‘Anaconda’ (2025) Review – When Nostalgia Bites Back

There’s a very specific kind of movie that Anaconda wants to be, and for a while, it actually pulls it off. Not just a parody, not just a nostalgia riff, not quite a horror-comedy either, and not even a cheap remake, but something messier and a lot more personal: a movie about people who’ve reached that uncomfortable point where the version of themselves they imagined never showed up. For its first act, Tom Gormican’s “meta-reboot” feels sharp and heartfelt. It understands why nostalgia is comforting, why it’s dangerous, and why we keep circling back to the things we loved when we were younger. The problem is that the movie never quite figures out how to finish that thought once the snake slithers fully into the frame.

The film’s first act is easily the strongest aspect. It begins in the Amazon with Ana (Daniela Melchior) fleeing through the jungle as she is being chased by pursuers while something massive moves just out of sight. One of her pursuers is taken out brutally by a giant anaconda, and just as the scene threatens to settle into straightforward creature-feature mode, the film hard-cuts to Doug McCallister (Jack Black) pitching a horror-themed wedding video to a deeply unimpressed couple and their parents. 

Griff (Paul Rudd) isn’t doing much better. A working actor who believes he deserves more, Griff gets fired from a TV set for refusing to play along and follow direction. Rudd leans into this hilarious desperation here rather than going too broad, and it works. These early scenes are funny, yes, but they’re also tinged with regret. It’s easy to laugh because you recognize these people. You might even see a little of yourself in them.

When Doug’s wife throws him a surprise party and Griff shows up with an old movie the group made as kids starring Doug, Griff, Claire (Thandiwe Newton), and Kenny (Steve Zahn), the movie finds its emotional engine. Watching their younger selves onscreen, full of confidence and stupid ambition, hits them harder than any midlife speech ever could. A day afterwards, Griff pitches the idea to remake their childhood favorite film…Anaconda, starring Jennifer Lopez and Ice Cube, from the year 1997. The decision to remake Anaconda becomes this lifeline. For a moment, it feels like maybe they can reconnect with the people they used to be.

Jack Black, Paul Rudd, and Steve Zahn are all in terrific form during this section. Zahn, in particular, gets some of the film’s biggest laughs as Kenny, whose enthusiasm consistently outpaces his good sense. There’s an easy chemistry between the three that carries the movie through its early stretches. Gormican and co-writer Kevin Etten clearly understand how to let these performers riff and let their natural charisma and on-screen chemistry drive the film.

Once the group arrives in the Amazon to start filming their amateur remake, Anaconda begins to wobble. Not immediately, but gradually. The movie wants to operate as both a loving parody of the 1997 film and a commentary on Hollywood’s remake obsession, while also delivering real action and creature-feature thrills. It never quite commits to any one lane. When the real anaconda emerges and the stakes turn physical, the comedy undercuts the danger just enough that the tension never fully takes hold.

The action scenes are competently staged, but they lack bite. You never really believe these characters are in serious peril, partly because the tone doesn’t allow it. The film keeps winking at the audience even when it should be tightening the screws. That tonal imbalance becomes more noticeable in the second and third acts, where the laughs thin out and the horror elements feel like obligations.

The emotional core, though, remains present. Aging, regret, and the fear of never having tried hard enough drive every major decision these characters make. Doug’s frustration with the life he settled into, Griff’s refusal to accept his own limitations, Kenny’s need to feel useful again or stay sober, these ideas are clearly defined and consistently reinforced. That’s where the movie still works, even as the plot starts to drift.

Where it falters most is in its character relationships outside the central trio. The connection between Griff and Claire, in particular, feels incredibly underdeveloped. Thandiwe Newton does what she can with the material, but their dynamic is surface-level, making their emotional beats feel unearned. The film gestures at unresolved history without spending the time to make it resonate.

By the final thirty minutes, Anaconda feels like it’s lost its footing. The movie becomes louder and more chaotic, but less focused. It’s as if it doesn’t trust the sadder truths it stumbled onto early on, and instead tries to muscle its way to a finish with bigger set pieces and broader jokes. The result isn’t disastrous, but it’s noticeably weaker.

There’s also the lingering question of how this film plays to viewers unfamiliar with the 1997 Anaconda. So much of the humor and structure depends on knowing that movie’s reputation, its excesses, and its place in late-’90s genre cinema. Without that context, the meta elements may feel thin, or to an extent even confusing.

Still, there’s something admirable about Anaconda, even in its missteps. It’s clearly made by people who love movies, who understand the pull of nostalgia, and who recognize the danger of letting it define you. When it’s funny, it’s genuinely funny. When it’s honest, it hits closer to home than expected. It just never quite reconciles its competing impulses.

In the end, Anaconda is a film that starts with confidence and personality, then gradually loses its way as it tries to be too many things at once. It’s messy and uneven but also warm and self-aware. Like the characters at its center, it reaches for something meaningful, even if it doesn’t fully get there.

Anaconda will debut exclusively in theaters on December 25, 2025, courtesy of Sony Pictures.