China and the USA agree on at least one point: the cinema does not need a straightforward remake of the cult (?) nineties horror film “Anaconda”, in which Ice Cube, Jennifer Lopez and Jon Voight (with a “Scarface” dialect that is still notorious today) go into the Amazon jungle in search of the titular giant snake. But that's where the similarities end: While a classic remake (here's the trailer) was recently released in the Middle Kingdom, just as a fairly cheap streaming release, Hollywood has taken a completely different path, which sounds like a pretty crazy idea, at least at first.
After sending Nicolas Cage (as himself) on an undercover mission as a spy against his will in “Massive Talent”, author and director Tom Gormican is hardly less “meta” in his “Anaconda” reinterpretation: two childhood friends in the middle of a mid-life crisis decide to film a remake of the original “Anaconda” – and because the bank doesn't want to provide a loan for the already narrow budget of 2.5 million dollars, it has to If necessary, it can also work with $43,000. This could have quickly become a tired, self-referential, would-be-clever nonsense – if it weren't for Jack Black and Paul Rudd, who simply do their own thing and inspire with great buddy chemistry.
“Anaconda” is first and foremost a Jack Black and Paul Rudd comedy, the likes of which we see less and less in the cinema lately. Good this way!
As teenagers they still had big goals. But aspiring director Doug (Jack Black) got cold feet at the last minute, so his best friend Griff (Paul Rudd) moved alone to Hollywood, where he's been struggling as an actor ever since. His lonely career highlight: four episodes of the crime series “SWAT,” including the final sentence in season 3, before those in charge realized that no one actually needed his role. The father of the family Doug, on the other hand, has now set himself up as a wedding filmmaker, where he repeatedly tries unsuccessfully to make overly ambitious (horror) short films as engagement videos for his customers.
Both are deep in a mid-life crisis when Griff surprises everyone with the news that he has secured the rights to the “Anaconda” franchise. Together with Griff's childhood sweetheart Claire (Thandiwe Newton) and the addicted cameraman Kenny (Steve Zahn), a “spiritual sequel” is to be filmed in the Brazilian jungle. But when Griff accidentally kills the animal protagonist, the entire shoot is in jeopardy. Unless, of course, the crew finds a new, appropriately sized anaconda…
The joke of the cinema year?
Is it a good idea to make “Anaconda” a comedy? The answer is “yes” because the German poster gives us one of the best thigh slappers of the season (which is also better than the English version for a change): “You’re standing in line for this comedy!” Otherwise, the decision simply has to be chalked up as “self-defense”: If Hollywood only wants to produce the type of comedies with which the stars became famous for streaming, then tricks have to be used in order not to let the genre disappear from cinemas completely. This fits perfectly with the film characters, who also misuse “Anaconda” in order to go back to their youth, which was characterized by creative awakening.
Paul Rudd (“Avengers 5: Doomsday”) and Jack Black (“A Minecraft Film”) harmonize fantastically with each other – and Black, who has no inhibitions about making a fool of himself anyway, acts particularly unpretentiously when, in the best action comedy sequence of the film, he not only has a dead warthog tied to his back, but also has a dead squirrel stuck in his mouth. “The White Lotus” scene-stealer Steve Zahn as a “buffalo-dry” alcoholic (read: he only drinks beer, wine and certain schnapps) and Selton Mello as a mysterious snake trainer also reliably contribute laughs – even in a pee-on scene that works surprisingly well despite its lengthy length.
The funniest scene in the film is shown in the trailer. But don't worry: in the cinema, Jack Black, the warthog and a dead squirrel go even further!
Like the Jack Black comedy “Awkward,” “Anaconda” is also a love letter to gonzo filmmaking – for example, when Doug tries to sell his wedding video clientele sophisticated terror choreographies or Griff digs up the VHS cassette with the Bigfoot horror “The Squatch,” which he and his gang made as teenagers. There are also tons of quotes that are aimed primarily at those who were exactly the right age to see the original in the cinema when it opened – and therefore immediately have a catchy tune when the “Dawson's Creek” title song “I Don't Want To Wait” by Paula Cole is played several times.
What doesn't work at all, however, is the gangster plot running in the background about illegal gold mines in the jungle, also because Daniela Melchior (“Fast & Furious 10”) remains absolutely pale as the fake Amazon captain. Apparently it's all about getting human food for the hungry title heroine every now and then. This time it is significantly better animated than in the original, but it is still used disappointingly sparingly. Aside from a brief sequence in the swamp, there's never any real attempt to create anything like suspense or even horror – just exactly what's needed to justify the title “Anaconda” despite the comedy redirection.
Conclusion: Paul Rudd and Jack Black “hijacked” the “Anaconda” franchise in order to deliver a buddy comedy instead of a horror remake, the likes of which unfortunately (!) rarely exist in the cinema. Good for them – and great fun for their fans!