Review: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)

anchorman2-1


Cast: , ,
Director: Adam McKay
Country: USA
Genre: Comedy
Official Trailer: Here


Editor’s Notes: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues opens wide theatrically December 18th. See Doug’s Rewind Review of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy here.

Will Farrell is back in the ‘stash as Ron Burgundy in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and that is a very good thing. This time co-writer/director Adam McKay and co-writer/star Farrell have created a cohesive story that is more than just a tender thread holding together a bunch of oddball scenes (though there are plenty of oddball scenes). It manages to keep the charm and belly laughs of the first film while expanding on some characters and introducing some new ones (though not many that are in the entire picture).

anchorman2-2The story picks up more or less where Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) left off. It’s 1980 and Ron and Veronica (Christina Applegate) are married and living in New York City as weekend anchors of the network news. They’re called up to the top office by nightly news anchor Mack Harken (Harrison Ford, showing off his comedic chops) presumably to be offered the news desk together. Unfortunately, the job is offered to Veronica and Ron is fired. While arguing about this, and as Ron is issuing the ultimatum of him or the job, we meet their 6-year-old son Walter (Judah Nelson), whom Ron has great difficulty speaking to on an appropriate level.

Well, of course Ron walks out because he can’t see past himself to be happy for his wife. He goes back to San Diego where he becomes a drunken mess hosting a Sea World dolphin exhibition. He is found there, having just been fired again, by Freddie Shapp (Dylan Baker), who offers him a job anchoring the news on the flagship 24-hour news network GNN. Initially, Ron scoffs at the idea of 24-hour news but is then given his first week’s salary and he accepts the job but on the condition that he can use his old news team.

Ron sets about getting the band back together, and does so in classic fashion driving a Winnebago with him and Jesus spray painted on the side. He finds Champ (David Koechner) first, running his own fast food chicken place (which uses bats instead of chicken so he can turn a profit). He then picks up Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) who is a successful cat photographer. Last is Brick Tamland (Stave Carell) who is thought to be dead, but when he shows up at his own funeral to eulogize himself the gang convinces him he’s not dead and he joins them on their trip to New York.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues offers a solid two hours of laughs and hijinks from these cult classic characters.

When they arrive, they are given the 2-5 am timeslot. Unhappy, and upon discovering anchor hotshot Jack Lime (James Marsden) is in the primetime slot, Ron ends up betting Lime that they will beat him in the ratings. To do so, they change the format from reporting the news to doing cat stories and general stories about America and patriots. Their ratings are the only good ones of the first day and Ron becomes a legend again. Ron also becomes involved with the station manager Linda Jackson (Meagan Good) and says some wildly inappropriate things to her regarding her being African-American and even more wildly inappropriate things when he meets her family.

The story of course progresses through another downfall of Ron, a split-up of the team and various other things that lead Ron back up to the top only to be beset by tragedy again. In some ways, the plot follows the same basic format of the first one just with different scenarios and consequences.
The film is again buoyed by Farrell, et al.’s immersive performances as these offbeat characters that somehow manage to live day to day. It is also filled to the brim with cameos by people you would expect to see in this kind of film and by those that you wouldn’t think would be seen within a thousand miles of it (Harrison Ford, for one; Liam Neeson, for another). It’s all Farrell’s show and he plays it for all it’s worth. He takes his signature character and slides right back into it like it hasn’t been nine years since we’ve seen him last. His effortless portrayal makes Ron Burgundy way more credible a character than he should be, and Farrell, as well as the rest of the cast, seems to be having a blast creating this character and that fun carries over.

anchorman2-3The film didn’t feel like as much of a mishmash of insanity like the first one did, which may make it not quite as good, but at the same time the sustained narrative puts it on par with the original. There are some crazy scenes, like the Winnebago crash and the national news team battle near the end. There is also a bit of character development and a change of heart in Ron. He actually grows a little near the end, though it’s impossible to know how long that will actually last given his inherent selfishness. There are also a handful of scenes that shows Ron’s ingenuity and actual thought when it comes to ratings and reporting news. He is credited as the first anchor to follow a car chase, which captivates audiences and forces news outlets to start covering it too (cutting off Veronica’s interview with Yasser Arafat she landed for sweeps week).

It may be that McKay has gotten better as a director since Anchorman, or it may be that the script was less a compilation of sketches than a fully formed story with lots of funny jokes, but Anchorman 2 feels more cohesive than its predecessor. While that makes it a better film, it doesn’t necessarily make it a funnier one. It’s less quotable than the first one, but instead it draws its jokes from the situations that these four idiots get themselves into while being led by the King Idiot Ron Burgundy.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues offers a solid two hours of laughs and hijinks from these cult classic characters. There is a part of me that wouldn’t mind seeing an Anchorman 3: The Legend Still Isn’t Over or whatever they choose to call it. I just hope it doesn’t take another nine years to make that happen.

85/100 ~ GREAT. It may be that McKay has gotten better as a director since Anchorman, or it may be that the script was less a compilation of sketches than a fully formed story with lots of funny jokes, but Anchorman 2 feels more cohesive than its predecessor.

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Doug Heller

Sr. Staff Film Critic
I believe film occupies a rare place as art, entertainment, historical records and pure joy. I love all films, good and bad, from every time period with an affinity to Classical Hollywood in general, but samurai, sci-fi and noir specifically. My BA is in Film Studies from Pitt and my MA is in Education. My goal is to be able to ignite a love of film in others that is similar to my own.