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The more you think about Jackson's kick-ass personality on screen in Snakes on a Plane, the more Rabin's equally muscular writing style makes sense. Interestingly, though, the composer was forced to leave behind many of his trademark writing traits for Snakes on a Plane, stretching into the generic fright territory and thus diminishing the listenability that he usually instills upon his scores with easy harmony, power anthems, or, at the very least, obvious thematic continuity. The film wouldn't allow for Rabin to convey a sense of massive grandeur to go with his horror material, as he did in another ridiculous "Jackson versus freaky animal" situation, Deep Blue Sea. Thus, the score is sufficient but undeniably boring. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Rabin's approach to Snakes on a Plane, however, is the fact that it is substantially orchestral. Whereas one would expect him to pound and rip with grating synthetic tones, the majority of the work, outside of the use of pads and samples for percussion, is organic. He even attempts to apply some intelligent instrumental performance techniques to represent the snakes as well, instructing those players to pluck with prickly, sinister tones alongside equally uncomfortable woodwind sounds. The handling of the latter section is remarkably adept at times, with the flutes' usual wailing for moments of terror sometimes yielding to solos for oboe and bassoon that are unnecessary sophisticated for this context; listen to the final minute or so in "Serpent Situation" for such highlights. He keeps the listener on edge with this skittish and nervous method of staccato performances, intensifying them by accelerating their meter when approaching a kill on screen. You can hear this dominant sound immediately in "Snakes on Crack" and through later renditions that add a layer of grinding metallic sound effects to the high range shrieking of the nebulous motif. Rabin does offer two themes to Snakes on a Plane, but not with the consistency you'd expect from him or want to hear. There is no narrative arc within this score, in part because the two themes are never given the opportunity to develop much beyond the tone of their initial identities.

The first theme in Snakes on a Plane is an extremely simplistic series of three notes, conveyed on keyboard in contemporary mode to represent a quiet sense of modern coolness. This theme is heard in the middle portions of "Snakes on Crack" and "Serpent Situation," the end of "Snakes Kill," and in the latter half of the closing "Evacuation" suite. The other theme is one that recalls more wholesome Rabin ideas of the past (starting and ending on key), a hopeful melody for humanity contained mostly to the beginnings of "Snakes Kill" and "Evacuation." Outside of these thematic applications, Snakes on a Plane is a completely anonymous score. Aside from the gentler attitude of "Snakes Kill" and "Serpent Situation," it's a shock-fest that does little to remain a place in your memory. A dose of rock coolness is infused in the electric guitar and/or snazzy loops of "Escape" and "Snake Kabob" (with some assistance from Rabin's assistant, Paul Linford). The first minute of "Evacuation" closes with a statement of the humanity theme in brazen Bill Conti form, complete with rock percussion and hip trumpet counterpoint. The 2007 album presentation of the score doesn't include any of the songs officially licensed for the film or those created by the fans in anticipation of it (all of those are contained on a separate album), leaving Rabin's contribution to hold 37 minutes of your attention by itself. That's a difficult task, however, and by the time "Evacuation" concludes with a hidden sequence largely repeating one of the many sudden stingers from the score (and, most closely, the one from "Snakes Kill"), you can't do much more than roll your eyes. It's not out of bounds to say that expectations for Rabin in Snakes on a Plane were not met, especially given the hope that he would accentuate Jackson's performance with more hip, contemporary elements (as emphasized in the re-shoots conducted many months after primary photography had wrapped, though perhaps the score was already recorded by then) or handle the topic with the tongue lodged a little more firmly in the cheek. By playing it straight, he falls into the trap of writing music that gets lost in the generic process of pinpointing each scare tactic. It succeeds in making you generally uncomfortable, but does so with a nearly total absence of style.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Trevor Rabin reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.5 (in 12 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.63 (in 13,621 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 37:10