(2025) Anaconda - Hilarious Reboot of the Popular Horror Movie

When my wife and I saw glimpses of the trailer to this movie more than a week ago, obviously we wanted to see it as soon as we could. But since it was released on the day when we were not available, we only saw it two days ago on another movie marathon day. All right then, let's just get on with it.

Brief Story Line

Four childhood friends that consisted of Doug McCallister (Jack Black - A Minecraft Movie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie etc) who had been working as wedding videographer, small time actor Ronald Gtiffin (Paul Rudd - Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania etc), Claire Simmons (Thandiwe Newton - Mufasa: The Lion King, Reminiscence etc) the lawyer and Kenny Trent (Steve Zahn - Eanie Meanie, The White Lotus TV series season 1 etc) were unhappy with their current lives. So when Griff told them he had acquired the rights for their favorite movie Anaconda, they decided to make an indie reboot of that film.

In order to do so, they went to Brazil and shoot the film in the Amazon rainforest. They rented a boat and hired a snake handler named Carlos Santiago (Selton Mello - I'm Still Here, Trash etc) who brought his large snake. Ana (Daniela Melchior - Road House 2024 remake, American Sweatshop etc) a mysterious woman who had been running from some people later joined the crew and operated the boat. Unexpectedly though, their film-making process was not smooth with various complications. And things gotten worse when they realized that a giant Anaconda was also in the jungle and began to attack them.

So what would happen to Doug and friends? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

I was quite surprised when I saw the poster of this movie as the two lead actors Paul Rudd and Jack Black were well known as comedy actors and most of their films were funny. So both of us did not need to watch the full trailer to guess how fun it would be, but I never thought that it would be so hilarious. The plot was actually pretty simple and did not require a lot of thinking to understand. For us who had seen the original 1997 film and at least one other sequel (there were 6 overall including this one), the movie had an interesting topic. However all those prior movies were of horror genre while this film even though had few surprising & horrifying scenes was mostly comedic in nature. 

For 99 minutes including closing credits, we were really entertained by the behavior of these 4 friends and the situation they were in. There were at least two scenes which made us and the audience who almost filled the studio laughed out loud continously with plenty of other scenes that were also amusing. But the Anaconda itself was smartly shown rather vividly with such quick movement to provide the scary effect, except during certain moments where it was more clearer from close up. The special effects I thought was decent enough with standard sound effect. Too bad sometimes the screen looked a bit too dark here (not sure if it was the studio we saw this at). Oh there was a mid end credit scene that you should not miss out.

The cast in particular Jack Black, Paul Rudd and Steve Zahn were natural in their roles while the rest were OK. In addition to those above, there were also appearances of Ione Skye (La Brea TV series, Wayne's World etc) as Doug's wife Mallie, Rui Ricardo Diaz (Lula, Son of Brazil etc) as someone pursuing Ana and few others, plus cameo that did not surprise us. The movie itself was directed by Tom Gormican (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, This Awkward Moment) who was also credited as writer together with Kevin Etten (both wrote Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F). Critics were mixed in their views of the film, though looks like audience were more receptive. Though it might not make a huge splash in the box office, but it's possible to give profit for Sony Pictures who produced & owned the right to Anaconda. 

For an action comedy horror movie, I thought this one was pretty successful in providing us laughter. My wife and I had great fun seeing this in the cinema as it's been quite a while since we get to laugh out loud like that watching a Hollywood movie. There is no urgent need to see the original movie to understand this one, although having seen it would give you better perspective on the jokes (it's available via rental or online streaming). So if you are in the mood for something light and just want to have silly fun without thinking, then this one is perfect for you. But if you must have some quality writing in a movie or intelligent jokes for a comedy and top special effects, then this might not be satisfying for you. For me and my wife though, this one is certainly a pleasing experience.

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars