The best idea in Anaconda (2025) is also the thing that makes it frustrating: it is not trying to be a straight remake. Instead, it’s a movie about people trying to remake a movie, then realizing the jungle has its own plans. That meta angle gives it a fresh hook, and for stretches, it really works. When it doesn’t, you can feel the film wrestling with what it wants to be from scene to scene.
A Meta Setup With Real Teeth
The story follows two lifelong friends, played by Jack Black and Paul Rudd, who hit a midlife wall and decide the answer is simple: go to the Amazon and finally make the low-budget passion project they’ve been talking about since they were kids, a loving, ridiculous riff on the original Anaconda. They drag their crew along, including Thandiwe Newton and Steve Zahn, and the movie has a lot of fun in the early stretch skewering indie filmmaking delusion, reboot culture, and that specific kind of optimism that only exists before you arrive on location.
Then the “movie snake” problem becomes a “real snake” problem, and the film starts shifting gears into action-comedy creature feature mode.
The Leads Are the Reason to Stick Around
Black and Rudd carry this thing on chemistry alone more often than not. They sell the friendship history, the petty creative tensions, and the insecurity underneath the jokes. When the movie leans into their dynamic, it finds a groove: goofy, slightly desperate, and weirdly relatable for anyone who has ever clung to a childhood obsession as a life raft.
The supporting cast is game, too, and there are moments where the ensemble energy feels like it’s building toward something sharper. But the film doesn’t always give the side characters enough to do beyond keeping the plot moving.
The Tonal Tug-of-War Is Real
Here’s the big issue: the satire and the creature feature do not always play nice together.
When Anaconda commits to being a comedy about making a dumb movie in a dangerous place, it’s charming. When it pivots into more conventional “bad guys, chase scenes, bigger stakes” territory, it can start to feel like it’s abandoning its own best material. The result is a movie that’s intermittently funny, intermittently tense, and occasionally kind of anonymous, like it’s worried the audience will get bored if it stays in one lane for too long.
That push-pull also shows up in the pacing. At 99 minutes, it’s not long, but it can still feel like two different movies stapled together, with the seams showing most in the middle.
The Snake Stuff Mostly Delivers
If you’re here for the title, the movie does not forget the assignment. The creature feature elements are staged with enough pop to satisfy, and the updated effects help the snake feel like more than a punchline. It’s still a heightened movie reality, but that’s part of the charm. This is not trying to be prestige horror. It’s trying to be a fun, chaotic ride that occasionally lunges into real danger.
Who This Will Work For
If you like meta comedies about Hollywood and creative burnout, there’s a version of this movie you might love, especially if Black and Rudd’s vibe is already your thing.
If you want either a straight-up scary jungle thriller or a relentlessly sharp satire, this one may feel like it keeps stepping away from the payoff. It’s entertaining, but it rarely feels locked in.
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