Anaconda

Rating ***/*****, or 7/10

Fun creature flick with a surprisingly good cast considering the fairly typical subject matter. A film crew heads deep into the lush Amazon rain forest to document an indigenous tribe, but on the way stumble on a seemingly lost poacher (Jon Voight performing with a rather silly accent). It soon turns out the guy intends to capture a giant anaconda snake alive and has no moral qualms about sacrificing the documentarists one at a time to achieve his goal. With both the ever more violent poacher and the supersnake (a clearly but effective combination of puppets and CGI) picking the crew off, can camera woman Jennifer Lopez save the day? Though the movie offers little narrative surprises and has an obviously artificial creature as the major threat, it makes up for it with decent acting, solid action and a damn fine score. This movie got no less than three totally unnecessary sequels.

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Jon Voight, Ice Cube

Directed by Luis Llosa

USA: Cinema Line Film Corporation, 1997