Actor Griffen (Paul Rudd) is looking for his next big role after being stuck in a stream of bit parts. After a shoot, he wanders around the Sony Pictures lot and chanced upon movie posters of classic titles made by the studio. They are “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, “All That Jazz”, and the 1997 “Anaconda” movie starring Jennifer Lopez and Ice Cube.
It seemed like a joke, but this new “Anaconda” movie from Tom Gormican (“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”), a meta-reboot of this horror franchise headlined by a giant snake, wants us to believe that the 1997 horror flick is in the ranks of these heavyweight classics.
In this world, the “Anaconda” franchise has a passionate following as Griffen, together with his childhood friend Doug (Jack Black), sets out on an adventure to the Amazon to produce a new Anaconda movie after acquiring the rights to the source material. The seemingly fun concept turns awry when they go toe-to-toe with a threatening real-life counterpart of a giant snake.
There are enjoyable moments to ponder in this movie, especially with a charismatic cast led by Rudd and Black. At one point, when the situation had improved after a snake attack, the film crew foolishly returned to the jungle in the hope of completing a few sequences of their passion project. Naturally, this stupid decision led to a couple of casualties, and yet they remain keen to finish it.
I feel “Anaconda” would’ve worked more had it focused on the cartoonish nature of its story. The film had a weird push-pull direction in its tone, wanting things to be grounded when they shouldn’t be. As a comedy, it lacks the bite it needs to satisfy the tongue-in-cheek meta-narrative. Ultimately, a significant portion of it feels artificial and is intended for substandard entertainment.
“Anaconda” is now showing in New Zealand cinemas.
Featured images from Sony Pictures.
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