Anchorman 2:
The Legend Continues

Starring: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell, David Koechner, Dylan Baker, Meagan Good, Judah Nelson, James Marsden, Greg Kinnear, Kristin Wiig, Fred Willard, Chris Parnell, Harrison Ford, Sacha Baron Cohen (cameo), Marion Cotillard (cameo), Will Smith (cameo), Kirstin Dunst (cameo), Jim Carrey (cameo), Tina Fey (cameo), Liam Neeson (cameo), Amy Poehler (cameo), John C. Reilly (cameo), Vince Vaughn (cameo), Kanye West (cameo)
Directed by: Adam McKay
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and the gang join a new 24 hour news network.

Review:

Tim: The original Anchorman is one of my all time favorite comedies. It's endlessly quotable. Suffice to say, I was really excited about Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. It was a long 9 year wait for this sequel. Unfortunately, this movie completely misses the mark. It does not come even close to the expectations placed upon it.

This isn't a terrible movie- in fact, it's actually a decent comedy. The problem is that the first movie was so unbelievably funny. It was hilarious from start to finish. Compared to that incredible film, this one pales in comparison. There were far too many flaws from start to finish. The biggest problem is that the jokes don't feel fresh this time around. The movie played it far too safely by following the exact same formula as the first movie. I am still shocked that comedies are falling into this exact same trap (that was what hurt The Hangover: Part II). Comedy sequels need to do something different and come up with clever, original things to make people laugh. Why is that so hard to understand? This movie completely failed to do that.

Let's take one of the highlights of the original film- the totally unexpected News Team fight. That scene featured so many great cameos and so many of the funniest lines of the film (Boy, that escalated quickly!). It was totally unexpected and instantly unforgettable. What does this film do? Well, of course, we need to have another News Team fight. But this time, we need MORE news teams, BIGGER celebrities, and oh yeah, let's not worry about crafting a clever or funny scene. It was horribly disappointed. It had been done before. There was no emphasis on making a funny scene, just trying to top what had already been done. This focus on quantity and not quality is what sinks the entire film.

I've seen the first Anchorman four times (which is a lot for me) and I've watched clips countless times. With Anchorman 2, I really have no desire to sit through this again. While it's not a bad movie, it didn't offer anything especially memorable that made me want to watch it again. I honestly can't think of any hilarious scenes. There's nothing spectacular about this movie at all. That is a horrible disappointment.

Will Ferrell is fine as Ron Burgundy. It's such an iconic role, it is admittedly fun to watch him play it once again. Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and David Koechner are okay, but they aren't especially great. The rest of the cast is pretty much made up of big name stars happy to film a brief cameo, who offer very little other than the immediate shock of seeing them on screen. James Marsden and Harrison Ford were wasted in unimportant, too-quick roles. Christina Applegate had far too little to do, in a role that was significantly less effective than the last time. I could run down the list of cameos, but honestly, does it really matter? Besides the one moment of saying, "Oh man, it's Liam Neeson!" none of the cast really make any difference to the overall film.

I really wanted to like this movie- heck, I really hoped I would love it, or at least it would get close to the heights of the original. That doesn't happen at all. Instead, this is another forgettable, weak comedy sequel. This movie could have been incredible, but Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues disappoints. I will very quickly forget most of the jokes here. That is a shame, because this really could have been something special.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Old School