The Anaconda reboot slithers into theaters. It all started with a 1997 movie starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Owen Wilson, and Jon Voight about a bunch of filmmakers who find themselves at the mercy of a ginormous snake in the wilderness. In 2025, we have our new movie starring Paul Rudd as an out-of-work actor and Jack Black as his filmmaker friend who grew up loving the 1997 film. When they decide to shoot an independent reboot of their favorite movie, they end up being hunted by a real anaconda, much like the characters in the film they’re making.
This is not a good movie, much like the original Anaconda is not a good movie. While the original film is a B-movie cult classic with Jon Voight inexplicably playing a Hispanic man, this movie embraces meta humor to mixed results. Director Tom Gormican previously made another meta comedy, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, starring Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal. That film worked far better as a comedy, while this film continues his style of making the audience hyper-aware of his love of movies by referencing them a lot. This style doesn’t pay off quite as well here, despite its noble efforts.
There’s some novelty in this idea. Anaconda has a fun premise that could be very entertaining. Throw in two veterans of comedy films—Rudd and Black—and you have a recipe for success. There are a few amusing moments in Anaconda that save the film from being a total loss. The film never takes itself seriously, which is precisely the tone this movie needs. The original Anaconda from 1997 was absurd, but played everything with a straight face. This new film embraces being a comedy movie and lets loose with its insane situations and a cast that really hams it up.
This is a movie where Jack Black runs through the forest from a ginormous snake while a pig is attached to his shoulders. You can’t accuse this movie of taking itself seriously at all; it’s going for it in every moment, but that doesn’t mean it all pays off. Many comedic situations have strong ideas, but the execution of these ideas never reaches their full potential. Anaconda feels like a film consisting of hysterical bits written on index cards, but when it came time to actually write these ideas in the script, it didn’t end up as funny as the initial inception.
As a horror movie, this film never fully takes off. It’s partially a creature feature, but it feels like Gormican is so dedicated to making this a lighthearted comedy movie that he wants to avoid making the film too scary. As a result, most of the jump scares are predictable, and the movie almost never actually makes you scared for the characters. The snake takes a little too long to show up, and when the snake isn’t on screen, you don’t really feel the tension of this offscreen presence. There’s one jump scare that manages to be very surprising, and it’s easily one of the best parts of the film.
One of the film’s more unnecessary aspects is a crime storyline surrounding illegal miners. Daniela Melchior has a supporting role in this storyline that feels as if it could be removed from the movie entirely due to how little impact it leaves on the actual story about filmmakers getting hunted by an anaconda. The movie didn’t need an extraneous idea about crime and people pursuing a young woman; it’s an idea that feels like it will be a prominent part of the story at the beginning and then goes nowhere by the end of it.
Another idea that doesn’t get enough time is just how terrible a person Rudd’s character is when you think about it. There’s a reveal that happens surrounding his character later in the film that paints his character in a negative light. This, coupled with an inappropriately dramatic reaction to something earlier in the film, cements him as a bit of a despicable person, but the movie never really treats him that way or gives him the comeuppance he deserves.
Anaconda Review: Final Verdict
Ultimately, Anaconda is having too much fun to care. Rudd and Black are such reliable comic actors that they’ve both appeared in Anchorman, Walk Hard, and Year One. They’re two enjoyable presences in the film, alongside Thandiwe Newton and Steve Zahn. With every character, it feels like there’s a funnier, more entertaining version of them that could exist, but this movie simply does an acceptable job with these personalities. The actors are having a blast, and they’re hoping we are too. While Anaconda has its moments where it can really ratchet up the over-the-top humor and deliver on the entertaining experience you’re hoping for, it ultimately misses the mark.
SCORE: 5/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 5 equates to “Mediocre.” The positives and negatives wind up negating each other, making it a wash.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our Anaconda review.
