Belated reactions - Anchorman 2 and Frozen

When we were in Indiana, we saw two movies with family to pass the time. First up was the long-anticipated comedy Anchorman 2. Doing a sequel to a much-beloved, innovative comedy more than a decade after the first is a very risky business. It’s hard to capture the same tone and spirit.

Anchorman 2 did a pretty good job of it. As usual with these types of comedies, it’s very hit and miss. Some segments were very funny and some painfully bad, especially a dinner scene where Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) has dinner with his black girlfriend’s family. I think I know what they were trying to do but it just didn’t work. There are, of course, some callbacks to bits from the first movie and these were mostly fine. The major callback near the end of the movie wasn’t hysterically funny, but all the cameos were fun. Anchorman 2 was a good sequel that will become a welcome part of the Anchorman canon.

Frozen, the Disney-animated musical, was really good. Given that it’s animated and that the ad campaign predominately featured the living snowman, Olaf, you expect it to be silly and fun. But the story was surprisingly serious and mature. The musical numbers, also surprising for their frequency, were really great. I found Frozen to be a nice surprise. It should and will join the roster of wonderful Disney animation that includes The Little Mermaid and the Lion King.