's" posse who eventually puts his obsession with video games to good use.
Keeping it reel, "Snakes on a Plane" delivers, and the fact that so many of you would have walked into this movie thinking it's going to be awful will only make it more enjoyable in the end.
Go ahead and let yourself like it. You just might.
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