The plot of Anchorman 2 follows Ron Burgundy in the eighties
after he is fired from his news show and his wife, Veronica, is made the news
anchor after choosing the job over their marriage. Ron then sinks into a dark,
albeit hilarious, pit of despair before he is offered a job with a brand new
twenty four hour news channel.
As with any comedy, it all comes down to the simple point.
Is it funny? For the most part it is. There a few jokes that didn’t work for
me, but this is hardly something to be hold against a film. Anchorman 2 is
undoubtedly at its best when it sticks to satirizing the news and the numerous
programs and channels, or when it really goes for it, such as the ‘smoking
crack’ scene or the family dinner. While these could be seen as easy fare for
comedy, because of Ron and the news team, they work.
Ron Burgundy, to no surprise, makes the film and anchors the
gradually increasing insanity that unfolds, building to a very surreal finale.
Without such a likeable and funny character, the films second half wouldn’t
have worked. Especially with the news team battle and the lighthouse sequence.
I am trying to giveaway as little of the plot or the jokes as possible.
Not the longest review I have done, but comedy is a hard
genre for me to get into. You will either find it funny or you won’t. Character
development is relatively sparse, definitely preferring the delivery of jokes
above evolving the people swept up in the story.
If you are a fan of the first, then you will in all
likelihood enjoy this one. If you aren’t then the film could feel too long and
in need of trimming at least ten minutes.
