Director: Adam McKay.
Starring: Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Christina Applegate, Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Greg Kinnear, Meagan Good.
Running Time: 119 minutes.
Rating: 15.
Synopsis: With the Channel 4 news team disbanded, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) have become co-anchors in New York. But when Ron is fired and leaves his wife, he must reassemble his team for another chance at glory.
Hmm, the difficult second album. Will it live up to the hype? Will it appease the rabid fan-base? Will it be accessible to newcomers? Ever since the sequel was announced, we’ve been stuck in a glass case of emotion, wanting, needing ANCHORMAN 2 to be worthy of its legendary predecessor. Luckily, it is. Mostly.
The return of Ron Burgundy and his compatriots makes for a darn funny film. A little shallow, sure, but sometimes that’s okay. There is certainly a lack of depth, but that doesn’t matter when the laugh-rate is so high. This is in the vein of AIRPLANE! and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, films that may not have a great deal to say but will make you laugh like a gassed up toddler.
Ferrell, Rudd, Carell, Koechner and Applegate all reprise their roles and are, of course, terrific. Our story begins with Ron leaving Veronica when she is given the primetime slot and he is fired. He then returns to San Diego and tries to get the band back together for the chance to join the first ever 24 hour news channel back in New York. The station is owned by an Australian multimedia tycoon/sleaze ball (Josh Lawson) who IS DEFINITELY NOT MEANT TO BE RUPERT MURDOCH and therein lies the film’s attempt at satire and social commentary, though it does seem like a bit of an afterthought. This subplot is strikingly similar to Alan Partridge’s crisis of conscience in ALPHA PAPA, and the films in fact complement each other very well, with both telling the story of a broadcaster who must decide whether or not to betray his friends and principles to make a deal with the Devil/non-too-subtle-Murdoch-run-media-conglomerate-analogy.
Like a lot of sequels, it falls into the trap of paying homage to famous scenes from the original but essentially ends up recreating them to equal or lesser effect. We see another of Brian Fantana’s secret compartments, Ron getting beaten up by a woman, a rival news anchor picking fights, Ron having to overcome his sexism, an unexpected song and a news reader rumble. What these sequences lack in originality, they sure make up for in laughs as everyone involved is so likeable that we will forgive them an awful lot. The climactic news team smackdown is a particular highlight thanks to the frankly phenomenal cameo appearances.
The newcomers all hold their own, notably the unfeasibly good-looking James Marsden as anchor-douche Jack Lime and Greg Kinnear as Veronica’s psychologist boyfriend, Gary. Meagan Good lives up to her name as Ron’s (black female) boss, but unfortunately serves mainly as a straight-man to his wacky racism. Kristen Wiig plays Chani, Brick’s potential love interest, but is essentially a female version of him and spends all her time making the kind of non-sequiturs he does with a pretty poor hit rate, which is a shame. Fred Willard and Chris Parnell – also veterans of the first movie – are equally wasted, but with such a huge cast of comedic characters, that was always going to happen. Keep an eye out for Judah Nelson as seven year-old Walter Burgundy, as he never strays into precocious and his little face is a picture throughout, particularly during the sadder scenes.
It’s not perfect and it’s certainly not as good as the original, however, following on from a modern classic, it had big shoes (for oddly shaped feet) to fill. It is undoubtedly one of the funniest movies of the year and will be quoted by thousands of fans for a long time to come. The cast are mainly superb, namely the five principles whose chemistry is as good as it gets. The writing is top-notch and compliments the stars perfectly, particularly when presenting some surreal scenarios and deconstructing them in a naturalistic manner. Essentially, it’s really good and you’ll love it. Not as much as you love lamp, but you’ll love it.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is released in UK cinemas on Wednesday 18th December.
