Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid

It is a nice "cozy sofa at home, tasty dinner, legs on the table" type of movie that you just can't resist to enjoy. The actors are fine to be real, the visuals are not so bad, especially the anacondas, the effects are pretty okay, so there is nothing to moan about, apart from the slightly shallow story. Nice movie to watch when tired and you need something to relax with.

No one really wanted, or asked for, a sequel to the seriously stupid 1997 creature feature Anaconda. But it was a hit (somehow) and you know how studios are when it comes to milking something for all it's worth - yes, Halloween 9 is currently in pre-production! Surprisingly, Anacondas is actually quite good for what it is.

Originally meant to be a direct-to-video production, Sony was so impressed with the dailies that they more than doubled the budget and elevated it to a theatrical release. The budget constraints still cramp its style, compared to A-list studio stuff, but it's the best film it possibly can be.

With a touch more plot, involving a search for an ultra-mega-massively rare flower, called the Blood Orchid, that only blooms every seven years and can unlock the secret to everlasting life, there is a sophistication to the script, rather than plain old slither'n'slash.

So we have a bunch of scientists on an expedition to the unknown depths of the Borneo jungle and it's not off to a good start. They can only afford a ramshackle boat; it's the rainy season and the rivers are mighty treacherous. Also, their boat captain (Johnny Messner) is a gruff ex-Special Forces American, with the cutest pet monkey ever.

Everyone seems to be okay about their perilous quest until they are attacked by big crocs, go over a waterfall and become shipwrecked. Then, when things can't get any worse, one of them is gobbled up by - you've guessed it - an anaconda.

Instead of the traditional one-by-one deaths story, like the first film, there is more conflict and interaction. These characters may not be the best, or the most well written, but the actors do what they can with what they've been given. Messner is especially good, keeping a cool head as snakes prey upon them from every shadow. J-Low-IQ, the hammy John Voight and Ice Cube may be gone (there is a quick reference to them), but fellow Boyz N The Hood alumni Morris Chestnut and E.R. star Salli Richardson are offered up as potential reptile food.

And it just so happens that it's mating season. And the snakes are all up for a big orgy. And guess where the Blood Orchids are? Right above their shagging pit. Oh bloody hell! Luis Llosa made Anaconda in the most simplistic and static way possible. This time Dwight H. Little, the very man who gave us Halloween 4, the epic Steven Seagal movie Marked For Death and err... Free Willy 2, brings strong direction and integrity. It's a darker, more complex film that seriously promises to deliver the goods, but comes up a bit short. If it had been taken a few steps further, then it would have been great. As it is, it's more atmospheric and professional, but still, a bleaker ending, with more gobbled-up characters, would have suited me better.

The snakes themselves look okay, nothing special. Little keeps them hidden for as long as possible, only offering brief glimpses here and there. A snake is an awkward looking villain, so keeping it hidden is probably wiser. There is also, thank heavens, no dodgy animatronics.

Incredibly dumb and unnecessary it may be, but Anacondas is easy, inoffensive entertainment that will surely appeal to some part of everybody's taste.

There were movies released before and after this installment but this one stood the best.

The story, associated facts with drugs and the mammoth reptile were all executed nicely. Direction withstood quality.

Final Verdict: The movie is underrated in its segment and is worth watching.

In New York, the ambitious Dr. Jack Byron (Matthew Marsden) and his associate Gordon Mitchell (Morris Chestnut) present the research of his assistant Sam Rogers (KaDee Strickland) to the CEO and board of directors of a corporation to sponsor a scientific expedition to Borneo. The objective is to find a flower, Blood Orchid, that flourishes for a couple of weeks every seven years and could be a fountain of youth, prolonging the expectation of life of human beings. They are succeeded and once in Borneo, they realize that it is the raining season and there is no boat available to navigate on the river. They pay US$ 50,000.00 to convince Captain Bill Johnson (Johnny Messner) and his partner Tran (Karl Yune) to sail to the location. After an accident in a waterfall, the survivors realize that a pack of anacondas have gathered for mating and their nest is nearby the plantation of Blood Orchid, which made them bigger and bigger.

I saw "Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid" with a very low expectation based on the IMDb User Rating, but I liked this entertaining adventure a lot. The story is full of action and humor, and I laughed a lot when Cole calls Sam of "Lorena Babbitt" when she cuts the head of one anaconda. There are the usual clichés of this type of predictable B-movie, but I had a good surprise in the end. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Anaconda 2: A Caçada Pela Orquídea Sangrenta" ("Anaconda 2: The Hunt for the Bloody Orchid")

The story combines elements of first film and provides exciting and stirring entertainment .It concerns about a scientific chief(Dennis Ardnt)assigns to his group(Morris Chesnut,Mattew Mardsen,Strickland,Salli Richardson,Eugene Byrd among others)encounter a strange flower called ¨Blood orchid¨that could grant lasting life.They are going out from New York City until Borneo jungle where is allegedly the rare flower.They hire an adventurer(Johnny Messner) leading the expedition by means a boat through the river and a dangerous forest.Meanwhile they confront each other and attacked by a pack of large Anacondas which are deadlier and bigger but the orchid gives longer existence. The giant snakes savagely are stalking its prey and the group run afoul and fight against one nature's most fearsome predators.

The movie delivers the goods with hair-raising chills,full of scares when the Anacondas appear with outstanding special effects.The giant snakes are majority made by computer generator but also by Animatronics and seem totally alive.Actors give vigorously physical performances dodging the Anacondas,running,bound and leaps or dangling over a well which contains a snakes nest.The Anacondas ,themselves,of course ,are the authentic stars and they're marvellous terrifyingly astounding and almost totally convincing.Spectacular music adjusted to the action by Nerida Tyson and colorful cinematography by Stephen Windon.The motion picture is regularly directed by Dwight H. Little,an expert action genre such TV movies(24,Prison break,Bones)as cinema(Rapid fire,Masked for death,Free Willy 2,Murder at 1600).The film will like to former(Anaconda with Jennifer Lopez) film fans and adventures cinema enthusiastic.No for small kids by realistic,gory and violent attack scenes.