Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues - Film Review
The news team is back, and it's kind of a big deal! The highly anticipated sequel to the cult phenomenon, Anchorman, is finally here after a nine year hiatus and see's Will Ferrell reprise his most memorable role as eccentric newscaster, Ron Burgundy. And yes, with salon quality hair!
The film is everything you'd expect from the comedy pairing of Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, and although not as good as the first film, it certainly has its moments with a fresh new storyline and an abundance of hilarious jokes. The film is just as silly as you'd hope, with Steve Carell saying 'There's little rhyme or reason to this world and that's what makes it so funny.'. With perms, a werewolf, ice skating jazz flute, a pet shark and Harrison Ford the film truly is, in the words of Carell and Paul Rudd, 'absurd', 'ridiculous' and 'inexplicable', that won't leave fans disappointed as one of the best comedies of the year.
We pick up the story years on from the first film where, after hitting rock bottom and with the seventies over, the legendary news team reunite to take on New York City and the worlds first twenty four hour news network.
Despite the film dragging in parts, the thing that really makes this movie is of course, what can only be described as, a truly flawless cast and the extraordinary characters they portray. The actors all expressed their deep admiration and love of working with one another, which comes through in their performances, and is a real joy to watch.
The highlight of the film; however, is the climax which is quite simply mind blowing in its arsenal of heavyweight Hollywood actors, featuring cameo appearances from Harrison Ford, Sacha Baron Cohen, Will Smith and even Kanye West to name just a few from the explosion of talent. The only people they couldn't get were Oprah and president Obama!
Ferrell's performance as Burgundy is bigger and better than ever with as much ignorance and narcissism as we've all come to love and admire. The other stand out performance of the film is Steve Carell as brainless weatherman Brick Tamland that is effortlessly delivered and simply hysterical. In one of the more touching moments of the film Brick finds love with an identically unintelligent character played by Kristen Wiig, leaving the nice message that there's someone out there for everyone. This storyline isn't without humor featuring a date at a vending machine, but that's definitely not for everyone!
Harrison Ford's appearance in the film takes the concept of a deadpan performance to a whole new level of supremacy, which is sure to make you laugh, and adds to the weight of the already marvelous cast. Ferrell laughed 'He (Ford) hasn't seen the first Anchorman and I don't think he has any intention of seeing this one either!'. Carell stated his disappointment for not getting the chance to meet the Indiana Jones star with Adam McKay joking they 'banned him from the set.' and producer Judd Apatow adding 'Yeah, f**k that Steve Carell!'. All joking of course!
Ferrell also discussed how the filmmaking process involves a large amount of improvisation. Carell commented how 'An environment was created in which we could venture off into the land of improv.'. Christina Applegate, who plays ambitious news anchor Veronica Corningstone, recalls the first cut being 'over three hours long' and the films director, Adam McKay, has expressed his intention of releasing a second cut of Anchorman 2, featuring 'the same plot and storyline but with entirely different jokes.'.
When asked if another Anchorman film was in the pipeline Ferrell concluded that following The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter there'd be 'at least fourteen' Anchorman films! The producers even hinted at the possibility of a Step Brothers sequel, reuniting Ferrell with John C. Reilly, something that McKay says will 'definitely' happen again. So with that, another cut of Anchorman 2 and twelve more sequels there's much to look forward to from these comedy titans.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues hits UK cinemas December 18th and is the comedy to watch this Christmas.
