It’s hard to make a sequel/prequel/spin-off after too much time has passed. George Lucas sucked it up when he tried going back and revisiting the Star Wars franchise. Most moviegoers hated the same-title prequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing. Peter Jackson has done well with his Hobbit movies, but none of these have lived up to the hype of their originals. Considering how far Will Ferrell has fallen since the original Anchorman, I expect The Legend Continues to follow that same unsatisfying trend – but it doesn’t. If anything, Anchorman 2 just might be funnier than the first.
The entire news crew – Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner – has been reassembled. It’s now the ’80s and our fabulous foursome is headed to the nation’s first 24-hour news network. Once again, it’s time for these not-so-gentlemanly gentlemen to prove themselves. They’re up against stiff competition, including world-class anchors from other networks – like Ron Burgundy’s estranged wife Veronica (Christina Applegate) – as well a cocky and arrogant anchor from their own network (James Marsden). Does the foursome have it in them to make news history again?
Anchorman 2 drags on longer than it should and features a few subplots that should’ve ended up on the cutting room floor, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worthwhile. The team has stepped up their game when it comes to comedy. Two sequences in specific – one in the beginning and the other at the end – had me laughing hysterically. The latter literally made tears stream down my face. I haven’t laughed that uncontrollably hard since Jackass 3. Well done, fellas.
(Photo credit: Paramount)
