By Doug McCallister (Jack Black) spends his days making wedding videos in Buffalo while dreaming of his past goals to make movies. He is told that his job will give him a B to B+ life, and he should be content with that.
His childhood friend Ronald (Paul Rudd) is a struggling actor who has recently lost his first real acting gig in ages and decides to head home to visit Jack for his birthday.
Such is the setup for “Anaconda,” which is a comedic update for the cult classic that spawned several follow ups, which saw the franchise move from theatrical releases to television movies.
Doug and Jack are inspired by a recently found copy of a monster movie they made as children, which inspires Ronald to announce that he has the rights to “Anaconda,” and they should remake the classic film that inspired them years ago.
Despite some reluctance, Ronald and Doug leave for the Amazon with Kenny (Steve Zahn) and Claire (Thandiwe Newton), to make a movie with the helps of a tamed snake, and it’s bizarre handler.
What at first seems to be going well soon takes an unexpected turn and leaves the team facing a very large and real Anaconda as well as some dangerous human threats to balance out their growing internal conflicts.
While the potential was there, the film becomes a tedious exercise punctuated by Jack Black doing his usual over-the-top actions, with Rudd attempting to play the straight man. Zahn actually has some of the best lines as the troubled cameraman, but sadly, there really is not much to hold your attention.
The jokes largely fall flat, and the snake aspects lack any real tension or excitement. The entire movie played out like a vanity project, and I had to ask myself who decided that this was a great idea to invest millions of dollars in.
A darker and more serious reboot would have worked much better,r as this is not the source of comedic material, and sadly, the cameos in the film end up being the best part of much of the picture.
While some may find this a pleasant enough distraction for home viewing, it is difficult to suggest this film for theatrical viewing and would have made a much better option as a streaming release.
2.5 stars out of 5
