Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Review

RYAN: I’m excited to be joined by Tiffany for this review because the first Anchorman is one of your favorite movies.  Sequels are often a challenge, especially in comedy; usually not as good as the first.  And while there are some elements in this sequel I liked better than the first, overall I preferred the first one.

TIFFANY: I agree.  And it’s true, Anchorman is one of my favorite movies so I highly anticipated this one; been waiting over a year for it, since they first announced a sequel.  Are we choosing between the two?

RYAN: No.

TIFFANY: Ok.  Well I think the beginning of the movie was very slow.  It was almost like they were trying too hard with too many jokes thrown at you.

RYAN: I thought it started strong and was really funny at the start of the film, so we had different reactions to that.  We both laughed out loud more at the top; whereas the second half of the film, we were more laughing on the inside.

TIFFANY: True.  But I feel like it turned midway through during a certain scene and at that moment, it felt too in your face and I tend to prefer the smarter moments.  Like, one of my favorite characters is Brick, Steve Carell.  He’s genius in his simple, subtle smiles and facial expressions.  He makes me laugh so hard.

RYAN: I love him too.  And there’s some really great stunt casting.  But in a supporting role, I loved Kristen Wiig as the love interest for Brick. She was hilarious and I love that you called out her hair looking like Gilly, her old SNL character. She and Steve had great chemistry.  I also, again, loved seeing Will with Christina Applegate but she had a lot less to do in this one.

TIFFANY: I was surprised that she wasn’t in it more.  I thought she was funnier in the last one but she was more subdued this time around. They didn’t give her much to do.

RYAN: Paul Rudd and David Koechner were great too, rounding out the news team.  But I looooved all the cameos like Harrison Ford, Kirsten Dunst, Marion Cotillard, Will Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kanye West, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, and more…  You totally know Will Ferrell just made a bunch of phone calls, like, “Dude, we’re doing the sequel to Anchorman, come and play for a day!”

TIFFANY: Totally.  It’s a hard hitting cast, big comedic names.  And in general there were a lot of moments that almost make you uncomfortable.  I could feel the audience being hesitant to laugh because some of the humor was off color.

RYAN: Racist or political but still in the spirit of the genre.

TIFFANY:  In all comedy there is some truth to the humor because people feel uncomfortable talking about certain situations and it was interesting.

RYAN: I dont find interracial relationships taboo though.

TIFFANY: Right, but Ron Burgundy is stuck in the 70’s when that subject was taboo.

RYAN: True.  You know, I’ve honestly found Will Ferrell to be off-putting and too over the top in recent years but he’s very bearable in this movie. I really love him as Ron Burgundy.  It still works.

TIFFANY: There were some moments that brought in references to other comedic movies or news-worthy moments.  There was a lot of play on memory and nostalgia.

RYAN: Right.  There’s the scene where he’s ice skating that reminded of Blades of Glory.

TIFFANY: And there’s a line in there from Ghosthbusters.  And I noticed another line from Austin Powers.

RYAN: There’s a musical number that I adored – I always dig a musical moment in a film.  The whole thing did feel a bit formulaic in the sense that it hits similar beats to the first one.

TIFFANY: Right but the details are changed. It’s not new laughs, but renewed laughs.  We both LOL’d and it’s a great franchise.  I would see it again.

RYAN: It’s quick fun in that there are jokey moments and they move on quickly to the next moment.  It’s a good sequel – not better than the first – but it is fun.

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