Action, danger and humor all collide in “Anaconda,” which was released in theaters in Dec. 2025. This adventure film stars Jack Black, who plays Doug McCallister, alongside Paul Rudd, who plays Ronald Griffin Junior. Rudd was in the popular series “Friends” and the movie “Clueless.”
Movie producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form brought back two characters from the 1997 “Anaconda” film –– Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez –– at the end of the movie, which added a nice element of surprise for fans of the old film. Besides bringing back old actors, 2025’s “Anaconda” contained several references to the original film.
“Anaconda” is about old friends Doug and Ronald, who reunite with their friends Claire Simons, played by Thandie Newton, and Kenny Trent, played by Steven Zahn, to film a remake of the movie with the same title.
The friends have been making homemade movies since they were little but were not able to spend time together recently because of their busy schedules. Once they began filming, though, the plot of their movie unfurled in real life.
Doug, Ronald, Claire and Kenny had to deal with a wild anaconda, betrayal and the dangerous environment of the jungle. In this way, the traumatic experience of being hunted helped bring Doug and Ronald closer together. Though the situation they were in was less than ideal it gave them the chance to learn more about and ultimately bond with each other.
In the original “Anaconda” movie, actor Jon Voight, who played Paul Serone, could not fake a Spanish accent. The new “Anaconda” movie casted another actor, Selton Mello, to mimic Voight’s bad Spanish accent. This made the movie entertaining, paid homage to the original film and offered an inside joke to fans of the original.
While there were jumpscares and aspects of horror throughout the film, there was also some subtle romance between Ronald and Claire.
It was great how the film combined action, comedy and bits of romance without feeling overwhelming.
The movie also had a heartfelt message. Ronald, Doug, Claire and Kenny were always very close friends, and as such the film greatly highlighted the importance of friendship.
Despite the better aspects of “Anaconda,” there was a part of it that did not make much sense: when Doug was captured by a giant snake and got stuck in its mouth before being spat out. Afterwards, his friends checked on him, concluding that he must be dead; in reality, he was just unconscious and not dead.
Doug’s friends, after doing a not so thorough check, used him as bait, barely grieving in the process. The friends’ grief was a critical detail that went unincluded despite having the capacity to enhance the plotline tenfold.
After all, if more screentime had featured Doug’s friends grieving him before offering him up as bait, it could have added dramatic effect where it was lacking, showing audiences how much the friends cared for each other instead of undermining a major “death.”
The movie also presented a big plot twist in which a girl named Ana, played by Daniela Melchior — who made friends with the main group earlier in the movie — turned on them, revealing that she was just planning to use them to rob the gold mines in the jungle. Fortunately, her power trip was cut short by Claire.
It was surprising to see her revealed as a traitor because her character did a great job concealing her true intentions. This made the plot twist all the more unexpected and particularly impactful.
Overall, this movie would be a great pick for those who love comedy with a bit of thrill. The film was not very graphic, so it is good for those who are looking for climactic scenes that do not rely on horror but instead on a sense of irony.
