The hype machine can do no more – it's opening day for Snakes On A Plane, and now its crunch time for a mighty marketing gamble. What will audiences make of a film that has been actively promoted as a B-grade movie, and indeed re-cut to make it trashier? It sounded like a fair enough question this morning, not to mention a great excuse to go down and see the first London screening this morning, so Empire trekked into the mighty multiplexes in search of answers.
And the word is… good. On the whole, it's getting a thumbs-up. Tom from London had a a highlight that immediately sprang to mind "It was worth it for that Samuel Jackson line, that Pulp Fiction moment - that was wicked." His friend Bevan (also a Londoner) concurred. "It wasn't an out-and-out spoof, but it had its tongue in its cheek just enough.There weren't any laugh-out-loud comedy moments," he continued, "but it was just funny for being so silly."
The movie also drew interest from tourists, with Sabrina of Paris only partly sold. "It was okay – sometimes it was as if they were trying too much, but it was fun."
Funnily enough (or not), the screening was notable for the number of familiar faces from the press who were present. One fellow journalist offered his comment entirely in poster quote-speak (no, we didn't realise people actually spoke that way in conversation either).
But what did Empire think? Well, the official Empire review is here. In the meantime, check out the pictures below from the Los Angeles premiere.