The legend of Ron Burgundy and the Channel 2 News team continues with this sequel to the 2004 comedy. Only this time, they've gone global.
After nearly a decade of anticipation, Will Ferrell returns as one of his greatest characters to date. This comedy surely does not disappoint. I can honestly say that I have not laughed so hard, so consistently, in a theater in a very long time. This was everything an Anchorman sequel needed to be.
Mack Harken (Harrison Ford) fires Burgundy as he promotes his now wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate). After which, he is approached by Garth Holliday (Chris Parnell) AKA the most forgettable catalyst character, to anchor a 24 hour news channel, a brand new concept for the time period. Burgundy assembles his old team in the most hilarious road trip since Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
Seriously, there was no shortage of laughs during the assembling of this team. The first 30-45 minutes is just so perfectly written, and all of the actors have impeccable comedic timing. Steve Carrell really overshadows the other news team members (even Ferrell) in every scene he speaks in. It's safe to say, without Brick Tamland, there is no movie. David Koechner's Champ provides a steady stream of laughter during his reintroduction, but quickly fades into the group as a whole. Paul Rudd plays pretty much the same thing he does in every movie, so in other words he says things like a normal person and funny stuff just happens. But Brian Fantana has his moments. Will Ferrell, however, brings his A-game for this. There's something about the Burgundy character that Ferrell just captures so perfectly and easily.
There was never a joke that didn't land with the audience, but there were a few writing flaws that hold the movie back a tad. There seem to be 2-3 central plot-lines. One being Burgundy's career and his revolutionizing of the news format (which eventually becomes what Jon Stewart calls Bullshit Mountain). Another being his relationship to his wife and child, which really takes a backseat to the craziness of the third act. Burgundy interacting with his 6 year old son as if he is already a grown man is one of the funniest things about this movie.
Corningstone begins a relationship with Gary (Greg Kinnear) which no one really remembers until it's brought up. The movie does keep you focused on everything that's happening, but Applegate needed a little more screentime early on to keep the audience invested in that, and you think you know what happens with Burgundy's son, but the movie goes to great lengths to surprise you, and damn do they succeed.
There are just a few scenes that are just put in throughout the movie, each are probably under 20 seconds. They do nothing to progress the plot or have any relevance to what you had seen previously or are about to see. But they keep the laughs coming like clockwork.
The writing slowly gets less funny as the movie goes on, though it still grips your attention. There is about a ten minute sequence (not really a spoiler) where Burgundy goes blind, and he lives in a lighthouse. It is probably the least funny part of the movie, whilst still getting a few chuckles in. The last 10 minutes of the movie feels like the writers ran out of social commentary, and just decided to take everything about the original film and shove it up its own ass... and it works. You will laugh. I guarantee it.
This film has an abundance of 80s jokes, as well as racist, sexual, network news stupidity, and self referential jokes, complete with an unbelievable number of celebrity cameos. You will not sit through this movie with a straight face thanks to fantastic performances by a fantastic cast. Welcome back, Mr. Burgundy, and you stay classy, internet.
Rating: A
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