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Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – Less Than Perfect

By Ural Garrett · December 17, 2013

Following 2003’s Elf, it was safe to assume Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy became next in a long string of blockbuster successes for Will Ferrell. The film stared Ferrell as the extremely egotistical news reporter dealing with the arrival of female co-anchor Veronica Corningstone played by Christina Applegate. Anchorman drew a lot of its comedy from American culture during the 1970s and the emerging Action News format becoming a then standard for local television reporting. Rounding out the cast included Paul Rudd’s portrayal of oversexed field reporter Brian Fantana, Steve Carell as bumbling meteorologists Brick Tamland and chauvinistic sports reporter Champion "Champ" Kind given life through David Koechner. Almost ten years later, the original cast and director Adam McKay return for its follow-up Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. While the clever yet jocular tone that gave fans classic scenes involving renditions of Starland Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight,” Sex Panthers and Baxter (Burgundy’s dog) returns, there aren’t enough real laughs elevating it anywhere near its much loved predecessor.

When reintroduced to Burgundy, he’s still co-anchoring for KVWN Channel 4 San Diego with now wife Coringstone around the 1980s. His life is great; so great that a cameo from Drake has to remind audiences of his majestic awesomeness – as if the slew of film promotion Ferrell has been partaking in as Burgundy didn’t reminded anyone enough. Those once humorous error prone telecast have come back to haunt the casual flute player when fired by legendary anchor and boss Mack Tannen (Harrison Ford). Making mattes worse is Coringstone’s promotion, obviously leading to marital problems. Down on his luck to the point of suicide, he's recruited to serve the afternoon spot for a New York-based 24-hour news network GNN (how original). Meagan Good is cast as program director Linda Jackson, a tough-as-nails boss looking to prove herself in a then unknown news format. Considering the 24-hour news angle, the profit first mentality is urged by multimillionaire and GNN owner Kench Allenby (Australian actor Josh Lawson). Essentially a hybrid of Ted Turner and Richard Branson, Allenby leads to Anchorman 2’s one note commentary on ethics regarding corporate run news networks.

There are also several haphazardly developed subplots such as one involving a new rival news anchor, a love interest for Brick and Coringstone’s new boyfriend. This is where Anchorman 2 fails more than succeeds, mainly thanks to a script that falls under its own weight. Though there are some great laughs, the majority feel uninspired and redundant. One scene earlier in the film where Burgundy’s discovers how cruise control actually functions is pretty much spoiled miles ahead of the punch line. The scene almost comes off as a Jackass gag hitting the chopping board before someone had the wisdom of just saying no. However, Burgundy’s coverage of the beginning stages of the early 80s crack epidemic is comedic gold. 

With Jackson serving as an in-between love interest for Burgundy, Anchorman 2 tries its hand at race jokes. The initial meeting of the two characters and their first date are enough for a few chuckles as the film plays on Burgundy’s self-centered ignorance. It’s when he goes on a dinner date with Jackson’s family where things go far beyond “south.” The gag of an entitled white guy attempting to fit into his stereotypical ideas of blacks has been done before (Malibu’s Most Wanted for the “Post Racial America” win?). Anchorman 2’s problem is that the joke runs too long and even dives into the offensive area. By offensive, that means using words along the lines of “crack b**ch.” Who knows? Some may find it funny, insensitive or plain confusing.

One would think a film of this caliber could bring something new to the table. Even the ridiculous amounts of cameo appearances ranging from Jim Carey, and Will Smith to Kanye West come off as unnecessarily wasteful. Mainly appearing in an all out battle in vein to the original’s, every “tacked on” guest appearance reeks of unfulfilled potential considering the scene’s premise. Though its evident $50 million of Anchorman 2 was wasted on sub-par guest appearances, the licensed soundtrack does a pretty good at capturing the early 80s sonically.

Anchorman 2:The Legend Continues unproductively tries too many things at once. A shame considering there are some interesting ideas on display. Fans of Ferrell or the original may eat every bit of its 119 minutes up without hesitations. The rest may be inclined to give this legend a rest.