Review #735: 'Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues' (2013)

Rehashing comedy formulas seems to be the go-to approach of recent years, especially for sleeper hits. One of the last decade's most successful comedies - both critically and commercially - The Hangover (2009), rode it's success to the tune of over $1.4 billion, managing to squeeze not one, but two sequels out of little more than re-telling the same jokes in slightly different ways. A whopping 9 years after Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), comes the long-awaited sequel. The budget has been upped, the running-time stretched, and the improvisation isn't nicely spattered throughout the film, but seems to define it. But director Adam McKay and actor Will Ferrell, who both co-wrote the film, seems to think it's army of dedicated fans want to see their favourite characters do the same thing all over again.

So, rather than Ron (Ferrell) having comical conversations with his pet dog Baxter, he rescues a shark he names Doby and cradles him like a baby. This time, Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) wows his co-workers with his condom cabinet, rather than a collection of rare (and illegal) after shaves. There's another ridiculous flute performance, but this time on an ice rink in a scene that looks like it was left on the Blades of Glory (2007) cutting-room floor. And one of the most memorable moments from the first film - the cameo-filled news-anchor street fight - is done again, but the cameo's come from Oscar-winners, superstars, a manticore, and a douchebag pop star. Only everyone forgot to make it funny. I'm admittedly being harsh, as although Anchorman 2 is not a patch on its predecessor (which I find overrated anyway), it's still funnier than the vast majority of the pap that Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson churn out what seems like every month.

Years after the first film, Ron and Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), now his wife, are co-hosts at a successful New York news network. When their boss Mack Tannen (Harrison Ford) announces he is to retire, he promotes Veronica to fill his spot and fires Ron for his frequent on-air follies. Jealous of his wife, Ron forces Veronica to choose him or the job, to which she chooses the latter, leaving Ron to storm out on his son Walter (Judah Nelson), and take a job at Sea World. When he is fired for having a meltdown, and a failed suicide attempt, he is offered job at a new 24-hour news station by Freddie Shapp (Dylan Baker). After accepting, Ron rounds up his old team Champ Kind (David Koechner), Brian Fantana, and the presumed-dead Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), who turns up at his own funeral.

While the first film didn't have much of a plot, it still had the theme of gender equality holding it together, and had a romance to root for in Ron's chest-beating buffoon and Veronica's strong-minded, self-made woman. Anchorman 2 tackles the rise of flashy, popcorn news, where stats and news bulletins whizz up and down every side of the screen and the anchor gives us stories of cute animals, acts of patriotism, and high-speed car chases. It was the day Edward R. Murrow rolled in his grave, and Ron, after a desperate war of words with greaseball prime-time anchor Jack Lime (the very funny James Marsden), catapults this idea and sees his ratings sky-rocket. Jack Lime is forced to rename himself Jack Lame (or Lamé). While this idea gives the film a backbone, it avoids really tackling the repercussions of this new sensationalist approach, which was a kick in the groin to intelligent, serious news casting.

There's also a new romance that sees Brick Tamland thrown into the spotlight. While Carell is a very talented performer, the laughs he tries to squeeze out of his awkward scenes with love interest Chani (Kristen Wiig) seem desperate and forced, and these scenes frequently descend into unfunny anarchy or being weird for the sake of being weird. It is only in its final quarter when the film picks up on the laughs, making Ron blind and holed up in isolation. It's a bizarre tangent, even featuring a song about Doby the shark, but, alas, it works, and Ron even finds his humanity and bonds with his son, making it oddly sweet. This will not have the same success as the first film, which has since becomes a cult classic, and the fans certainly weren't appeased (the reviews on IMDb are outright angry), but it's simply not bad, and amusing enough throughout to warrant everyone at least giving it a fair shot.


Directed by: Adam McKay
Starring: Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Christina Applegate, Dylan Baker, Meagan Good, Judah Nelson, James Marsden, Kristen Wiig, Greg Kinnear
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie