Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid

“Ananacondas” is an adventure movie with some terrifying twists and turns that may keep you perpetually on the edge of your theater seat. A motley crew of characters join together for an expedition, and, at first, they all have the same goal, to make a huge amount of money. But soon (when they are exhausted, terrified, and desperate), they end up feeling very differently about their common dream.

The Borneo river jungle setting looks very authentic and packs a good wallop even without the centerpiece, the huge CG snake who plays the title role.

When the movie begins, the river trip seems like it could be rather routine, but as things progress, the seekers run into increasing difficulties. Finally, they meet virtually insurmountable obstacles blocking them from their prize, the rarified Blood Orchid that blooms only once every seven years.

There is little time for character development in this movie because there is so much action, and not much time to take a breath between each hair-raising episode. There are some heroic acts and characters, but in my mind, not nearly enough to make this movie worth watching.

The giant snake moved too fast to be real, and never looked really believable to me. I kept waiting for a satisfying shot of the head of the snake so I could look into its eyes and see the power and coldness, but never got that pleasure. The rest of the movie does strive to look realistic, like the jerry-rigged riverboat which is a floating junkyard, and the continuingly deteriorating state of the actor’s costumes and hair.

Nudity is limited to a little cleavage, and for the most part, the female characters are treated with respect.

The language is crude throughout, and there is one rude gesture. There is reference to sex and drugs in the first few minutes, and more references to unsavory and sinful sex later in the movie. The violence is unrelenting. This is a movie that would easily have received an R-rating before they loosened the standards. There is animal-to-people violence, and people-to-people violence—all very graphic. There are intense multiple shots of human remains and suffering, and human betrayal of the worst kind.

I was disappointed in the cruelty depicted between the humans (not so much by the animals). Parents are warned that this is an R movie in every way. I found the use of graphic shots of numerous, realistic, dead human bodies very disturbing and disrespectful. I cannot recommend this movie to anyone.

Violence: Extreme / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Mild

Read our review of the first film in this series: Anaconda