Rob Reviews "Anaconda (2025)"

To say that Anaconda (2025) is a remake of the 1997 “classic” is really not a good description.  To call it really anything else than its own thing (which is even debated in the film itself) could give false hope as to what this film actually is.

Tom Gormican (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which would explain why for some reason Nicholas Cage was cast at one point as the first named character… let that settle in) directs this story where Doug McCallister (Jack Black) is spending his days working for a company that makes wedding videos.  While he loves film, this seems to be more of a means to an end than anything else.  When a surprise birthday party brings his actor best friend, Griff (Paul Rudd) to town, he tells Doug and other childhood friends Claire (Thandie Newton) and Kenny (Steve Zahn) that he has acquired the rights to the 1997 film and wants them to work with him on a reboot.  When they get to the Amazon to film, life starts to imitate art.  And that is what I have to say about that.

Think of it as Tropic Thunder without the politics.

As a guy who doesn’t dig movies that want to scare me, this factor is such a small part of the bigger picture (no pun intended) here that Anaconda (2025) exceeded my expectations.  There is such a great balance of comedy and comedic suspense along with the right amount of cheese that keeps it away from parody and makes this a fun ride.  This cast truly makes the most of each and every scene while letting the story really shine through and work together in what truly is an ensemble piece.  There are a couple of twists and turns that make this film that much more enjoyable (do yourself a favor and leave the IMDb trivia alone here, as there is a HUGE spoiler in there that is not marked as such) to set this apart from other films of its ilk.  And if you can avoid the trailer, do your best to do so as there are a couple of things in there I didn’t really want to know about going in.  It didn’t spoil the fun for me, but I would have possibly bumped it up on my Year End List had they not been in there.

There are a handful of “jump scares” here, but they are so well telegraphed (I believe that was fully on purpose) that they don’t exist in any other way than to actually enhance the comedy over just to make the audience cringe.  Couple that with the great chemistry by this cast (and for the record: GOD BLESS STEVE ZAHN), and this is the kind of film that needs to be enjoyed with a group to get the full amount of enjoyment it deserves.

Even though a Christmas Day release for this film seems a bit odd, I think there is a bit of genius here for those that want an escape from the “Oscar bait” that is out there this time of year and want to go spend a fun couple of hours at the theater that they won’t regret.  I’m not saying a theatrical viewing needs to be had here, but it wouldn’t hurt either to have a crowd to enjoy this with.