The 2006 cult classic James Gunn can’t stand: “It’s not really funny”
Few people have benefited from the rise of superhero cinema more than James Gunn.
After initially setting the world on fire with Guardians of the Galaxy, he then crossed over from Marvel to DC, spearheading the relaunch of their own cinematic universe with 2025’s Superman. I thought that film was one giant pile of Kryptonian krap, but even I have to admire how well Gunn has done for himself over the past decade or so.
The writer-director came from very humble beginnings. Gunn got his start with Troma Entertainment, the low-budget studio best known for giving the world The Toxic Avenger… Don’t let that one hit fool you, though – most of the rest of their output is complete tosh.
The first movie he received a writing credit on, Tromeo and Juliet, is utterly appalling, even by Troma’s low standards. It was exactly what Gunn needed to kickstart his career, though. He was able to translate working for Troma into writing screenplays for the likes of Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead, one of his favourite movies growing up.
You might think this would give Gunn a bit more sympathy towards other B-movies. You thought wrong. Speaking to IGN while promoting his film Slither, the subject of the recently released Snakes on a Plane came up. On the surface, the movie had a lot in common with Gunn’s oeuvre: horror/thriller movies with a ridiculous twist. That’s not how he saw things, however.
“I don’t like that movie that much, and it’s not really funny,” he said. “It’s funny to laugh at, but the movie itself is not funny, so Snakes on a Plane is not really a horror-comedy…”
Adding, “Slither is a lot more like Basket Case or, to some extent, The Fly, or From Dusk till Dawn, or Evil Dead II, these movies that knew they were humorous from the beginning, because I really think that Snakes on a Plane shifted mid-stream to be funny, and originally it was supposed to be serious.”
Directed by David R Ellis, Snakes on a Plane stars Samuel L Jackson (who only agreed to do the movie because he thought it would be funny) as an FBI agent escorting a witness to the high-profile trial of a mob boss… In an attempt to save his own skin, the mob boss arranges for the plane the witness is travelling on to be filled with venomous snakes – it really is that simple.
Gunn is bang on the money with his assessment. While films like Evil Dead II and From Dusk till Dawn wink at the audience over how silly they are, the comedy from Snakes on a Plane comes from the film taking itself so seriously. It’s funny in spite of itself. That’s not a bad thing, though. There’s a reason it still has such a cult following.
Maybe that’s why Nick Fury never appeared in any of Gunn’s Marvel movies. It was just too painful for the director to be the same guy who reminded him of those motherfuckin’ snakes on that motherfuckin’ plane.
