Anchorman 2 Proves That Recycled Humor Can Still Bring Laughs

 
Synopsis: With the 70s behind him, San Diego’s top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy, returns to take New York’s first 24-hour news channel by storm.
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Anchorman was a film that wasn’t a box office success but quickly became a cult comedy classic and is now one of Will Ferrell’s most iconic roles. When the studios were pitched the idea of a sequel, the director and cast had to fight long and hard to get this film made. Now that the film has finally released, the question is whether or not it lives up to the hype.

 

If you’re a fan of the original film, you can expect the same moments of laughter that you had with the first. By the same, I mean an almost complete carbon copy of the same jokes and situational humor while slightly straying from the original plot. While I would usually call something like this lazy, I felt this formula fit into the “ain’t broke don’t fix it” category. Even though some of the humor was easily expected, making some jokes more long-winded, I found a majority of the humor to be more of a continuance of laughter from the first film with a fresh revival. For the audiences that were not a fan of the original, I could easily say you will not be a fan of this film due to the amount of repeated humor. For those that were indifferent to the original, I would say it’s a toss up and this could be a film that you wait to rent rather than seeing in theaters.

 

While this film may be a worthy successor, it isn’t a replacement. Some of the actors are now much bigger actors and their screen time is of course prolonged for this film. For some characters it’s welcoming to have a little more time with them but with others, it takes away from the foundations of their original character. Brick (Steve Carrell) loses that abrupt surprise midway through the film. This is obviously because Carrell has become a headliner and deserves his share of screen time, but because of this Brick’s dialogue is extended which makes his timid and coy humor seem lost amongst his incoherent ramblings. Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) also gets some added screen time but like Ron Burgundy, the extended dialogue just magnifies his already cocky attitude which keeps the laughs coming. Champ (David Koechner) gets about the same amount of screen time which is just the amount we need because “Whammy” can only be said so many times. Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) of course is still the ringleader of the group and the star of the show. He’s like a sampler platter of humor taken from each of the other cast members with his own added bits. For some, his humor might seem a bit ridiculous at times but by the end of the film he and the other cast members finish strong.

 

As far as the other elements of the film go, I’d suggest to take them with a grain of salt and just enjoy the humor. The plot is simplified to most likely focus on the humor and get everyone their fair share of screen time. The first film had some clever underlying stabs at the 1970s and the idea of women in the workplace which this film lacks. The references to the 1980s are limited and there aren’t any strong taboo subjects to poke fun at. The character development is limited as well, mostly relying on the fans of the first film to be familiar with who these characters are. Despite the simplistic take on these film elements, the randomness is strong enough to carry the film and bring a few laughs that will let you leave the theater with a smile on your face.

 

As a fan of the first film, I would recommend other fans to head to the theater for some laughs since there aren’t any other films to feed your comedy hunger right now. For the others who didn’t care for the first film, you should probably save your money because there’s nothing particularly distinguishable between the two. When I left the film, I left after having a majority of laughs and surprises that made me happy that I had seen the film. While there may be some that won’t appreciate the film, I think this news team’s still got it!

Anchorman 2 – 7 out of 10

The same humor bringing reminiscent laughter…