Anaconda (2025) is a self-aware action-comedy that reimagines the 1997 cult classic. Paul Rudd and Jack Black play friends who go to the Amazon to remake their favorite childhood movie, but they run into a real giant snake. Tom Gormican directed the movie, which is a PG-13 holiday release that mixes slapstick humor, nostalgic references, and light horror elements. Critics say the stars have great chemistry, but they say the scares and pacing are hit or miss.
Doug (Jack Black), a wedding videographer, and Griff (Paul Rudd), an actor who is having a hard time, chase their midlife dreams by filming a remake of Anaconda in the middle of the Amazon jungle with friends Kenny (Steve Zahn) and Claire (Thandiwe Newton). Their chaotic set gets even crazier when a huge anaconda shows up, turning fiction into a survival frenzy with crime subplots and silly gags like Black running away with a dead pig on his back. The meta premise makes fun of low-budget movies while making the dangers in the jungle worse.
Paul Rudd is charming as the pouty D-lister who steps up to save the day, and Jack Black brings chaotic indie-director energy to the role, even though he has to play the straight man. Steve Zahn is funny in a bumbling way, Thandiwe Newton is surprising in a weird way, and Daniela Melchior and Selton Mello add ensemble spark to the movie. Their chemistry is what makes the movie’s heartwarming silliness work.
The leads’ fun dynamic and intentional campiness get good reviews, but the humor is stale, the CGI snakes are weak, the scares are too obvious, and the tone isn’t always consistent. The movie got a Rotten Tomatoes score in the low 20s and a Metacritic score of 44 out of 100.
