Review: Anchorman 2- The Legend Continues

Ever since Adam Mckay and Will Ferrell announced that there would be a sequel to 2004 cult classic ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’, the wait has been challenging, to […]


two stars

Ever since Adam Mckay and Will Ferrell announced that there would be a sequel to 2004 cult classic ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’, the wait has been challenging, to say the least. However, the strenuous wait is finally over and ‘Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues’ is finally upon us. Undoubtedly, expectations are high, but does the film live up to them? It may pain me to say it, but the answer is a disappointing no.

The whole cast returns, but this time with a host of cameos including Kanye West, Will Smith and Drake; we join our beloved newsreader Ron Burgundy several years after the events of the first film where after becoming a washed up celebrity he, along with his fabled news team, reluctantly takes a job on a brand new ’24-hour news network’.

The underlying plot is sound as Burgundy discovers that live car chases, animal stories and patriotism will always win the ratings war, but the jokes that are constantly thrown at you are more weird than funny; many of them seem to misfire, and you even go long periods of time without even laughing: easily the most disappointing aspect of the film. Our normally loveable characters put these jokes across by often just howling or screeching at each other, for example many of the scenes with Brick (Carell) and his new love interest Chani (Kristin Wiig) contain jokes where the two are quite literally just shouting at each other. It’s neither charming nor funny, and even creates sheer awkwardness. There’s no doubt that in the first film, Carell’s character Brick was one of the highlights (will we ever forget the iconic “I love lamp”?) but in its sequel there is almost too much focus on him; too many of his one-liners misfire and fall flat.

However, this doesn’t make ‘Anchorman 2’ a bad film. There are still moments that will have you laughing out loud, like the scene with Ron’s interracial relationship with his boss, Linda Jackson (Megan Good). Although these scenes are, well, extremely racist, McKay and Ferrell present them in such a way that they somehow get away with it, providing the laugh-out-loud highlight of the movie.

The second half of the film is filled with non-stop A-list celebrity cameos, and although it provides a moment of laughter, it also shows a hint of laziness and a lack of creativeness from writers McKay and Ferrell. This laziness can also be seen in the variety of repeated jokes that are seen throughout the film, particularly the scene where Brian Fantana (Rudd)’s memorable ‘perfume wardrobe’ is replaced with a ‘condom wardrobe’.

There’s no doubt that ‘Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues’ is a huge disappointment, the laughs are simply fewer and further between that in its prequel. Perhaps it would be harsh to criticise the film so strongly, after all, the first film got significantly better after further viewings, so the same may be required for the sequel. But with cinema prices these days, what student can afford to see the same film twice?

What did you think of Anchorman 2? Does it match the first or are the jokes wearing thin? Let us know in comments!