Don Reviews "Anaconda (2025)"

I have always fascinated by snakes, especially the black mamba.  Just like sharks, I feel they get a bad rap; yes, people have died from snake bites, but they do serve a purpose.  For instance, snakes help keep rodent populations in check, and many species prefer to go away when confronted versus biting someone. Granted, films like Anaconda don’t really help there, but I don’t think anyone takes films like that as fact.  But what happens when a remake isn’t a remake and ventures into the territory of being meta?

Tom Gormican (That Awkward Moment) attempts to answer that question with a cast that includes Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Steve Zahn, Thandiwe Newton, and Daniela Melchior.  Two lifelong friends named Griff (Rudd) and Doug (Black) have taken paths that are not quite what they had hoped for after high school: Griff is a struggling actor and Doug is a wedding video director who have squashed their intentions of wanting to do movies full-time together.  When Griff surprises Doug on his birthday and tells he and his other childhood friends in Kenny (Zahn) and Claire (Newton) that he has bought the rights to the 1997 film Anaconda, they travel to the Amazon Rainforest to start production on a reboot and find out that what CAN go wrong, WILL go wrong.

This film has good cinematography, which fits its mood well.  I was also surprised to find out that it was actually shot in Australia, as I thought it was actually shot in the Amazon.  The script also moves very well, clocking in at just under an hour and a half, which felt about right for the story being told. 

Now to the big thing about this film: it is a reboot of sorts, but it takes the original film in a whole different direction.  While the 1997 version (which I love) was more of an action/adventure/horror, this one takes some of those elements and adds a ton of comedy, which is genius.  There ARE some scare and gore moments, but that is combined with the right mix of laughs, which flows well all the way through.  The five main characters work well together and had great chemistry, but the constant comedy of Rudd, Black, and Zahn were able to take what would be a real-life nightmare and make you laugh at it.  Now, if I had a gripe about Anaconda (2025), it would be that there are a few scenes with a true suspension of disbelief, which was a little overboard.  However, this film was a truly delightful surprise I did not see coming and if you want to have some good comedy added to what some people call a cult classic, I think you will enjoy this film, and I will defiantly recommend it to be seen at a twilight showing in the theaters.