Whether you’re a fan of giant snakes or just a fan of Paul Rudd’s refusal to age, the 2025 reimagining of Anaconda is the cinematic equivalent of a deep-fried Twinkie: you know it’s bad for the soul, but you’ll be asking for seconds before the credits roll.

If you’re walking into this expecting the earnest, sweat-drenched intensity of Jennifer Lopez and Ice Cube staring down a giant animatronic puppet, you’re in for a shock. While the 1997 original took its “nature-runs-amok" premise with a relatively straight face, the 2025 version treats the franchise like the punchline it’s become.

In a world where Hollywood is obsessed with “gritty" reboots that no one asked for, this film takes a hard left into a meta-comedy fever dream. Instead of a straightforward remake, we get a movie about a crew making a movie about Anaconda— a real film in our world. It’s a snake-eat-snake satire that spends half its runtime poking fun at the industry’s total lack of original ideas, and honestly? It’s the most honest thing to come out of a studio in years.

Jack Black and Paul Rudd are the chaotic duo we didn’t know we needed. They treat the material with the perfect level of “professionalism," which is to say they lean so far into the over-the-top acting and cheesy dialogue that they practically fall over. Their chemistry is so electric that I genuinely forgot this was a PG-13 flick. It carries the energy of a true R comedy without needing to drop a single f-bomb, proving that you don’t need gore when you have Jack Black’s facial expressions.

The plot is, predictably, as thin as a snakeskin shed. It’s far-fetched, silly, and skirts the line of being a full-on spoof. But unlike other modern comedies that try too hard to be important, Anaconda knows exactly what it is. It embraces the “dumb" and wears it like a badge of honor.

My only real gripe? I wanted more snake. If I’m paying for an Anaconda movie, I want to see a CGI monstrosity that defies the laws of physics and biology for more than just a few jump scares and underwater glimpses. I wanted that unrealistically sized beast center stage for the full 90 minutes. But, much like a first date, sometimes the mystery is part of the charm.

Don't listen to the critics over at Rotten Tomatoes who probably wanted this to be Citizen Kane with scales. They’re missing the point. This is the first movie in five years that actually made me laugh out loud. It’s fun, it’s engaging, and it’s unapologetically ridiculous.

Final Verdict: Is it good or does it suck?
I personally loved it. It’s exactly what it should be. If you’re the target audience, you’re going to have a blast. Everyone else? Well, they can go watch a documentary.