Review of Anaconda (1954) by Billy B — 19 Mar 2012

A documentary crew on a boat in the Brazillian rain forrest stumble upon enormous anacondas who are hunting them off. They must fight for their life as their group is getting picked off one-by-one.

I've always been a sucker for creature features, and it really doesn't take much of an effort for me to like one. They have to be fun and intriguing, and thats just what Anaconda is. The films special effects were great because they used puppets majority of them time instead of CGI (there is also one scene where string can be seen attatched to the snake moving it around) which makes it much more engaging for the audience. There is also a terrific moment where the camera is inside the snakes throat as it is swallowing one of the victims which was a great touch. Whilst the film was extremely predictable and riddled with cliches, it leaves me wanting more and more. The ending was a great nail-biting affair, even though we knew what was going to happen.

The plot is simple as all creature features are, but Anaconda also had a good bunch of characters that you either loved or hated, which ade it that much more exciting when they met their demise or survived. The effects were great most of the time and it really showed some great scenery.

The acting was good. Jennifer Lopez before she was a household name for being a singer, was great as tough chick Terri. She has this presence which makes her immediately likeable and is a joy to watch. Ice Cube was also pretty good as Danny. Jonathon Hyde was unlikeable at the start, but his character development made him more likeable towards the end. John Voight was definately great in the villian role, as a snake captor who would rather everyone die so he could capture one of these giant snakes. Owen Wilson also co-stars before he was famous, and he is just as annoying as ever.

Overall Anaconda is a fun and well acted creature feature that has likeable characters and some great scenery. My rating is 3/5.