Anchorman 2 Movie Review

I watched the original Anchorman movie when I was about thirteen years old and it was one of the funniest movie's I remember watching with my stepdad and stepbrother. When I heard that they were going to make a second movie, I was really anxious because I knew that it was going to be either hilariously great, or just plain terrible. In this case, I was right in both aspects in a way.

The sequel bases itself in the ‘80s New York hallways of ‘GNN’, the first 24-hour news-network and the new home for Ron and his team, who predictably thrive in the dawn of media fluff and infotainment. There are new rivalries for Ron to contend with, including slimy bigwig anchor Jack Lime (an ever reliable James Marsden), who takes over the reins from Vince Vaughn as the biggest bully in the media playground.

One thing I didnt like as much in this movie was that it focused a little too much on the main character of Ron Burgundy. I mean, yes I know, the first movie was called "The Legend of Ron Burgundy". But that doesn't mean this next movie had to completely focus on him almost the entire time as well. I would have liked to see some more funnier scenes from the other members of the news team's lives.

I mean Paul Rudd’s Brian Fantana gets a couple of good bits but his character is mostly shoehorned into old gags, while David Koechner’s Champ Kind starts off strong but fades quickly into the background.

There’s no big sense of loss, however, as Steve Carell’s Brick character has always been the favourite, and this time he gets his own romantic sub-plot involving an equally brilliant Kristen Wiig, whose vacant flightiness is a great match for his unique brand of boyish insanity. Brick's parts in some ways were some of the only times I actually truly laughed out loud during the movie. Some of the film’s strongest scenes involve these two trying to emotionally – and physically – connect, and I was left longing for a double act spin-off.

Overall I think Anchorman 2 was a pretty funny, overlong comedy that ultimately takes the flavour of the first original film and amplifies it. While it would have been nice to have seen a little more attention paid to the rest of the central cast, Ferrell does a fine job carrying most of the film’s considerable weight on his manly shoulders. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another nine years for the next one.