100 min | PG-13 | December 25, 2025 | Directed by Tom Gormican
TLDR: Jack Black and Paul Rudd remake their favorite childhood movie in the rainforest and stumble into genuine heart. The slapstick lands, the sentiment earns it, and the whole thing works way better than it should.
Nobody asked for a midlife crisis comedy about remaking a snake movie, but here we are and it actually works. Black, Rudd, and Zahn play old friends chasing their youth by heading into the jungle to recreate their favorite film. The premise sounds like garbage. It’s not.
The movie knows what it is. The slapstick is broad but it lands. The plot twists genuinely surprised me. They don’t phone in the friendship angle either. These guys have history and the script bothers to show it instead of just telling you they’re best friends.
Black does his Jack Black thing but dialed back enough to let the character breathe. Rudd plays it straight which makes the absurdity work better. Thandiwe Newton shows up and reminds everyone she’s better than the material, then the material rises to meet her.
The snake stuff is silly. The criminal subplot feels tacked on. But the core friendship story has real weight. The laughs are earned. The heart is earned. You walk out feeling good about a movie that could have easily been lazy nostalgia bait.
Three stars for actually trying and mostly succeeding.