I’ll say this for the new Anaconda movie spoof: its heart is in the right place.  It’s a bright, fun idea to have characters enjoy something so much that they want to repeat the experience in a new way, to celebrate an original that they love and to rejoice in the opportunity to create their own tribute to it.  That feeling permeates the first part of this movie and it is infectious — for a few minutes.  Then it mostly goes wrong.

Tom Gormican’s film has unsuccessful, wannabe filmmakers deciding to travel to the Amazon to do their own version of Anaconda, a film that all of them love.  But with little money, little actual experience, no awareness of their environment, not enough actors and a couple of shady characters helping them, what could go wrong?  Pretty much everything.

If you love the original Anaconda, you may really enjoy this.  I don’t care all that much for the original, with its big name cast slumming in the jungle, Jon Voight’s wild overacting, spurious special effects, lack of sexiness, so on and so on.  It’s okay, but it’s not a movie that should be worshipped the way these characters love it.  Then, this movie’s scenario is even more ridiculous than the original’s, with people who should know better than to stage such a stupid endeavor.  Because it is primarily a comedy we are supposed to forgive their knuckleheadedness, I suppose, but it was grating all the way through.  Despite the giant snake and other jungle dangers awaiting them there is no real danger, nor any real consequences awaiting these intrepid folk.

This might make a passable filler if not for the inappropriateness of a couple of jokes and the bottom-of-the-barrel special effects, which seem worse than those of the original almost thirty years ago.  Could that be intended as part of the comedy?  Perhaps, but I attribute it to poor filmmaking.  It’s hard to not like a movie that is trying so hard to be likable, but the antics staged in this movie made me wish the snake would devour them all, and quickly.  ☆ 1/2.  19 May 2026.