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Codex Atanicus
Codex Atanicus is a three story anthology by Spanish director Carlos Atanes. Before watching the movie I never heard of the guy, but the introduction video on the DVD by one of his regular actresses Arantxa Peņa made me realize that I'm in for a hell of a ride. Experimental, bizarre, sick, strange - these are some of the words that describe the stories contained in Codex Atanicus. The anthology is opened by a 20 minute short from 1995 called Metaminds & Metabodies. I am really not into this kind of experimental videos, but I will try to summarize. It opens with a girl singing in the club. Everything looks ultra underground and the girl is connected with some wires to the walls. Strange people are watching her...
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Movie Review: Snakes on a Plane

Story
Sean Jones witness a mobster named Kim murder a prosecutor in Hawaii and when Kim's people tries to take Sean out, FBI Agent Nelville Flynn comes to his rescue. Flynn wants Sean to testify against Kim, and in order to do so, he needs to take Sean to Los Angeles. Taking over the whole first class section of Pacific Air Flight 121, Flynn figures that Sean will have a safe trip. But Kim doesn't give up easily and have placed a crate containing hundreds of poisonous snakes on the plane, ready to kill the witness and everyone else on-board.

Comments
There has been a lot of hype for Snakes on a Plane for what feels like a really long time now, and while I really don't understand all the hype, I still thought it was a pretty damn entertaining flick. With a title like Snakes on a plane, one had to wonder how much they could actually accomplish with a title like that. I mean, basically the title says it all and there was really not much else to it. You get what you expect and that is tons of snakes that are on a plane, attacking the passengers and with a hero to defend the poor people that is Samuel L. Jackson. I must admit that I had my fears that Jackson would be over-the-top macho and way to stereotyphical, and while he might be macho and all that, I still think he was perfect for the part and his character actually came out looking much better than I first had thought it would.

It started off quite bad actually, with a scene where a mobster and his guys are killing a prosecutor in Hawaii. It just looked like your standard type of B-action flick that I personally couldn't care less for, but fortunately, things got better. The crock that is Kim is soon out of the way and we are introduced to something much more evil, and that being the vicious snakes. I must also admit that the snakes looked great, and while I'm not a big fan of CG, it worked wonders here. It also helped a great deal that the film had this 70-80's feeling to it and that it offered plenty of cheese, but never so it became too ridiculous, infact, it was just the right amount. The feeling of watching an old disaster flick from the late 70's were definitely there as well.

Snakes on a Plane Snakes on a Plane

One thing that really surprised me was how well some of the humour worked, especially early on in the movie. This combined with some serious amount of ass-kicking and plenty of action sure made for one good ride on the disaster train. The plot might be paper-thin but if you're just looking for some fun explosive action, this is an excellent pick. On the negative side, the character development was far from great, or even good for that matter, but with so much entertain stuff going on at all times, who needs it? The fact is that I was pretty much sure that I would not like Snakes on a Plane, some of that had to do with all the nerds clinging to it like crazy and all the internet hype which seemed like it would never stop. But the fact is that I actually liked it, not half as much as the nerds, but if you're up for this type of film, Snakes is definitely worth the money.

The acting is solid for this type of flick and even though it has this B feeling to it every now and then, sometimes it actually rose above all that and proved that it could be more, and that's worth a lot in my book. Another thing I really liked about Snakes was that it's a great experience when talking about watching movies for what they truly are, and for the fact that you could turn off your brain and just enjoy the ride. A lot of movies makes you think, other movies bore you and while I'm not saying that it's bad to think, watching Snakes was just one solid movie experience for the fact that you knew that you're only watching a movie and that it doesn't touch on anything that you can really relate to. It's just a great cinematic experience that kicks ass for 105 minutes and leaves you with a smile on your face. I guess you have to be in the right kind of mood for this, but if you are, it's pretty darn great.

Final Comments
Now, since I've basically only have had positive things to say about Snakes on a Plane, one figures that I should give it a higher rating than seven, but the thing is that while it might be really entertaining and all that, that is also the only thing it really is. Since I saw it, I haven't spent a minute thinking about it and it was just entertaining for the time being. You'll probably have a good time when watching it, but only for those 105 minutes alone, after that it's just another flick that you've seen which really means nothing. High ratings goes to movies that stays with you long after they're finished, and while Snakes was a hell of an entertaining flick, it was also over when it was over if you know what I'm saying.

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Snakes on a Plane

ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Anaconda 3
Flight 121
Pacific Air 121
S.O.A.P.
Venom
MOVIE YEAR: 2006
DIRECTOR: David R. Ellis
WRITING CREDITS: John Heffernan, Sebastian Gutierrez
GENRE: Horror, Action, Thriller
CAST: Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies, Nathan Phillips
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 105 min

RATING: 7/10

Snakes on a Plane Website/IMDB Click here
Snakes on a Plane Trailer Click here

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