Possible spoilers ahead!!
Brace yourselves:
“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” is one of the worst movies I’ve seen this year. There, I’ve said it.
is one of the funniest films of the last decade, the sequel doesn’t come close to matching its humor, or charm. Say what you will about the first Anchorman’s weak plot, but at least it had one: Ron Burgundy’s war with feminism as he waits for the biggest story of his career, the birth of a panda.
Sure, the first movie also has moments of surrealism like the flute scene and the rival news gang fight. Silly stuff perhaps, but it all worked well. I guess if it worked once, why not try it again?
In “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” all the best bits from the first flick get reheated and served up. Once again, Ron has troubles with a lady at work, this time played by Meagan Good. There’s another flute solo, but this one takes place during a figure-skating scene which must have been left over from “Blades of Glory.”
And that famous gang fight? This time they tried to make it more epic, but it isn’t funny, despite cameos by Sacha Baron Cohen, Kanye West, Will Smith, Marion Cottilard, Jim Carrey, John C. Reilly, Liam Neeson, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Harrison Ford.
Oh, I almost forgot. The fight also includes a Minotaur , a cameo by Kirsten Dunst, and Harrison Ford turns into a werewolf or something.
The movie is loaded with every late seventies/ early eighties song you can think of. Almost every scene starts with a classic hit, of which you only hear about 5 seconds of. Reportedly, the budget on Anchorman 2 was $50 million, and I think most of it went into acquiring music rights.
Let’s see, what else? Ah yes, Champ Kind serves fried bats at his fried chicken place, there’s a bizarre romance between Kristen Wiig and Steve Carell, Ron raises a shark, and did I mention he goes blind at one point?
“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” is an unholy mess from which these character will never recover. I think the filmmakers threw every joke they could think of at a wall, and waited to see what stuck. In a year filled with sequels, “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” was the most disappointing of all.
“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” final score: 3