Movie Review: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
Stars: Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell, Christina Applegate, David
Koechner, Meagan Good, Dylan Baker, Kristin Wiig, James Marsden
Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, drug use, language and comic violence, Running time 119 minutes, Comedy
Compare to: Any Will Ferrell Comedy
As far as sequels nine years in the making go, did any Comedy about a bunch of sexist newscasters in the 70s deserve this more? A better question would be did we ask for this?
While the answer is “No,” it’s also something that isn’t unwelcome. Avatar 2 may have be less anticipated actually. I don’t hear anybody really clamoring for any sequels to that while Anchorman 2 just seemed to say “We’re here, and you’re going to enjoy this.”
Coming into the new decade of the 80s (Gasp!), golden child news anchor Ron Burgandy and his news team has long been disassembled and Burgandy has now been fired and passed over for his wife. Outcasted and disillusioned, Burgandy is approached by a team of revolutionaries who want him as their anchor for a 24-hour new station. Brugandy accepts, gets his team together, and plans to change the world.
Don’t be jealous.
To judge a movie like this isn’t to simply compare it to the original but to all other Ferrell movies. His trademark style of doing something absolutely stupid in one scene only to have his friends dissect his words or actions step by step as to how said actions were so stupid seems to be a staple of all of his films.
His profession in the film is about the only thing that changes and maybe it was his friend that said something dumb while he dissects. Either way, somebody’s going to be stupid, and somebody’s going to call them out.
So do you like that? Because if you do, this is your movie. Heck, if you like the first one, I don’t see how you can like this one any less other than if much of your opinion on the first is based on nostalgic reasons from nine years ago.
Champ introduces Ron adn Baxter to “Chicken of the Cave.”
With so many cameos and a refusal to take any subject seriously, it feels almost like one giant episode of Family Guy as anything can happen and there are many lines they seem unwilling to cross. Handicaps, racism, and divorce are all fair game here but you can’t help but laugh. Burgandy goes blind at one point and claims he can’t find his penis anymore because he has no sight. I mean, what do you say about that? You like it or you don’t.
The cameos are fun though too and there’s enough to rival the number of actual cast members. I got the feeling though that the majority of the audience was also the type of audience to appreciate The Hangover movies, if that tells you anything. References to dated movies like Bloodsport went silently but have Steve Carrell make a non sequitur joke about anything and people were howling.
Also, a nice little message added in while taking a quick jab at how actual news is reported; “real” news is replaced by the simple things people are entertained by rather than keeping them informed. As someone who hates every major news organization, this was appreciated.
All in all though, Co-writer/director Adam McKay seem to understand that this isn’t a movie that was necessary, but just fun. There was clearly no rush for this to be made and the final product is a dumb one, but it wasn’t made to challenge your way of thinking. The climax itself is something that fans of the original should appreciate while those trying to understand what’s happening may just suffer from a nosebleed from thinking too hard.
Positives- So many hit-or-miss jokes hit, Cast generally has good chemistry, story takes a backseat to comedy in a positive way, references to the original without copying itself
Negatives- Dumb enough to turn off viewers that were looking for a more sensible Comedy, Ferrell and co.’s improvisational style takes over often/runs for too long
Grade: C+
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