Hollywood’s appetite for reboots shows no sign of slowing and ‘Anaconda’ (2025) slithers into cinemas with the promise of reviving one of the most notorious creature features of the late 1990s. This new version, directed by Tom Gormican, is aimed squarely at a modern, global audience with updated scale and spectacle but struggles to recapture the raw, pulpy menace that once made the franchise infamous.
Set deep in the Amazon rainforest, the film follows a multinational expedition that quickly turns into a fight for survival when it encounters a genetically enhanced anaconda species. The premise is familiar and the filmmakers make little effort to disguise that fact. Instead, the focus is on technical polish and relentless pacing, designed to keep audiences on edge rather than surprise them.
Visually, Anaconda is impressive. The rainforest is rendered with immersive detail and the creature effects are far more convincing than those of its predecessors. The anaconda itself is a formidable on-screen presence, moving with unsettling realism and scale. The film’s sound design, from rustling foliage to sudden, bone-crunching attacks, plays a key role in sustaining tension, particularly in the early set pieces.
The human drama, however, is less compelling. The characters are drawn in broad strokes, defined more by function than personality. While the cast delivers competent performances, the script offers little room for emotional depth. Relationships feel rushed and when danger strikes, the audience is rarely given a reason to care deeply about who survives and who does not.
The film is at its best when it embraces its identity as a survival thriller. Several sequences are genuinely suspenseful, relying on anticipation rather than excess gore. Yet the narrative often undercuts this tension by leaning into predictable horror beats and convenient escapes. In trying to appeal to both nostalgia-driven viewers and a new generation raised on high-octane blockbusters, the film ends up playing things too safe.
There is also a noticeable attempt to inject environmental themes into the story, touching on exploitation of the rainforest and scientific overreach.
While relevant, these ideas remain underdeveloped, serving more as background decoration than as meaningful commentary. The result is a film that gestures towards depth but never fully commits to it.
Anaconda is not without entertainment value. It delivers thrills, slick visuals and moments of genuine suspense that will satisfy fans of creature cinema.
However, as a lead title in a competitive global release slate, it lacks the bite needed to truly stand out. The coils are tighter, the budget is bigger, but the venom that once made Anaconda a cult talking point is largely missing.
The film offers a familiar Hollywood spectacle that is easy to watch and easy to forget. As a reboot, it proves that technical upgrades alone cannot replace atmosphere, character and a sense of danger that lingers long after the screen goes dark.
Anaconda is currently being screened at all branches of Star Cineplex.
