I was rooting for this movie, and I can say that it (mostly) delivers. It won’t satisfy all the fans of the original (what would?) and it’s not quite as successful as the Arrested Development reboot (which is underrated in its innovation), but I think most people will be happy that it doesn’t suck.
What Works: The first two-thirds are most successful, and it’s a great idea to have Ron Burgundy come back as a pioneer on the then-struggling idea of a 24-hour news network. This is an enterprise that’s firing on all cylinders since Christina Applegate’s never-funny female anchor is mostly sidelined, Meagan Good is a great new addition, Dylan Baker makes a solidly wry straight man, Vince Vaughn stays gone, and most of the jokes really deliver. I felt like the film was getting so much right (even correcting a lot of the mistakes of the first one), that it was more than a letdown when the inevitable drag started…
What Doesn’t Work: [mild spoilers, if you’re a freak about spoilers I’m telling you not to continue, although if you can’t figure out all the plot developments in this movie, you’ve probably never seen a movie before and won’t make this your first] I hated that the movie didn’t have the balls to keep Burgundy and Corningstone separated. I thought it was beyond predictable to have Meagan Good’s character be a temporary love interest primarily interested in Ron’s sky-rocketing career. I thought the last third (the inevitable hubris-punishing that all of Ferrell’s characters undergo…even though Ron underwent it early in the movie too) really drags: Vaughn shows up, the big anchorman fight scene gets lost in silly sci-fi/fantasy and cameos that feel like a bad SNL sketch, and the romance between Kristen Wiig and Steve Carell isn’t engaging on any level. And I think this style of PG-13, 90’s to mid-00’s comedy can look just as dated as the 70’s. They excel at trying to push mild stuff into “naughty” territory and in tricking you into thinking you’re seeing something dirtier than you really are (it’s no coincidence Jim Carrey cameos), and that’s become more than a little old-hat. Ferrell can get away with it more than most though.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Sure, Applegate should have stayed gone and Good should have been more permanent because it’s more realistic and interesting (people who separate don’t always get back together, despite Hollywood’s insistence). And sure, Paul Rudd’s Brian Fantana won’t ever be—–okay, enough with the negatives. The fact is that most of the big comedy stars of the 90’s/00’s have either faded completely (Jim Carrey) or been reduced to lazy, family-friendly caricatures of themselves (Vince Vaughn, Adam Sandler), so it’s great to see Ferrell still in the game and being topical. “Why topical?” Because this Anchorman actually has a point about the mindlessness of modern news and the campaign of disinformation the rich spread out. Between this and The Campaign, I’m all about topical Ferrell.