Why hello there, fellow nerds! Please, come and sit while I regale you with yet another movie review!
I had to see Anchorman 2. Not just for this blog, but because I loved the first one, and I’ll be honest with you, I was scared. How often does a popular movie come out with a sequel years later and it sucks? Will Farrell and gang had to be very, very careful. So, did they do it? Did they succeed? Yes, my friends, yes they did.
Let me say that if you didn’t watch the first one then make sure you see it before you see number two. This isn’t the kind of movie you can jump into cold. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues does very little to remind you of anything that happened in part one. The most you get is a narrator in the beginning reminding you how the first movie ended. But that’s it. From there the movie surges forward and never looks back.
The movie is so wacky and non sequitur that it’s easy to get lost. The story is almost nonexistent. The whole thing is held together by the thinnest of plots. But you know what? I didn’t care. Anchorman 2 was so funny that it made up for in laughs where the plot structure and story lines failed.
For the most part I had tiny gripes, like certain jokes that failed, but I did have one problem worth mentioning. There was one scene in particular that was so awkward I considered getting a refill on my soda just to get away. The scene revolves around Ron Burgundy having dinner with a Black family and bringing up every racial stereotype in the book. I think the movie could have done without that scene because Will Farrell and Adam McKay are good writers and didn’t need to rely on easy laughs.
The acting was good. Farrell isn’t a great actor, but he plays to his strengths very well. Take a look at almost all of his characters. They’re all oblivious to the world around them and to their outrageous behavior. David Koechner (Champ) and Steve Carell (Brick) were good but the shining star of the group was Paul Rudd (Brian Fantana). He was the only one of the four to have any subtlety at all in his acting.
I’d love to tell you about all the other celebrities that make appearances but I don’t want to ruin the surprise. I will, however, tell you that James Marsden (Cyclops from X-Men), did a great job portraying a young and smug news anchor and Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine and As Good as it Gets) was great as a touchy feely psychiatrist.
I apologize for being so vague about the actors, but anything more would spoil all the fun. One of the highlights of the movie were the surprises. Then climax has over ten amazing cameos that had me screaming like a fangirl. It made the awkward scene worth it.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is a funny movie that’s well worth the price of a ticket. It’s not some masterpiece that’s going to win a ton of awards, but that’s okay. This is a comedy whose only goal is to make you laugh from beginning to end. Anchorman 2 is everything I loved about the first one, and more. If you liked the first one, go see part two. If you didn’t then go watch Blazing Saddles or Airplane! and if you don’t laugh at those either, then you have no sense of humor.
