Anaconda (2025)
From the makers of the meta-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, this reboot of the Anaconda series is both a spoof about rebooting the Anaconda series, and also a fun (and surprisingly sweet) knockabout action/comedy about friendship and unfulfilled childhood dreams.
Premise: Stuck in unsatisfying careers as middle-aged adults, friends Doug (Jack Black) and Griff (Paul Rudd) regret having given up on their childhood dreams of making films together. When Griff manages to acquire the rights to the Anaconda film series, he and Doug rope their friends Claire (Thandiwe Newton) and Kenny (Steve Zahn) into journeying into the Amazon rainforest to make their own low-budget sequel to the 1997 cult movie.
Review:
I was a huge fan of the 2022 Nicolas Cage meta-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and the way it blended its satire of Hollywood with its over-the-top action/comedy sequences and genuinely touching buddy-movie elements. So when I heard that the next film from director/co-writer Tom Gormican and his regular writing partner Kevin Etten was going to be a reboot of the 1997 cult movie Anaconda I was very interested to see what they did with that idea.
Just like with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, this 2025 version of Anaconda is probably not the film that most people were expecting when the film was first announced – and the movie is all the better for it. Let’s face it, 1997’s Anaconda is not a ‘great’ movie (despite the affection that many have for it), and a straight-up reboot of the concept would have felt really uninspired. But 2025’s Anaconda is neither a reboot nor a sequel in the traditional sense – instead it’s a meta-reboot set in the ‘real world’ where Anaconda was a 1997 movie starring Jennifer Lopez and Ice Cube, which the characters here decide to make a low-budget “spiritual sequel” to.
“…far more fun & entertaining than any straightforward reboot would ever be…”
The filmmakers’ approach results in a movie that’s far more fun and entertaining than any straightforward reboot or sequel of Anaconda would ever be. Not only does it allow them to have fun with the film-within-a-film premise as wannabe director Doug (Jack Black), struggling background actor Griff (Paul Rudd), disillusioned divorcée Claire (Thandiwe Newton) and out-of-work cameraman Kenny (Steve Zahn) stumble their way through the making of their low-budget indie movie, but it also gives them a chance to touch on moments of middle-aged melancholy as the main characters all face up to the fact that their lives have not turned out the way they hoped they would. Just like The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, this movie is a silly, absurdly unrealistic comedy, but with genuinely touching moments of character-based introspection that keeps the ridiculous comedy somewhat grounded.
In an interesting role reversal of their usual character tropes, Jack Black’s Doug is the more level-headed of the pair, and Paul Rudd’s Griff is the ‘loose cannon’ whose impulsiveness is the cause of many of the group’s problems. Black and Rudd make a great double-act, and the fact that they’re playing against their normal stereotypes keeps their onscreen relationship fresh. Thandiwe Newton, meanwhile, seems to be having a lot of fun playing a heightened character in a light-hearted comedy (a departure from her normally very serious roles), and Steve Zahn is responsible for many of the film’s funniest moments.
“…an absurd, over-the-top & silly action/comedy…”
Of course, the premise also allows the filmmakers to have their cake and eat it, because as well as spoofing the attempts to make an Anaconda film, they also get to actually make an Anaconda film themselves, complete with jump scares aplenty and a very credible CGI snake. They even throw an interesting subplot about Daniela Melchior ‘s character joining the film crew in an attempt to escape local armed men who are pursuing her through the Amazon rainforest, which gives the film a bit more momentum and jeopardy.
If (like me) you enjoyed The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, then you should also enjoy this absurd, over-the-top and silly action/comedy. As with any comedy, there will be some who don’t think it’s funny, and there will also be others who dislike the comedy because they feel it detracts from the potential horror/thriller elements – but as someone who had no interest in watching a straightforward Anaconda reboot or sequel, this film had me laughing out loud from beginning to end, and I have no doubt that I will be watching this film in years to come a lot more times than I’ve ever watched the 1997 original.
