by Joey Guerra
Entertainment Editor
"An anaconda has heat sensors. A warm body is not hard to find. It strikes, wraps around you, holds you tighter than your true love and you get the privilege of hearing your bones break before the power of their embrace causes your veins to explode. Then it swallows you whole. The anaconda is the perfect killing machine."
- Paul Sarone, Anaconda
Over the past few years, movie directors and studios have given up plenty of flicks displaying animals and their bad sides. Unlike other horror films where the bad guy is just that, a guy, nature provides enemies that sometimes give us even more of a thrill and an action-filled adventure (Jaws, Jurassic Park). In Ananconda, the title character is the film's strongest point.
Sure, we have have seen many shocking flicks in the past dealing with nature's worst predators: bees, flies, frogs, piranhas, sharks, etc., but never about snakes who actually prey on humans. Through some striking effects and well-constructed scenes by director Luis Llosa, you'll be sure to feel the tight coil of the snake as it wraps around one of the hapless actors.
Documentary filmmakers Steven Cale (Eric Stoltz) and Terri Flores (Jennifer Lopez), along with cameraman Danny (rapper Ice Cube), enter the mysterious world of the Brazilian rainforest, a wondrous jungle in the Amazons with danger lurking around every corner. The crew embarks on a river expedition to find the legendary Shirishama Indians, who have never been documented.
Along the way, the trio encounters Paul Sarone (Jon Voight), a charismatic loner with extensive knowledge of the jungle and the Shirishama tribe, stranded on a deserted boat. Paul seems trustworthy, but he is on his own quest to track down a lethal, 40-foot anaconda for a million-dollar reward. The "pleasant" expedition soon becomes a jungle nightmare as Sarone's obsession leads them all into the most unexpected adventure of their lives.
The longest anaconda ever photgraphed and documented was 37 and one-half feet long, so Anaconda's seemingly ridiculous measurements are not actually that far off. The film used 30 real anacondas of all sizes, the biggest being 18 feet. With the expert assistance of Sony Pictures Imageworks, computer animation created a snake that believably attacks, coils, eats and regurgitates its prey in a strikingly realistic manner on screen.
Overall, Anaconda is quite different and interesting, as opposed to the usual animal-with-a-bad-attitude flick. It is a real shocker to be able to catch all the action from a distance, as well as getting an up-close view of the snake, because most of us have never been up close and personal with one of these slithery creatures.
Every moment of the film is intense and eerie. You'll be on the edge of your seat - wide-eyed and chewing on your nails, helplessly lured into what will happen next. Anaconda captures your attention and gives you the unexpected - a key objective in any good film. You should definitely check this one out, but be sure to take someone with you who won't mind you burying your face into his or her shoulder.