Snake Outta Compton

But OH BOY IS THIS MOVIE BAD. Only looking at its cover makes me cringe even more again. What a waste of time.

I'm not sure if this was just less garbage than I thought or I'm so tired I hallucinated the whole thing, but it was surprisingly watchable.

I do not think Indian Jones is being spoofed in this movie/comedy. But I had to use that pun - it was right there, ripe for the taking and all that. The movie does make fun of a lot of other movies though. And it starts with Snakes on a plane - I am quite sure it is not Samuel L. Jackson we here at the beginning - be we do see a snake that is being disposed out of a plane.

Snakes have to come from somewhere right? And the next spoof is on its way - literally. Because the snake is going to fall on a police car. With the obvious dig at the movie Training Day. The title is even mentioned in the dialog. In case you would miss the joke.

And so while we do have a few things that really work quite nicely, we also have those things that are too on the nose. Overall this is a low budget movie - and it is meant to be taken with suspended disbelief. Maybe you will dig it, maybe you won't ... it is as ridiculous as it can be though. Depends on how you like your movies and how much slack you are able to cut.

I've been a huge fan of the works of Hank Braxtan since I saw his fan film Freddy VS the Ghostbusters. I've watch Hank grow as an artist over the years from his first feature film release Chemical Peel to his killer polar bear film, Unnatural. Hank knows how to use even the smallest budget to its advantage. He knows how to culture fantastic performances from his actors. He also knows how to mix CGI with practical FX, something a lot of directors of this generation still need to learn. Hank Braxtan is an artist. Snake Outta Compton is his latest and best work to date. It is a cool sci fi/horror/comedy full of parodies of a number of great films. It features a fun soundtrack of original raps. This film is a fun popcorn film that you can pair with a number of other similar fun popcorn films like Bad Ass Spider or Vampires of Zanzabar. This is a fun film that doesn't take itself seriously and that is its charm. That is why I say it is destined to be a cult classic. I look forward to Hank's next outing...WORD.

Snake Outta Compton (2018) offers an intelligent script, combining the ridiculous with ridicule and subtle parody. However, despite the participation of five credited writers, it feels under-written. The producers did a reasonable job, working with an evidently limited budget. The special effects are rudimentary, but not laughably amateurish. The actors all seem invested in their roles. Some of the humor is sophisticated, particularly a dream sequence involving Rutherford B. Hayes and two deceased rappers.

It's possible to produce memorable, critically respected, financially successful films on modest budgets. Movies that come to mind include Kenny (2006), Dark Star (1974), Clerks (1994), Locke (2013) and Dinner Rush (2000), although not all were equally successful on each criterion. If one strips away all the elements of blockbusters that aren't available on shoestring budgets, such as A-list talent, huge casts of Bollywood dancers, car chases through throngs of tourists at exotic locations, armies of animation artists, specially constructed cities, 70mm Panavision cameras, etc., the one critical element is a brilliant script. SOC has a good script, but it's not good enough to overcome the production limitations, even with heartfelt performances and competent editing and production values.