Film review - Anaconda (1997) ... and the year it was

When looking back at the year of 1997, its fair to say it really produced some big screen stinkers.  I've defended 'Batman and Robin' in a previous write-up however I concede it's not everyone's cup of tea, even commenting myself how it's the weakest of the whole cinematic Batman journey.  The rubbish sequels didn't stop there with 'Speed 2: Cruise Control' and 'Alien Resurrection' following (and I'll assess both another time).  I even recall that summer, having just recently turned 12, sitting in East Belfast's Strand cinema watching 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park' and frequently asking myself "Now what? What's next?" - and not even Jeff Goldblum's wisecracks could save it.

My last review was a glowing appraisal of 'Spice World: The Movie' where some moron suggested that the famous five could be the new fab four at the box office as well as the charts.  Some even felt that 'Starship Troopers' and 'Con Air' from the same year made a mockery of gung-ho action.  I couldn't disagree any more but I digress!... In a similar vein, sci-fi was not dead but needed a coat of paint, which became increasingly evident in 'Anaconda';  an ambitious voyage of doom-type spectacle with an eclectic cast of Jennifer Lopez, rapper Ice Cube, Eric Stolz and Owen Wilson, with the biggest name being Jon Voight. 

The plot follows a group of docu-film makers essentially have their ship taken over by a villaneous snake hunter (Voight), who calls the shots on where they're heading.  With a reported eye-watering budget of $45 million, 'Anaconda' managed to impressively recoup nearly three times the amount in cinema admission although also earned six Golden Raspberry nominations.  The true highlight of the film comes in the form of the location surroundings, predominately the South American Rio Negro.  Ironically portraying a documentary true travelling through the Amazon, the cinematography is worthy of being included in a documentary itself.  Voight's appearance on the moving boat offers a callback to 'Deliverance' (1973) although, despite the effort of his performance, that's where the similarities end. 

Unfortunately not one character turned in a memorable performance.  Every character feels two-dimensional with occasional attempts feeling forced within storyline context. Cube's character is heard listening to one of his actual rap tunes in a cheeky but unoriginal plug.  (Amazingly we're two years away from J-Lo's own musical outbreak hence no dance routine.)  Voight's antagonist role has legs and injects necessary life upon arrival but at some point you're wanting to cheer for the guy in bumping off the boring innocent people.  He strangles Wilson's girlfriend with his legs, seemingly doing her a favour.  Rather than enter 'Heart of Darkness' homage territory, it becomes a parody with the titular reptile that Voight in on the hunt for looking comically bad via the special effects department.

For such a big-budgeted project, why did the threatening species manage to evoke more laughs than screams?  Apparently no lessons were learned from the Jaws sequels, as the anticipated camera angles from below the water surface screamed predictability.  With just a year removed from the spectacle that was 'Independence Day' (1996), technological usage in film should really have stepped up a gear allowing the audience to suspend their disbelief - not reinforce it.  Despite making the film his own, Voight's accent here becomes unbearable - possibly inspiring a young Gerard Butler to butcher the Irish accent in future romantic dramas.

The real question in all of this, after digging deeper, is why was '97 such an underwhelming year for films?  It didn't help creatively with the re-release of the original Star Wars trilogy, complete with new scenes and effects.  Certainly the traditional animated Disney classic, entering its 60th year, was starting to tire compared to its recent Pixar benchmark 'Toy Story'; therefore 'Hercules' stood no chance - and that was up against Sky One's live action interpretation along side 'Xena: Warrior Princess'.  I have a theory that this was a transitional year for cinema, where the movie world was just waiting for its next big hit; an epic in the style of 'Ben Hur' or 'Gone With The Wind', and that would pull in viewers worldwide like the aforementioned collection from George Lucas. 

It turned out that ship hadn't sailed (pun intended) when a certain James Cameron romantic drama broke new records towards the end of the year and crossing in to '98.  That said, it still wasn't something original.  Creatively speaking, the real standout from '97 is arguably 'The Full Monty', complete with working class themes that are as relevant today as they would've been anytime in the last 50+ years.  It struck a chord with the public and seemed to stay at picture houses longer than most, likely because the only gimmicks the relatively lower budget production relied on was a CD player of Hot Chocolate's music and clothing for dudes to remove.

Looking back, Anaconda gets a bad rap and deservingly so for the most part.  Had a few obvious tweaks been made, as well as possibly released in another time frame, I'm sure the film would be viewed a little differently.