Paul Rudd’s Anaconda Scores Low on Rotten Tomatoes — Still Slithers Past the Original
Anaconda slithers back with a meta reboot led by Paul Rudd and Jack Black — and while its Rotten Tomatoes score still stings, it edges the 1997 original as critics shrug at a middling reinvention.
There is a new Anaconda movie, and no, it is not the jungle-creature chomp fest you remember. This one is a self-aware, R-rated comedy with Paul Rudd and Jack Black goofing on the franchise while a very large snake still does its thing. Critics are mostly shrugging, but here is the twist: it is actually scoring better on Rotten Tomatoes than the 1997 original with Jennifer Lopez. Did not have that on my bingo card.
What this Anaconda actually is
Director Tom Gormican (yes, the meta guy) leans all the way in. Rudd and Black play Griff and Doug, lifelong friends trying to remake their favorite movie, Anaconda. Their DIY love letter, naturally, turns into a real nightmare when a giant snake starts tracking them. Think: a send-up of Hollywood reboot fever where the monster shows up anyway. Steve Zahn is along for the ride, which the movie itself treats like part of the joke.
So, did it work?
Depends who you ask. The general vibe from critics: funny in bursts, conceptually clever, ultimately middling. A few highlights from the reactions:
"Weirdly introspective enough to work, but it took the combined powers of Black, Rudd, and Zahn to keep something going. Not the powerhouse Christmas comedy, but not a bomb either."
– Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com
ComingSoon's Jonathon Sim landed right in the middle with a 5/10, basically saying the movie hits some gloriously over-the-top notes but does not fully connect. On the other side, 411mania's Jeffrey Harris argued the parody angle is more idea than execution:
"Anaconda fails most at being funny. The movie tries to position itself as a clever parody riffing on Hollywood's IP obsession, but instead, pathetically falls flat on its face, rather than delivering strong, genuine laughs."
And then there is the counterpoint from FandomWire's M.N. Miller, who thinks the absurdity is the point and the movie makes it work by reinventing a flawed favorite that has lived on in our brains (and algorithm queues) for decades.
The numbers, because of course
- New Anaconda (Rudd/Black): 51% on the Tomatometer from 84 reviews; audience Popcornmeter at 79%.
- Original Anaconda (1997, Jennifer Lopez): 40% Tomatometer; audience score at 24%.
So yeah, the meta-reboot is getting a higher critical score and way more love from audiences than the culty original. Is it a great movie? Sounds like no. Is it a better-reviewed Anaconda? Weirdly, yes.
If you want the old-school creature feature vibe, this will probably feel like a detour. If you are into Rudd, Black, and a giant snake crashing a movie-within-a-movie, this might hit that late-night, dumb-smart sweet spot.