I remember way back in 2004 when I went to the theater in high anticipation of Will Ferrell's first starring vehicle(he was really a supporting actor in "Old School") in the original "Anchorman". I walked out of the theater feeling somewhat disappointed that the movie was just a so-so effort by a comedian I highly respected as one of the funniest people in the business. Over the next ten years,however, I became one of the legions of people who could quote the movie beginning to end while laughing myself into a stupor. Oh how I would continuously quote "It means a whale's vagina" or "60% of the time, it works every time". My point? I believe "Anchorman 2" will follow the same pattern with people. I have read many of the user reviews of this movie and they mostly provide the same complaint over and over again that the movie was sophomoric, vulgar and stupid and didn't live up to the original. Really? I challenge those same people to look at the user reviews for the first "Anchorman" in 2004. I'll give you a hint: They are the same reviews! Yet today, "Anchorman" is considered one of the greatest and most quotable comedies since "Animal House" and "Airplane". Why? I believe it is because Ferrell and Adam McKay try to pack in so many jokes into one movie (almost every other line!) that many jokes go over peoples heads, some inevitably just don't work or viewers miss them entirely because they are laughing from a previous joke. This is the same style of rapid fire comedy we are accustomed to seeing from Ferrell and McKay, as evidenced by the first "Anchorman", "Talladega Nights" and "Step Brothers". Over time and after re-watching these movies again and again, the jokes get rediscovered and the movie gets funnier.
That is not to say that this sequel is as good as the first. Many jokes did not land and, in my opinion, the side story with Steve Carrell and Kristin Wiig was just not that funny. HOWEVER...there were quite a lot of jokes that did land. Smoking crack on television (who knew you couldn't smoke crack on live television?), Champ Kind's chicken restaurant("I'm not eating that!"), the dinner with his girlfriend's parents ("say whaaaat?"), his relationship with his son, etc. For the critics who feel this movie didn't live up to the original, I ask that you remember how you felt about it in 2004 instead of the years (and multiple viewings) following its release. To the critics who just felt it was stupid, I wonder if you even liked the first. To those who are fans of Ron Burgundy and his band of idiots and who have yet to see it, just remember that you will have to watch this again and again in order to really appreciate it...just like the first movie.
That is not to say that this sequel is as good as the first. Many jokes did not land and, in my opinion, the side story with Steve Carrell and Kristin Wiig was just not that funny. HOWEVER...there were quite a lot of jokes that did land. Smoking crack on television (who knew you couldn't smoke crack on live television?), Champ Kind's chicken restaurant("I'm not eating that!"), the dinner with his girlfriend's parents ("say whaaaat?"), his relationship with his son, etc. For the critics who feel this movie didn't live up to the original, I ask that you remember how you felt about it in 2004 instead of the years (and multiple viewings) following its release. To the critics who just felt it was stupid, I wonder if you even liked the first. To those who are fans of Ron Burgundy and his band of idiots and who have yet to see it, just remember that you will have to watch this again and again in order to really appreciate it...just like the first movie.