Hugging the Anaconda
“Why'd it have to be snakes?” - Indiana Jones
For many, the fear of snakes is hardwired. Totally understandable with the historically bad PR this reptile has undergone. The Bible made a serpent the Devil’s mouthpiece in addition to the mortal terror us humans experience sharing the same rung on the food chain with a perfect predator. Maybe the original film pitch for Anaconda was Jaws in the jungle, but it (and the next two films) were more in the realm of Alligator.
On a topical note, JLo is fun to watch in this. It’s not what she did in Hustlers , but she makes it believable enough. As a counterweight to just being a forgettable man vs. nature film, there is Jon Voight. His character speaks in a dubious accent as mind boggling as Tommy Wiseau. I had a lot of questions about his weird take on the villain’s role, but he was competing with a fake snake so there is that. We are a very long way from Midnight Cowboy.
Even with a solid ensemble cast (Luke Wilson, Eric Stoltz, Ice Cube, Danny Trejo), this is campy material with some dated looking CGI snakes, but it’s a nearly perfect marijuana movie. Stay out of the jungle, holed up with your favorite squeeze and smoke it if you got it.