Anaconda: Critic Reviews

Anaconda, directed by Luis Llosa with all of the subtlety of a snake-oil salesman, is in the great tradition of cinematic cheese, as processed as Kraft Singles slices.

A trashily entertaining reptilian version of Jaws set in the steaming heart of the Amazon rain forest.

It isn't art, but it'll crush your bones.

It's a slick, scary, funny Creature Feature, beautifully photographed and splendidly acted in high adventure style.

A silly and plodding Jaws rip-off about a 40-foot man-eating snake on the prowl in the Brazilian rain forest.

Anaconda is trying to be a Jaws for the '90s, but, like last year's The Ghost and the Darkness, it falls short in several key areas.

Anaconda is such a classic combination of feckless dramaturgy and rampant excess that giving way to giggles is the only sane response.

In its natural habitat, Anaconda can be appreciated for its campy pleasures, not the least of which is Jon Voight in a delirious, balls-out performance as creepy Paraguayan snake poacher Paul Serone. [Blu-ray]

...never quite lives up to the promise of its admittedly irresistible set-up...

lives better in the memory

Luis Llosa's Anaconda is great "B" movie trash, complete with bad special effects and cheesy monsters.

One never questions the realism of the remarkable animatronic and computer-generated effects, but it's hard to credit a snake that screams.

If you shut your brain down you'll have some fun.

At its best, it refuses to take itself seriously and literally winks at us. But more often, it derives laughs unintentionally.

Done with such a wry sense of humor - thanks, especially, to an over-the-top, hopefully intentional, outrageous performance by Jon Voight, and some nifty snake effects - that you forgive its derivative nature and settle down for some fun.

Anaconda suffers from one-dimensional characters and cliches.

Both Ice Cube and Voigt are fun to watch in the film. The other actors are forgettable.

A morass of cliches, contradictions and clumsy attempts at suspense.

Voight's performance alone is absurd enough to merit the film a look.

Anaconda is about a snake that eats everybody. That about says it all.

Scary, this movie isn't. The faux serpent, albeit an impressive creature, looks wholly unrealistic as it zips through water and air like a Saturday morning cartoon character.