At this point, it feels like there’s no movie title from the past with even a slight amount of name recognition that a studio won’t seek to revive, so you’ve got to at least give Sony credit for going with an outside the box approach to a new version of Anaconda. Rather than the straightforward remake or legacy sequel approach one might expect, Anaconda 2025 begins with a meta take on the very idea of franchise revivals, focusing on a group of friends who are trying to produce their own reboot of the 1997 film.
With his Los Angeles acting career flailing, Griff (Paul Rudd) returns home to Buffalo, New York, wanting to relive his happy days of making goofy movies with his fellow cinephile pals growing up. Having secured the rights to one of their old favorites, Anaconda, he persuades his best friend, would-be director Doug (Jack Black), and their childhood buddies, Kenny (Steve Zahn) and Claire (Thandiwe Newton), to head to the Amazon to make their own ultra-cheap independent horror movie – only for an Anaconda-like situation to develop for real, when an actual giant snake begins to stalk them.
If you like Paul Rudd and Jack Black – and clearly many do – then you’ll enjoy them in Anaconda. Though both of them were considered part of the so-called comedy “Frat Pack” of the early aughts, and popped up in cameos together (they were John Lennon and Paul McCartney in Walk Hard) or in each other’s movies, this is their first time actually starring in a movie alongside one another. The two predictably make for a strong onscreen pairing, while playing to their comedic strengths, and you can certainly buy them as lifelong friends thanks to their easy chemistry. And though Black is very much doing his regular shtick for much of the film, there is an appreciated slight subversion from the expected dynamic in that Doug is the more cautious one of the duo – the one who has to be convinced to go on this crazy adventure by the more impulsive Griff.
I just wish Anaconda was more consistently funny. It starts out pretty strong, and the early scenes have some fun touches, like Doug’s boss (John Billingsley) at his wedding videographer job cheerfully telling him he should be happy about having a “B, B+ life.” And though this movie doesn’t ever turn into a full Hollywood satire (though maybe it should have?) in the way something like The Studio is, it definitely delivers some laugh out loud moments when it directly tackles reboot mania. I cracked up at the simple joke of seeing Doug call their movie script The Anaconda, because yes, of course, you gotta eventually reach the The-titled installment of a franchise.
But when the group arrives in the Amazon to actually make their movie, the laughs become a lot more spread out. The appealing stars help keep things gently amusing even during its lulls, but it feels like there should be a lot more standout comedy scenes then we get. Things do eventually pick up again, as the threat of the massive anaconda that’s killing those in the vicinity grows, and we get more outlandish and wild moments, but it’s still hit or miss in the joke department.
As far as any actual horror elements to this horror-inspired comedy, some sneak in. There’s a couple of jump scares that are actually effective, and some decently exciting moments involving a very large, very fast snake slithering after its prey at an appropriately unrealistic speed for this type of story – and even a mangled corpse or two along the way. But it feels like the movie is holding back on fully exploiting these hapless guys suddenly finding themselves actually living the over-the-top movie they’re making and that even more comedy could be mined from them stumbling into macabrely funny scenarios.
Writer/Director Tom Gormican and his co-writer, Kevin Etten, are clearly attracted to meta narratives, having previously made The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, in which Nicolas Cage starred as Nicolas Cage. Like that movie, Anaconda is gently enjoyable and yet also feels like it’s not completely fully formed after an entertaining setup. The chance encounter our heroes have with an actual big-budget Sony movie production, for instance, feels like it could be used in a much bigger and funnier manner than the bits and pieces we get here. And Gormican’s straightforward direction is sometimes at odds with potentially darkier or edgier elements along the way, diminishing their humor and impact as a result.
Among the supporting cast, Zahn brings his usual offbeat charm to the pill popping Kenny, but despite Newton clearly being game to shake up her resume with a much sillier, wackier project than her norm, Claire remains a pretty blank slate throughout the movie beyond providing a potential love interest for Rudd. Daniela Melchior is believably tough and scrappy as a local who’s on the run from some nefarious types and ends up alongside Doug and Griff by happenstance, though Selton Mello stands out the most as the film-within-a-film’s snake wrangler. There’s just something very entertaining about the eccentricities Mello brings to the part, including his great delivery when he earnestly describes something as “snakey.” Some of his dialogue and how he lovingly describes snakes is clearly influenced by Jon Voight in the original Anaconda; a legendarily weird performance that is directly referenced by the characters within this new movie.
If you like Rudd and Black, Anaconda is a harmless trifle that isn’t a bad way to pass the time over the holidays, given its “amusing enough” nature. But it also feels like a missed opportunity to do something more wild and clever with its meta narrative to get the most out of this self-aware plotline… And come on, how can neither Griff or Doug ever mention that there’s been a Lake Placid vs. Anaconda movie!?
Lastly, I have to note how funny it is that Sir Mix-a-Lot’s catchy and beloved 1992 ode to large butts, “Baby Got Back,” has become the de facto theme song of the new Anaconda, despite not actually relating to the movie at all, because why would it? Beyond its heavy use in the trailers, “Baby Got Back” is played twice in the final film, both during the story itself and over the closing credits. And all because of a single lyric where the word “anaconda” is included as a euphemism for a penis. Enjoy the royalties, good Sir, you’ve earned them.
Five Snake Horror Movies to Watch Before the ANACONDA Reboot.
