Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Review

Burgundy and company visit the Big Apple
Full review by Isaac Handelman

Before you buy a ticket to Anchorman 2, you should ask yourself two questions. First, “Have I seen the first Anchorman?” and second, “Do I want to see more of that?” If you answer “no” to either of these questions, then this long-awaited sequel to the 2004 comedy hit is not for you. If you can answer yes to both, then Anchorman 2 should provide you with an amusing two hours at the movies.

The film picks up well after the events of the first Anchorman, with Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) happily married to Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), and reading the news in New York. Soon, Burgundy’s marriage goes on the rocks, and he’s offered the opportunity to join an ambitious new 24-hour news project called GNN. So, Ron sets out to get his old news team back together, which consists of Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), and Champ Kind (David Koechner). The group must adjust to the demands of the changing news landscape of 1980 in order to regain the fame they had known in 1970s San Diego.

For the large majority of its runtime, Anchorman 2 isn’t all too interested in following a single central narrative thread. Its focus shifts repeatedly over the course of its duration, to the point where it seems that writers Ferrell and Adam McKay were more interested in reuniting their old cast and putting them in funny situations than they were with actually telling a cohesive story. That leads to some bizarre tonal inconsistencies, where one moment everyone in the world seems fairly grounded save for the central cast, and the next fantastical creatures, rubber sharks and explosions abound.

The 1980s setting rarely comes into play...but when it does, the results can be hilarious.

Most of these inconsistencies are for the sake of self-references or references to the first Anchorman; in fact, Anchorman 2 is so overwhelming referential that viewers who have not seen the first Anchorman will be laughing considerably less than those who have. Many of the film’s jokes, and even its entire climax, are reliant on viewer familiarity with the first Anchorman; otherwise, they will seem even more arbitrary and out-of-left-field than they already are, to the point where they will lose their comedic touch and just become overly strange.

That said, those who have seen the first Anchorman will likely be laughing through much of the insanity, and to these viewers, the finale sequence will serve as one of the most uproariously hilarious bits to grace cinemas this year. And when Anchorman 2 is at its best, it’s pumping these moments out one after the other. The film can be side-splittingly hilarious when its jokes hit their marks.

Anchorman 2’s cast is one of its strongest points, with each of its four main players showcasing relatively different styles of humor. Burgundy himself  is clueless, crude, and self-centered. Brian is probably the most intelligent of the bunch, but has plenty of hilarious quips up his sleeves (as well as a closet full of luxury condoms). Champ is gruff, stupid, and hilariously American. And Brick is…well, Brick is Brick.

James Marsden has an amusing side-conflict with Burgundy, one of the film's many narrative threads.

Brick’s popularity in the first film, coupled with Carell’s ascension to stardom by means of The Office, has led to a much larger presence for Brick this time around, and even a love interest in the form of Kristen Wiig’s Chani, who is, more often than not, unfortunately unfunny. That means Brick gets more opportunities to sound of his ridiculous brand of dim-witted remarks, but administered in such a large volume, his lines are hit or miss. Brick was consistently hilarious in the first Anchorman as a side character, but in the spotlight, he does not fare quite as well. Brick’s lines sometimes feel forced, almost as if Ferrell and McKay were simply trying too hard to make him funnier than ever. Don’t get me wrong, Brick can still be quite amusing, but he can also come across as overbearing.

Despite all of the times it swings and misses, its reliance on references to its predecessor, and its loss of steam during the final third, Anchorman 2 manages to feel far more fresh than most other comedy sequels. This sequel affirms the ongoing potential of the Anchorman cast to elicit big laughs, despite its failure to tell anything that resembles a compelling story. For better and for worse, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues knows its audience members, and it will most certainly make them laugh.