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| Courtesy of Paramount |
This
review is a pointless one, since a sequel to Will Ferrell’s most popular movie
is as critic-proof as they come. Fans of the first film will see it no matter
what I say, and those who recoil from Ferrell’s comedic voice aren't buying a
ticket even if I say it’s the greatest film since Citizen Kane.
It’s
not. But Anchorman 2 is incredibly funny, a small miracle considering the
track record of sequels to blockbuster comedies (looking at you, Hangover flicks). I’m already making plans to see it again since I couldn’t hear half
the dialogue over the laughter of the audience and my own breathless wheezing.
I’m sure I missed a ton of jokes.
Plus
it’s got an ingenious premise that I can’t believe I didn’t see coming. The
first film ended with the stupid, hilariously arrogant Ron Burgundy (Ferrell)
and his girlfriend Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) making the leap
from local news to the national level. This one kicks off with Veronica
promoted and Ron fired, which does wonders for their relationship.
With
Ron’s career at rock bottom, he’s approached by a producer (Dylan Baker) for
GNN, the nation’s first 24-hour cable news network. Ron initially mocks the
idea, but the potential for a comeback is too strong to resist. He reunites
with his old news team (Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner) and they
enter into a new, confusing world where younger, better-looking anchors (James
Marsden) dominate and their boss is a black woman (Meagan Good). The sexist,
racist buffoons handle the changing environment about as well as you’d expect.
But
Ron is born for this new format. Instead of telling viewers what they need to
hear, he makes the pioneering decision to tell them what they want to hear. He
dominates the ratings with stories about cute kittens, mantras about America as
the best country in the history of forever, rampant speculation during car
chases and panic-stoking reports about isolated incidents.
In
other words, the dumbest anchorman in the business invented Fox News, CNN,
MSNBC and BuzzFeed. Makes perfect sense.
Ferrell
and his co-stars pick up right where they left off, even though it has been
almost a decade. They’re even bigger cartoons this time around – especially
Carell’s character – but it makes sense considering director Adam McKay (who
also co-wrote the screenplay with Ferrell) isn’t even trying to pretend the
film takes place in the real world. The result is a bizarre, surreal experience
that only adds to the humor.
The
two subscribe to the “throw everything against the wall and see what sticks”
school of comedy, which means not all the jokes work. Yet the sheer number of
them means the audience is essentially laughing non-stop, almost never at the
same punchline. The new additions to the cast fit in nicely, especially
Marsden, Good and Kristen Wiig, who plays Carell’s equally oddball girlfriend.
The
film is too long (trimming one unnecessary subplot could’ve allow it to run a
lean 95 minutes or so) and the inevitable anchor battle is a bit anticlimactic
considering the cameos were spoiled for me early on (avoid IMDb.com if you’ve
been mercifully spared so far). But, overall, I’m amazed Anchorman 2 is this
good. It was never going to live up to the original, which was made with zero
hype or expectations, but it comes pretty darn close.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, drug use, language and comic violence.
Grade:
B+
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