Anaconda (2025) Review: A Fun, Meta Adventure Comedy

The 1997 film Anaconda instilled a childhood fear I never actually experienced firsthand. I was just five years old when it came out, but those glowing eyes on the poster are burned into my memory. The sense of dread coiled its way into my young imagination and kept me up far too many nights.

I genuinely worried about a rogue anaconda escaping from somewhere and choosing me as its next meal. It felt unlikely, of course, but was it truly impossible? And yes, I may have flirted with danger by leaving a crack in my bedroom window at bedtime.

Thankfully, I made it through childhood without any serpentine encounters. And after finally seeing Anaconda (2025)—a tribute and spiritual sequel to the 1997 classic—I’ve even had some cognitive behavioral therapy. It turns out an Anaconda movie isn’t scary at all. In fact, it’s a pretty silly, occasionally entertaining, and surprisingly refreshing experience.

A Fun Homage to Film Nerds

Combine a dash of Anaconda (1997), a sprinkle of Tropic Thunder (2008), and a pinch of Adaptation. (2002), and you’ll get something close to the meta-action-adventure-comedy that is Anaconda (2025). The film feels like an equal parts homage and parody of the 90s original, centering on a quartet (played by Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Thandiwe Newton and Steve Zahn) of film buffs whose dreams have stalled.

But they’re determined to change that before life passes them by.

Together, they journey to the Amazon to shoot a low-budget, independent film inspired by Anaconda (1997). It quickly becomes a life-or-death adventure, involving dangerous gold prospectors and, naturally, a very real, slithering threat they hadn’t anticipated.

“Anaconda” (2025) is, in many ways, a refreshing comedy. This kind of cheerfully ridiculous humor doesn’t come around often, especially with a substantial budget. That alone makes it worth a look. It’s also a sweet love letter to all the nerds out there who became completely obsessed with a B-movie in their childhood and discovered a passion for film through it. The love of filmmaking permeates every aspect of the movie and is its greatest strength. The film arrives as part of a wave of nostalgic reboots and meta-commentary on the action genre.

It Eventually Overdoes It

The problem with this type of self-aware comedy is that it can quickly become exhausting—there’s only so much silliness one can take, and Anaconda is no exception. The film’s just-over-100-minute runtime feels long for what it is. While the antics become increasingly over-the-top, they lose their impact, leading to a climax that feels surprisingly underwhelming despite being, on paper, as explosive as possible.

While I can appreciate a film being 100 percent ridiculous, Anaconda could have benefited from more scenes focused on the emotional core. The first act, when the focus is on the characters’ unfulfilled dreams, has some genuine moments, but the film never fully reconnects to them on an emotional level later on.

Despite not quite sticking the landing, I must commend the screenplay by Kevin Etten and the direction by Tom Gormican. A lot happens in the film, and alongside the nods to film clichés, the plot manages to surprise with unexpected twists at times. It couldn’t have been easy to weave all the threads of the film into something cohesive.

“Anaconda” (2025) is a reasonably entertaining adventure if you don’t mind a comedy that pushes the boundaries and bombards you with cheap jokes without a shred of shame. Not particularly memorable, but still a bit mood-boosting.

“Anaconda” premieres in theaters on December 25th.

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