In the middle of all of the medical problems with my aunt, Dan and I managed to make the time to see Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. It was exactly the type of escapist movie that we needed to add a bit of levity in an otherwise depressing week.
We both loved the first Anchorman and we had been eagerly anticipating the sequel. Select AMC Theatres offered the Anchorman Super Ticket Premiere, which was a promotional event through Paramount Studios. We were among the first in the public to see the new film (two days before general release), which included a short featuring the cast, thanking us for being early supporters of the movie. The thirty-three dollar price tag also included codes to download a special Ron Burgundy short and to received a digital copy of the film two-weeks before it's DVD release date. We got a five dollar concessions voucher, a movie poster and other promotional items, including a Ron Burgundy cardboard mustache.
Dan or Ron?
As far as the concept of the Super Ticket goes, I felt like we got value for money. The biggest perk was seeing the movie early, before the jokes and plot were spoiled. This wasn't a huge deal for a movie like Anchorman 2, but this would be worth it to me for a movie with a big twist ending or a film that is highly anticipated. The extras were nice, especially the digital copy of the movie.
I wish that AMC Century City had been better organized with the event, as it was a bit confusing as far as where to go and where to pick up the perks. The audience was very pumped for the film and with the amount of staff that they had standing around passing out posters, they could have used someone in the theatre, keeping the audience hyped. It would have been a cheap way to add more excitement to the event. Maybe a quiz of the first film for small prizes or a costume contest? Overall, I think that this type of movie ticket is a good way for theaters to drum up more business and offer a little extra to those who want it. It wouldn't work for all types of movies, but Anchorman 2 was ideal for it.
On to the movie...just like the first, it made me laugh. A lot.
The movie takes place in the early 80's, Ron and Veronica are now married and living with their son in New York City, both working as anchors for the same network. Ron's world comes crashing down when Veronica is promoted and he is fired. After a massive fight, he leaves Veronica and runs back to San Diego. This starts Ron on a downward spiral. Just as he is hitting rock bottom, he is offered a job at an experimental twenty-four hour news station. Ron goes on a road trip to assemble the old Channel Four news team. The gang heads back to New York to prove that they can be successful on the new network, encountering a host of obstacles and villians along the way.
As with the first film, Anchorman 2 requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. Pretty much all of it is completely outlandish and it's not the type of comedy that will appeal to everyone. It's a "love it" or "hate it" type of polarizing comedy. The comedy really comes from the characters themselves. The characters are so entertaining, that the plot of the movie seems to be of a secondary importance. The movie almost feels like a bunch of improvised comedy "bits" strung together. If the cast was less funny or less talented, I would have likely hated the movie. However, I found it to be thoroughly entertaining.
In particular, I loved Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana and David Koechner as Champ Kind. They steal the show every time they are on the screen and there was not nearly enough of either of them in the movie. I really like Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig, but the budding romance between their characters wasn't funny at all and completely fell flat. I wish that Wiig's character, Chani, had not been in the film.
There are a ton of cameos by really big stars. Tons. I'm not going to give it away, but my favorite was John C. Reilly. I don't want to say more for risk of spoiling the film. It's going to be a lot funnier if you don't know what to expect.
Overall, I was happy with the sequel. Clearly the cast had a great time making the movie and that enthusiasm radiates to the audience.