‘Anaconda’ Review: Paul Rudd and Jack Black give 90s jungle thriller a surprisingly fun makeover

We often ask ourselves why on earth some of these movies get made — particularly reboots. When one gets announced, it’s frequently met with a collective eyeroll from the internet.

Take, for example, “Anaconda” — the 1997 jungle horror flick starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube and Jon Voight. It’s about a documentary film crew who find themselves stranded in the Amazon rainforest and fighting for their lives against a giant, mythic-like snake. It was panned by critics and received several Razzie nominations, but it found success at the box office and is now considered a cult classic. But was anyone really clamoring for an “Anaconda” reboot?

Well, the motto at Sony Pictures isn’t “Ask and you shall receive.” It’s more like, “We’re doing this, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

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To Sony’s credit, they know how to take an old IP that has its core fans but otherwise has collected dust and revive it in a way that feels fresh and that’s actually pretty funny. They did it with two “21 Jump Streets” and two “Jumanji” films. And fortunately for the studio, they did it once more with “Anaconda.”

Paul Rudd and Jack Black star Griff and Doug, two childhood best friends who always dreamt of making it in showbiz but never exactly made it a reality. Griff’s claim to fame as an actor was a four-episode stint on the CBS procedural “S.W.A.T.” while Doug grapples with his unfulfilling job as a wedding videographer to provide for his family instead of pursuing a career as a filmmaker. As he says so himself, he has a “B, maybe a B+ life.”

That all changes after Griff reveals that he obtained the rights to “Anaconda,” which happens to be their all-time favorite movie, and that he wants to reboot it indie style. He convinces Doug, as well as their core besties Claire (Thandiwe Newton) and Kenny (Steve Zahn), both of whom are also unsatisfied with their lives, to relive the fun they had making movies as kids and bring “Anaconda” back on the big screen — though they struggle to figure out if it’s a “reimagining” of the original or a “spiritual sequel.”

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The four of them fly down to Brazil on an extremely tight budget, where they are joined by oddball snake handler Santiago (Selton Mello) and the reserved Ana (Daniela Melchior), the woman who they think is the captain of the riverboat they board but is apparently on the run from illegal gold miners.

They start filming in the jungle and everything seems to be going according to plan – that is until Griff unintentionally kills Santiago’s snake by throwing it into the boat’s propeller. Griff and Santiago roam the jungle to find a new snake for the movie, only to find a humongous snake that would make King Kong blush.

“We came here to make ‘Anaconda.’ And now we are in it,” Doug eventually realizes in fear.

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What makes this “Anaconda” work is how meta it is. Any film junkie, regardless of your fandom (or lack there of) for the 1997 original, will have a good chuckle over Doug and Griff’s filmmaking process, particularly as they passionately mull over the “theme” of their movie.

Director Tom Gormican and co-writer Kevin Enten seem to be finding a knack for the meta movie — their last theatrical release was 2022’s “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” another hilarious action flick starring Nicolas Cage (playing himself). And following in the footsteps of “21 Jump Street” and “Jumanji,” “Anaconda” works because not only does it not take itself seriously, it’s also self-aware, which makes it even funnier.

Rudd and Black have been reliable comedic leads for decades, and they don’t disappoint here. Newton, better known for more serious performances (“Crash,” “Westworld,” “Wednesday” to name a few), does a sufficient job as Claire, a now-divorced attorney and Griff’s former flame, but Zahn is the scenestealer as Kenny, the bumbling recovering alcoholic who serves as the cameraman on the four-person cast and crew.

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The Verdict:

“Anaconda” is not the movie we asked for. Nonetheless, it serves its purpose. While it isn’t a must-see, the meta reboot is solid entertainment and the best option for laughs in theaters this holiday season. But if you have ophidiophobia — a fear of snakes — this might not be for you.

★★★ — STREAM IT LATER

“Anaconda” is rated PG-13 for violence/action, strong language, some drug use and suggestive references. Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes. In theaters Christmas Day.