The sequel to "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" has been eagerly anticipated by myself as well as San Diegites all over the world. Sequels to popular comedies for the most part are immensely underwhelming, I'm looking at you "Hangover Part II". The first "Anchorman" was a modest hit upon initial release but grew a massive pop culture following by those who waited til DVD or had to watch it a 2nd time to actually get it (me). In what seems like a never-ending promotional blitz since 2012 when the sequel was announced we finally have another adventure with Ron Burgundy and the Channel 4 News team. The question is, how does it hold up to the original? The answer to that is that while "Anchorman 2" is not the near perfect comedy that "Anchorman" is, it is still very very funny with a lot of great quotable lines that will make fellow fans happy and satisfied.
Ron Burgundy is one of the best characters created in the 2000's. It's everything from his mustache to his overall outlook on life. Created from the mind of star Will Ferrell and director/co-writer Adam Mckay Burgundy is the poster boy for mid 70's political incorrectness and male chauvinism. McKay and Ferrell have been writing partners since their days on SNL and their comfort level with each other shows on screen in "Anchorman" along with other collaborations such as "Step Brothers" and "Talladega Nights", they are not afraid to go outside the comfort zone sometimes taking chances on bits that are just too out there and don't stick but more times than not are hilarious. The first "Anchorman" focused mainly on sexism in the 70's with a local San Diego news station as the background. "Anchorman 2" shifts the setting to New York City in 1980 with Burgundy and his news team taking a job at one of the first 24 hour news stations in the world.
Gone in this sequel are a lot of the political and social undertones from the first instead giving us a lot more of the goofiness of Burgundy and other cast of characters who all return for the second go around. The rest of the channel 4 news team consists of Paul Rudd as "man on the street" Brian Fontana, sportscaster Champ Kind played by David Koechner and fan favorite weatherman Brick Tamland played by Steve Carell. Paul Rudd is again the MVP of the news team in terms of getting the most laughs for me. Carell, now arguable as big of a star as Ferrell thanks to his role in "The Office" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin" now seems kind of out of place in the role of Brick but while he is not as memorable as he was in the first he still gets a few good laughs.
The one problem that "Anchorman 2" has is that there are almost too many jokes to go around, this is a complicated problem. There are moments in the film that I laughed out loud more so than I have in a theater in a long time but there are also moments that just fall flat. Brick showing up to his own funeral and a scene in Ron's Winnebago come to mind. Scenes such as this could have easily been removed to make the scenes that do work (which there are a lot of) stick with the moviegoer. A lot of the funniest scenes come by so quickly and in succession of each other its almost hard to keep up. Christina Applegate also returns in very funny form as Veronica Corningstone and her scenes with Ron and their son are some of the best in the movie. Instead of introducing another female love interest for Ron played by the beautiful Meagan Good I would of liked to have seen more of Veronica in the mix.
While there is light commentary on how we receive the news now and even a bit on race in America Anchorman plays mainly and best as a spoof in the vein of "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun". Everyone involved is completely on board for the ridiculousness and not in it just for a cash grab, looking at you "Meet the Fockers".... The appeal of the characters shows in the plethora of cameos, everyone from cinema icons to rappers to even an Oscar winner. There are a lot of great quotable lines that I think will remain in the pop culture pantheon along with "I love lamp" and others from the original.
The finale of "Anchorman 2" is a major hark back to the original. It is both one of the best scenes in the movie along with being one of the most absurd scenes I think I've seen. Without any spoilers I'll just say that a werewolf, minotaur and the ghost of Stonewall Jackson among many others are involved. "Anchorman 2" will certainly not bring any new converts to Burgundy's gang but if you are a fan of the original get your jazz flutes out and spray on a little Sex Panther and enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment