by Sean Molloy
Informer Media Group
Oh, Ron Burgundy how we’ve missed you. Or at least how I’ve missed you. The original Anchorman has always been a comedy staple to me when I think of films that make me consistently laugh every time I watch. While Anchorman 2 might live up to the pure genius of the first outing with Rob and the Gang, what Adam McKay and Will Ferrell have done is give the characters a welcome return and provide more of the out of nowhere kind of jokes that has made the series (?) so special in the first place.
Anchorman 2 opens up with Rob and Veronica, played by the always hilarious Christina Applegate, still co-anchoring the weekend national news yet when she has to choose to take the top anchor position in the country or Ron, well Ron ends up at Sea World. And here the story of redemption for Burgundy and his news tea begins. Brian, Brick and Champ are all recruited to start a new era of news, the 24 hour network GNN. Along the ride, the team has to face rival news teams, a new boss (who is black and a woman, a hilarious gag that runs throughout the movie) and coping with their national fame and fortune. Ron himself has to deal with personal issues including bonding with his now 7-year-old son Walter and how to deal with Veronica who is now in a relationship with a psychotherapist (that might or might not have mind control powers) played by Greg Kinnear.
The comedy itself is everything an audience loved about Anchorman, but just cranks it all up to level 10. Gags including raising a baby shark, smoking crack and once again a completely epic news team fight are all included in the movie. The greatest part of these movies is that all of the jokes work in the universe perfectly. One in particular involving Ron getting “raped” by his boss (played by Meagan Good, who is also great in the movie) and getting forced to make animal noises. The news team again delivers on all fronts, perfectly returning to their characters even though each actor has skyrocketed in fame. Steve Carrell as Brick often steals the show with subtle gestures or just randomly showing up in the background of certain scenes. The only complaint I could have when it comes to this topic is I wish more of the news team was in the movie; at times Anchorman 2 is a little too much Ron.
What’s important about the movie is at the end the audience can still feel the sweetness to the characters and there over the top bravado and Anchorman 2 delivers a very sweet end to this one. Every member of the cast gets his or her moment to shine. However, with the original getting so much fame there is an oversaturation of cameos by people such as Drake and Kanye, I mean seriously?
For Anchorman 2’s missteps there are 10 things about it to love. The sequel might not be an improvement over the original, how could it be? But still gives everything anyone could want out of a sequel. It’s still filled with new quotes that all of us are going to be reciting for the next 10 years, and there’s nothing wrong about that.
Grade B+
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