Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

If you need any proof that Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is a bloated sequel, one only needs to compare the running times of the two films.  The original Anchorman was a light and funny 90 minutes, a perfect running time for a movie such as this.  The sequel, on the other hand, runs an overly long two hours, with lengthy stretches that easily could have been trimmed or cut completely with no sacrifice.  So, we end up getting more movie, but fewer laughs. 

The first movie from 2004 was a modest success at the box office when it came out, but word of mouth slowly turned it into a hit over time.  There's been talk of a sequel for years, and now that we have one, I wonder if fans will find they were happier back when they were speculating about a sequel.  This movie reunites the same director, writers, cast, and characters that we loved before, and even recycles some of the same gags we laughed at the first time around.  But this time, there's a certain vibe coming off the screen that everyone involved knew how unnecessary this movie was.  That's not to say there are no laughs or fun to be had, as there is.  There's just a lot more lengthy stretches where the jokes just don't hit.  Even the likable supporting characters from the original seem oddly squeezed in, as if returning director Adam McKay (The Other Guys) didn't know how to fit them in to this particular story, and just tossed them in, because they were in the first one. 

Set some years after the events in the first film (i.e. the early 1980s), the film opens with mustached anchorman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) in a career slump after his wife and co-anchor, Veronica (Christina Applegate) surpasses him in popularity, and winds up getting his position, while he gets fired from the news studio.  Their marriage naturally suffers because of this, and Ron finds himself drunk and nearly penniless a mere six months later.  That's when he's approached to be a part of the world's first 24 hour news cable network that's set to launch in New York City.  He takes the job, and rounds up his old newsteam, including reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), sportscaster Champ Kind (David Koechner), and simple-minded weatherman Brick (Steve Carrell).  Rudd and Koechner are essentially tossed aside once they're reintroduced, while Carrell does get some funny moments as Brick develops a romance with a woman at the new job (Kristen Wiig) who is just as slow on the ball as he is.  I liked the scenes between Carrell and Wiig, and wished that the screenplay had developed their characters more, as there are long stretches where the movie seems to forget about them.  I have a feeling a lot of their best scenes wound up on the editing room floor.

As Ron takes on his new job, the movie tries to throw in some satire.  Due to his falling popularity, Ron is placed on the "Graveyard Shift", where he covers the news from 2-5 AM.  Wanting to get back to the top, and to show up the more popular anchorman who works at the studio, Jack Lime (James Marsden), Ron decides not to cover any real news, and instead devote his three hour block to vague yet sensationalist news stories, such as slow speed police car chases happening on the freeway.  He also dreams up some other ideas that have sadly become a regular aspect of Cable News, including flashy and pointless graphics, "talking head" commentators, fluff pieces with no journalistic merit, and forced patriotism.  The approach becomes a huge hit, and other news agencies start copying it.  You know, I agree with the point the movie is trying to make here, but the filmmakers can't think of anything to say about it that hasn't been said before.  Likewise, what the film does have to say about the shallowness of cable news just isn't that sharp or funny.  Given the comedic talent, we expect more, and the movie just doesn't deliver.

Anchorman 2 also suffers from a glut of subplots that kind of drag the action down, which also adds to the bloated feeling the whole production has.  There's a plot involving Ron trying to reconnect with Veronica, as well as getting her away from her new boyfriend (Greg Kinnear).  Added to this, Ron and Veronica have a young son, whom Ron has trouble connecting with.  There's also the stuff surrounding Ron's relationship with his new boss (Meagan Good), who initially hates him, but soon finds herself oddly sexually aroused by him when he starts bringing in big ratings for the network.  Finally, there's the plot that nearly brings the film to a screeching halt late in the film, when Ron suffers a personal crisis, and goes into isolation.  Not only is it just not funny in the slightest, but the plot seems to go on far too long, with little to no payoff.  Added to this plot is an absurd, but not very amusing, sequence where Ron nurses a shark back to health, and even sings a musical number.  You get the sense that the filmmakers were getting really desperate by this point, and were just throwing whatever they thought could stick into the film.

Now, I don't mean to stress only the negatives here.  While the film is a big disappointment, it's not without its bright spots.  Will Ferrell is just as likable in an oddball sort of way here as he was last time, even if the material he's given isn't as good.  Heck, the whole cast seems to be giving it their all, which makes you wish even more that the script was up to their talents.  I also admired the film's production design all around.  It does a great job in capturing its time period, from the sets, to the clothes, and even the music choices on the soundtrack.  And even if it may be somewhat of a rehash of one of the better gags from the first film, the movie's climactic battle scene between different newsteams is quite funny, and features a large number of cameo appearances that are fun to spot.  It's an effective moment, and it's too bad you have to sit through a lot of stuff that just doesn't work to get to it.

I still hold a lot of love for these characters, but I'm not sure if Anchorman 2 is the best showcase for them.  It's never as funny as it could have been, and it wears out its welcome by a good 30 minutes or so.  It also simply feels like more of the same, only with a lot of stuff that doesn't work added.  Should the team behind these films want to bring the Ron Burgundy character back, might I suggest some sketches or short films, rather than another sequel?  I actually think the character might be funnier in smaller doses.

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