Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was Will Ferrell at his best. The comedian’s larger-than-life attitude, the character’s over-the-top ego and the chauvinistic news room of the ’70s made Anchorman an instant cult hit. Catchphrases, big hair and bigger facial hair made way for an almost inevitable sequel for the ridiculous newsman and his cohorts. Well, the day has arrived and after much speculation, delays and cloying for publicity, Anchorman 2 has crash landed like a falcon wearing too much bling.

Instead of rehashing the haze that was the ’70s, San Diego’s newsman has gone national with Veronica Corningstone. After a difference of opinion, Ron finds himself on his own, struggling to make a living on low grade celebrity appearances. After a friend interests him in the idea of a 24 hour news channel, Ron’s forced to assemble his news team once again to take the news to new highs… and lows.

Sequels are always problematic, trying to live up to the original without relying too heavily on the blueprint. While it’s been a decade since the first movie, strictly-speaking Anchorman 2 isn’t the first sequel. Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie was an Anchorman 1.5, taking an abandoned terrorist organisation story line from the original and splicing a number of good scenes that didn’t make the final cut. While it stop-started a bit, it functioned as a funny spin-off and a must-see for Anchorman fans.

The Anchorman series is really a Saturday Night Live character kind of sketch film. The first film’s underlying macho theme, fiercely competitive man vs. woman relations and over-the-top sense of humour carried the cat-and-mouse story through its paces. The strength of the related sketches was what made the film truly legendary, taking Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s broad comedy through its paces with a swooning attention-grabbing, Ron Burgundy, in the spotlight.

“…and that’s why it’s called breaking news.“

Anchorman 2 tries to capture this spirit, lacing a string of bit pieces together with a similar story line to the original in a bigger pond. The fun in assembling the news team could have been given more focus as the movie slips into the Anchorman groove after the team reunite. The biggest differences are that the odds are stacked against them and they’re living life in the ’80s.

While there are some good laughs reliving Anchorman through this sequel, it’s much more uneven in terms of comedic quality and Ron’s bipolar characterisation. The scatter-shot story seems more unsure of itself, trying to keep things fresh yet leaning on jokes from the original. As a result, it’s a mixed bag of entertainment… missing the novelty and simply ratcheting up comedy stunts from the first one with an almost “told you this would happen” attitude.

A first-class comedy cast, surprising cameos, off-the-wall lines and Steve Carrell’s Coneheads-silly take on Brick, go a long way to redeeming Anchorman 2’s flaws. It’s a fun and silly movie that doesn’t take itself at all seriously. If you’re in the right frame of mind and need some mild escapism, Anchorman 2 will do the trick… however, it’s not a movie that you’re going to be rushing to see again.

The bottom line: Fun

Release date: 14 February, 2014
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