Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

I will start this review by saying that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the original Anchorman, not because I didn’t enjoy the film, but more so that I didn’t find it as infinitely quotable as many other people did. The humour is very broad, allowing each viewer to latch on to their own preferred kind of comedy, be it slapstick, crude, offensive or satire.

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.

South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut

NB: The next five reviews to be featured on this site are ones that have been requested by readers. So feel free to send me a film request.

This weeks film is the 1999 comedy classic South Park Bigger, Longer and Uncut, written by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who also directed the film. When this film came out I was thirteen and it was the talk of our school, very similar to Terrence and Phillips “Asses of Fire” in the film it self. Also, recently this film was voted 5^th in the all time top 100 funniest film, beating Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Naked Gun films, which shows just how funny this film is. 

The plot of South Park is that following the boys’(Cartman, Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Ike’s) paying a homeless man to get them into the ‘R’ rated “Asses of Fire”, and then unleashing some of the language from the film onto, such as “You donkey r*ping sh*t eater”, and countless uses of the word f*ck during a school lesson. Ultimately they are pulled out of their class and their mother brought in, who decide, led by the unrelenting Sheila Broflovski, that it is all Terrence and Phillips fault for the childrens bad language and behaviour, and so want to see them brought to justice. 

The structure of South Park is fairly simple, which moves the plot along quickly, cutting between Cartman, Stan and Kyle trying to help Terrence and Phillip, and Kenny is Hell, observing Satan and Saddam Husseins lovers tiff. Like the best comedies, the plot doesn’t stop for the jokes, they are all intergrated into the plot, which could explain the 78 minute running time. The songs and musical moments of the film don’t side track the plot either, instead they just help add to the comedy as again, the story unfolds around the song.

When it comes to a stand out character in South Park, it is hard to look past Eric Cartman, a character who has taken on seemingly legendary status since the show aired on TV in 1997. Although he losses the ability to curse at a point during the movie, his dialogue before and after that are classic comedy moments, such as “No, I don’t seem to have any Jewish candy” as a way to both hoard his sweet and insult Kyle simultaneously. Also the megaphone scene in the classroom which sets off the whole plot is tear inducingly funny. Although the other characters and well written and undeniably funny, it is Cartman who ultimately steals the show.

The weaknesses for South Park are minimal, any complaints about the animation are lost, as it wouldn’t be the same without that trademark style. Possibly the film could have been stretched out to last longer, even reaching the 90 minute mark, but obviously not at the expense of the tight story and comedy already in the film.

Score: ****(4/5)