By Aaron Holmes – Aaron Holmes
For Ron Burgundy’s dramatic return to the silver screen, creators Will Ferrell and Adam McKay explore new comedic terrain.
The 70s have passed, the American media is shifting rapidly, and Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) has returned, along with his trusty news team (Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and David Koechner) to take the newly-conceptualized world of 24-hour news by storm.
Anchorman 2, directed by Adam McKay, is at its funniest when Ferrell and McKay are doing what they do best: mockery. The prime subject of the duo’s satire are 24-hour news networks, and the pandering and commercialization that make them so popular. Ron Burgundy discovers that fluff pieces about kittens or high-speed car chases broadcast by helicopter consistently draw higher ratings than fact-based news.
In addition to quick-paced and apt parody, Anchorman 2 includes the absurdist, tongue-in-cheek comedy first popularized by Ferrell, Carell, Rudd and Koechner in the series’ first installment. But Anchorman 2 surpasses its prequel in the sheer volume of humor. With every line, through a combination of script and improvisation, the actors attempt to pull off a joke of some sort. And, although there exist a number of misses, the majority of the jokes are genuinely funny.
At times, however, the film becomes tedious. The movie spans 119 minutes, and within half that time it becomes clear that there is only so much distance a single, uniform brand of comedy can go.
Nonetheless, the creators of Anchorman 2 deserve recognition for their dedication to the movie. In addition to painting a hilariously accurate portrayal of American media culture, the movie includes a handful of original songs, most of which are sung by Ferrell.
In keeping with its prequel, the film features countless cameos, which include the likes of Drake, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Kanye West, Jim Carrey, Harrison Ford, Will Smith, Liam Neeson, Sacha Baron-Cohen, Vince Vaughn, John C. Reilly and many others.
Despite its few shortcomings, Anchorman 2 lives up to and surpasses the expectations set by its cast of comedic giants. Its gigantic comedy, in the end, makes up for its monstrous length.
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