The first Anaconda film had such names as Jon Voight, Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez battling a freakishly long snake, this time the roles have been reversed as the names have gotten smaller and the snakes are now the character with the numbers.
When I first heard about this film I thought it was straight to video for sure, but as advertising crept in and the studio seemed to be taking it quite seriously my interest certainly increased, but I still understood that the plot was certain to remain far fetched and all I was really going in for was a popcorn flick with some big ‘ol snakes chomping on some humans… and that is what I got.
That being said, doesn’t necessarily make this a good movie, or mediocre one for that matter. We find our crew of jungle explorers on their way to Borneo in search of the Blood Orchid, a flower only in bloom once every seven years, and unfortunately our group is short on time, and soon to be short on numbers.
The search for this flower spawned from evidence that it contains something that prolongs human life, therefore making it quite the pharmaceutical find. Our band of scientists soon find out that the snakes of the jungle have found a similar use for the flower and taking into account that Anacondas grow all the way up until they die, you now have some very large snakes on your hands.
Death, mayhem, screaming and yelling ensue and there you have it, in black and white, what you read is what you are going to get. The movie doesn’t stray too far from its premise and with only a few cheesy lines and some ho-hum snake CGI you get what should have ultimately been a straight-to-video release, even though there are a couple of times the snakes do get you to jump a bit.
If you are looking for popcorn fun and not expecting anything more than you should you will probably be satisfied with Anacondas but if you go in ready to laugh at a movie that shouldn’t be taken seriously in the first place (hear me lady that sat in front of me?) stay home for your sake and those around you.
