‘Anaconda’: Meta Comedy Coils Around Millennial Nostalgia for Silly Enjoyment 

Alci Rengifo

Tom Gormican’s “Anaconda” is another slice of millennial nostalgia with the added touch of mocking that very same obsession with the past. If you grew up in the 1990s and watched movies, then surely you may have come across the 1997 creature feature “Anaconda.” It is one of those cult enjoyments loaded with intriguing pop trivia. Directed by Luis Llosa, the cousin of Nobel Prize-winner Mario Vargas Llosa, it helped frame Jennifer Lopez as an action star, co-starred Ice Cube and featured moments of campy glory, like Jon Voight’s villain getting puked out by the titular monster. The anaconda itself was a hilarious combo of practical puppetry and then-emerging CGI. Of course a studio would want to remake it, as with any box office hit that opened after 1980. Gormican directs Jack Black and Paul Rudd in this meta reboot that is both an homage and a satire. The snake also looks much better, to a point.

The screenplay by Gormican and Kevin Etten opens as an ode to aspiring filmmakers everywhere hitting middle age and wondering if the dream should keep going. Doug McCallister (Black) works shooting wedding videos in Milwaukee, annoying clients with his cinematic ideas. His childhood friend, Griff (Rudd), left years ago for Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. So far, Griff can only get small roles no one remembers on TV and B movies. While walking down the Sony lot, he sees a framed poster for 1997’s “Anaconda” and inspiration strikes. He contacts Doug with some big news, claiming he has acquired the rights to “Anaconda.” Why not go to the Amazon and shoot a remake? With barely a budget, they recruit another childhood friend, Claire (Thandiwe Newton) to co-star with Griff and Kenny (Steve Zahn) to operate the camera. As high schoolers the gang had made short films, so now is their chance to make a real movie. They go to Brazil, rent a boat captained by Ana (Daniela Melchior) and get a snake trainer, Santiago (Selton Mello), who brings his trusty anaconda, Heitor. Nothing will go according to plan.

If the original “Anaconda” shamelessly waves a campy flag, this meta comedy also doesn’t aspire to be anything more than silly distraction. Already, some reviewers are scoffing at it, as if Gormican should have attempted some sort of high art take on the material. Slyly enough, the jokes already nudge at how millennials are so attached to their childhoods, helping feed the ongoing parade of endless remakes. Doug cannot seem to get the drive to go out and finally make a film unless it is the (very cheap) redo of a VHS he wore out as a kid. Elements of the Llosa original that were delivered with a straight face are cheery gags here, like the trip down an exotic river with rich sunsets, with the added danger of smugglers roaming the jungle. Heitor the anaconda is quite lovable, then tragedy strikes and Santiago turns into a heartbroken wreck. Oh, but wait, there just happens to be an actual giant anaconda also sniffing around for prey. 

A hilarious irony is how this snake is technically better than the ’97 predecessor, which still looks odd when switching from a Razzie-nominated prop to badly aged CGI. Boat captain Ana clearly knows more about the snake and smugglers than she’s letting on, adding a required thriller element. Yet, the more enjoyable angle of the movie is a recycled but well done take on childhood buddies as aspiring artists. Griff and Claire were once sweethearts, so naturally they get to reconnect emotionally during the shoot. Kenny is a hilariously inept camera man, prone to consuming pills that may be found lying around the boat. When the situation truly goes south, with Doug even showing his megalomaniacal director side, we get familiar speeches about friendship and lost dreams. It is not magnificent writing, but it is the style of this kind of comedy. Granted, it has been done better before by actors like Will Farrell and Adam Sandler, but there is enough oddball charm in this cast. 

Keen cinephiles will be wondering if anyone from the original movie drops in for a cameo. Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez do appear, though Jon Voight is nowhere to be found. They are not attached to steal the show, only bringing some brisk meta laughs. “Anaconda” is not a great movie, and neither was the original. The whole point is that these are entertainments slapped together for the purpose of putting posteriors in movie theater seats. This is the kind of comedy that will no doubt be relegated to becoming background noise on someone’s TV, once it makes its way to streaming. The filmmakers are more than self-aware when a character passes by on a boat and yells, “I know, no new ideas.” That may be the case with so much content being churned out these days, so at least this crew have fun mocking the snake that feeds them.

“Anaconda” releases Dec. 25 in theaters nationwide.