Anaconda (2025) – Movie Review
In an age of remakes, reboots, reimaginings, and spiritual sequels to beloved intellectual properties that now hold immense nostalgic pleasure to audiences of all ages, Anaconda attempts to defy being pigeonholed into any of the aforementioned categories with director Tom Gormican weaponising the ridiculously natured charm of Jack Black and Paul Rudd, making a raucous comedy flick that is more tonally aligned with Tropic Thunder than it is the original 1997 Ice Cube and J-Lo led creature feature of the same name.
Griff (Rudd), a struggling actor in LA, and Doug (Black), a wedding videographer with large-scale directorial ambition, have been best friends since childhood, bonding over their love of movies and making films together. But, their relationship became distant after Doug bailed on their plan to take on Hollywood together, settling for a “B+” life, while Griff went on to get roles like ‘Doctor #3’ in soapy medical dramas.
Determined to finally make a name for himself as an actor, Griff returns home for Doug’s birthday with the ultimate present – the film rights to their favourite film, Anaconda (of which he claims he got from the widowed wife of the old Japanese author who wrote the book – not a real thing at all). Reluctant at first, Doug takes the opportunity to live out his filmmaking dream, and along with their childhood friends, Claire (Thandiwe Newton) and Kenny (Steve Zahn), set off to the Amazon to make their movie. However, an encounter with a runaway criminal (Daniela Melchior), and a real life, gigantic anaconda, soon make the crew realise they are way in over their heads.
Co-writing, as well as directing, Tom Gormican – whose last film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, where Nicolas Cage played a heightened version of himself – obviously loves movies, a lot. And he wears that passion on his sleeve in this hilariously meta ribbing of modern Hollywood filmmaking. There is an abundance of movie references ranging from The Silence of the Lambs to Jurassic Park, to the point where it feels like, in the most unexpected of ways, that Anaconda was a movie made specifically for movie nerds.
But, it’s not just the references that bring the giggles, it’s Gormican’s dissection of Hollywood’s major obsessions – IP and themes – that hit a really great comedic nerve. Anaconda never hits the immense satirical nature of something like Tropic Thunder, which has done the “Hollywood breakdown” before and incredibly well, but it’s more a gentle nudge in the side of the industry, poking fun at the things like the fact that all movies have to deal with intergenerational trauma, or have heavily involved social themes. As Doug and Griff write and re-write their story, it becomes more about being the “white Jordan Peele” and not living the ultimate dream of remaking your favourite movie. The smartest thing Gormican does is not have this dissection be the main focus of the film. It’s definitely a fun jab for film fans to enjoy, but Anaconda’s prerogative is to be a wildly entertaining, insanely ridiculous comedy film, full of the exact hijinks you would expect from a movie starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd.
Effortlessly funny and wildly energetic, the comedic chemistry between Black and Rudd is delightfully entertaining and as silly as you would expect it to be. Both actors understood the assignment of what this iteration of Anaconda is meant to be, and they relish in the comedic hijinks that unfold throughout. Black is always at 11, but somehow manages to inject a lot of heart and humanity into Doug, while Rudd brings a dry irreverence and dreamer-like style to Griff, which makes him charming even in his occasional selfishness.. Steve Zahn is a comedic treasure as Kenny, whose naivety-bordering-on-complete-ignorance leads to a lot of the funniest lines muttered in the film.
But, it’s Selton Mello who is the film’s true MVP as a psychotic but loveable snake wrangler, with the perfect amount of crazy eyes and a worrying level of love for his pet snake, that showcases his thoroughly entertaining comedic sensibility. Thandiwe Newton is also good in the film, but Claire as a character feels a little underwritten, as does Melchior’s character Ana – whose entire subplot is probably the most forgettable element of the film, but serves purpose in pushing the narrative forward.
For fans of the original Anaconda, which in the last decade has had a cult-like resurgence, there are still some exciting action set-pieces featuring a handful of gnarly kills. Plus, Gormican uses a lot of tension and a few jump scares to make the overall threat of the giant snake feel palpable, but the titular creature itself is extraordinarily secondary to what this movie is – a buddy comedy full of ridiculous hijinks and inside baseball jokes for movie nerds.
Anaconda is in Australian cinemas December 26
