Oversized snakes devour cast of amusing sequel

Some people view a B movie with a certain air of contempt.

But watching a genuine B movie can be as pleasurable as eating at a roadside diner or going to a minor league baseball game.

Such is the case with “Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid.”

Part jungle adventure, part horror flick, “Anacondas” succeeds despite its lack of a big star, notable director or good idea. It certainly offers plenty of laughs — both intentional and the other kind — not the least of which is the fact that anacondas are indigenous to South America and the film is set in Borneo (near the Philippines).

The plot follows a group of scientists and executives of a formidable pharmaceuticals corporation who theorize that the rare blood orchid could “significantly prolong cellular life.”

Or in layman’s terms, it’s “a pharmaceutical equivalent of the fountain of youth.”

The team — led by a corporate climber (Salli Richardson-Whitfield), an ambitious British scientist (Matthew Marsden) and his sexy former assistant (KaDee Strickland) — heads off to deepest Borneo in search of the flower, which only blooms once every seven years.

After hiring a Han Solo-like boat captain (Johnny Messner) to guide them, the group runs afoul of the creatures of the title. From there it’s an internal power struggle among those who crave millions of dollars from a potential medical discovery and those who just want to get the heck back to civilization.

After watching 1997’s “Anaconda” again on cable this week, it was kind of surprising how improved the effects were in this sequel. The original film relied on a whole nest of rubbery, animatronic snakes to provide interaction with the cast. And wow do they look fake by today’s standards.

The cast of 'Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid' wades among its serpentine enemy while stranded in the jungles of Borneo.

While the serpents in “Anacondas” are not exactly Gollum-like in their digital mastery, they are plenty scary. Their presence leads to some cringe-inducing moments, many of which involve the party stuck in waist-high water with the beasts.

The movie is so focused on trying to supply mindless entertainment that it’s easy to forgive its logical trespasses. That’s why it’s more amusing than annoying when blond star Strickland begins the film with a hefty Southern accent and ends it speaking like Gwyneth Paltrow. Odd, considering she’s actually from Georgia.

Or when the buff river rat Messner goes into a speech about his shadowy past in the U.S. Special Forces. Oh, so that’s why he’s so good at killing stuff.

The only element that may sit wrong with audiences is in the character portrayed by Eugene Byrd, who plays the team’s computer expert. The young black actor (who was effective as the wannabe record producer in “8 Mile”) flirts with a performance so stereotypical it borders on being truly offensive. His relentessly loud-mouthed scaredy cat is supposed to provide comic relief, but it’s about as welcome as watching Stepin Fetchit prance around the jungle.

Morris Chestnut, left, KaDee Strickland, Matthew Marsden, Nicholas Gonzalez, Johnny Messner, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Eugene Byrd and Karl Yune star in Anacondas:

This is especially odd considering the bulk of the small cast is comprised of minorities (Morris Chestnutt, Nicholas Gonzales, Karl Yune and Richardson-Whitfield) who are depicted as individuals, not effigies.

However, it’s probably best not to read too much social criticism into this throwback to second-tier creature features of the 1950s.

As one of the crew says, “Everything gets eaten out here. It’s the jungle.”

In B-movie terms, “Anacondas” has a comfortable sense of how it ranks on the cinematic food chain.