Snakes ( Mankind Has Found A New Enemy )

Let me begin by explaining who Phillip Roth is who is mentioned in my heading. He is the producer of this film as well as being producer of numerous other 'giant snake' films such as Python, Basilisk: The Serpent King (not quite a snake, but a giant snake shaped dragon) and Boa vs Python (which I have yet to see. He seems to have a passion for working on films which feature these giant reptiles. Boy, he even directed Boa (AKA: New Alcatraz). I enjoyed Python and kind of enjoyed Basilisk. I had slightly different feeling towards Boa due to it's inept story and pacing but still enjoyed it for an hilarious turn from Dean Cain and an ending which makes no real sense. As such I was holding out a bit of hope for this film.

Enough about the producer and onto the film.

The film is actually the sequel to the film Python which starred Casper van Dean and Robert Englund. This is mentioned nowhere on the box of the dvd which calls the film 'Snakes: Mankind has found a new enemy'. This new title appears nowhere on any film sites or even in the film. i only discovered it was the same film when looking at Phillip Roth's name on the box. The film also only features ONE snake and not the aformentioned 'Snakes' which implies multiple snakes.

I digress.

The film semi continues on from the previous Python film. I say semi as it is only really a sequel in both it's original name and the fact that William Zabka reprises his role from the first film. He is possibly the only good thing about this film. Where the original film proved to be amusing for almost it's entire run time (mainly due to the wonderful Robert Englund), this one fell apart in the opening moments. Gone are the amusing one liners, the bad acent put on by Casper Van Dean, the bomb defussing snake that is a master of disguise (yes you read that right 'BOMB DEFUSING'.) What we are left with is a boring 'Ten Little Indians' like story of a commando unit trying to capture an 85 foot snake that is running loose in a Russian military base.

The only thing worse than the opening action sequence that features the same soldiers dying repeatedly is what the film quickly digresses into. The acting was awful, I wasn't expecting anything otehr than hammy performances but boy i didn't even get that. In my opinion a small hamster sitting on a stationary piece of jam covered toast would deliver a better and more compelling acting performance than most of the actors in the film. William Zabka is the only person that i actually enjoed watching in the film. But it isn't just the acting. It's the special effects and the way they are thought out. The snake in the first film looked bad, but as you got into the film it was kind of believable. in this film it just looks like a metallic snake made with cgi.

I have to mention the fact that this 85FT snake manages to come out of a box whichg is about 6FT long. unless this snake is a magician it just isn't possible. Where does the other 59FT of the snake go? I know as you are reading this you may say; 'but it's a movie about a giant snake, it isn't meant to be believable.' I agree to a certain extent but when itis that unbelievable i'm just annoyed. no matter how hard you try you cannot fit an 85Ft snake in a box less than a tenth of it's size.

Sorry for the rambling.

When i watched this with some friends, none of us enjoyed it. one friend fell asleep, i started imagining a better film and my other friend just seemed like he wanted to cry.

I conclude by saying that even if you love giant sanke films DO NOT watch this film. It ahs almost no redeeming features. If anything, save your money and watch a small bird sitting in a tree or just go to the nearest zoo and look at a real snake. Although that snake may not be 85FT long, i can assure you that it is more plausible and would be far more enjoyable than this film. Another good option is to watch the first film numerous times just to see the wonderful bomb defusing snake in action.

I would love to own a bomb defusing snake! I wish they ahd just made this film about the snake's amazing skills. I dunno maybe they could make a film whree the snake becomes a sheriff and defusses bombs? It would make the film a lot more enjoyable.

I thank you for reading and bid you farewell. (I'm off to watch the first film again.)

I have no idea why this film isn't called Python 2 but in the UK, it has the worst name ever. Having said that William Zabka is the only tether between the two films and to be totally honest, I think the name was changed to stop this film from discrediting Python 1.

I hate to be blunt but this film is dull; remarkably dull. The setting is nothing compared to Boa, the characters are nothing compared to Python 1 and the action is nothing compared to Boa Vs Python. There aren't even fun moments such as bomb disposal, decapitation by tail, David Hasselhoff or amateur superheroes such as in other giant snake films. William Zabka is probably the best part of this film but he's nothing compared to Casper Van Dien's hilarious moustache/ accent and the brilliant Robert Englund.

In case you haven't gathered by now, I'm basically saying that every other giant snake film is better than this one but it still has plenty of elements that we love: CGI is adequate, acting is average, premise is silly, deaths are varied, gore is reasonable. But it just doesn't work, it's so boring and practically none of them excel enough to make up for the monotony. From Mega Snake to the Anaconda series, all are better than this and are far more enjoyable.

If I could recommend anything, buy this film for your collection (it's hardly expensive) but never actually watch it. Jump straight from Python to Boa Vs Python (because the storyline and events make close to no relevance except for one minor quote) and have one great evening with some giant snakes.