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Legendary anchorman Ron Burgundy was put on this earth to do what he does best: have salon-quality hair and read the news. But the history of news broadcasting is forever changed in “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” thanks to Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and his awesome news team.
That’s right, Ron Burgundy, wife and co-anchor Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), Brain Founta (Paul Rudd), Champ Kidd (David Koechner) and Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) are back and taking over the 1980s with fashion, perms and the news.
Ron and Veronica have the perfect life as co-anchors for a major network in New York City. But after Veronica gets promoted to anchorwoman, Ron finds himself without his anchor job, without his wife, and without his son Walter.
Six months later in San Diego (“It’s pronounced San De-ahh-go”) Ron gets a second chance when Freddy (Dylan Baker) of Global News Network offers him a chance to be a part of a new 24-hour news channel.
After gathering his old news team from their various jobs, Ron, Brian, Champ and Brick head back to New York City and forever change the way we watch news today.
“Anchorman 2” is bigger and sometimes more stupid than the original film, but that’s why it’s so funny. The actors pick their characters right back up and it doesn’t feel like it’s been nine years since the first “Anchorman” movie.
The jokes are either clever or stupid — there are no in-betweens when it comes to this cast of funny people. The exclamations Ferrell comes up with like, “By the hymen of Olivia Newton-John!” or his character’s confusion of history and people like “Who the hell is Julius Ceasar? You know I don’t follow the NBA!” are bizarre, yet all so fitting for Ron Burgundy.
Carell’s Brick Tamland gets his own side story in this film. He’s still his goofy, brain-damaged self but a little more annoying this time around. There is more pointless yelling from him and his love interest Chani (Kristen Wiig), who is Brick’s equal in every way.
It’s not only the actors that are funny, but the music, fashion and pop culture references of the 1980s only add to to the film’s humor. Like Rudd’s Founta saying that he’s friends with O.J. Simpson, Phil Spector and Robert Blake and how they call themselves “the Ladykillers.”
Just saying, there is nothing funnier than seeing four grown men walking down the streets of New York City with bad perm jobs.
New broadcasting and fashion isn’t the only thing that’s changing in the film. Meagan Good does a brilliant job as GNN’s station manager Linda Jackson. Smart, beautiful and tough, Jackson doesn’t take crap from anyone — especially Ron and his inability to stop saying “black.”
The amount of cameos in this movie is astounding and I’m not giving any of them away. You will definitely miss quite a few (I know I did), and the worst is when you know it’s a cameo but just can’t quite put your finger on who the actor is (it’s the ‘80s after all. So much hair and makeup.) Don’t worry — that’s why there is IMDb.
Even though this movie is set in the ‘80s, it really reflects how news is broadcast today. There is more soft news about cute animals (or whatever) and more crazy graphics being thrown in your face than actual news and information. All the stories are about America and how it’s the greatest country in the world. As Veronica points out, “there is no real news being reported. It’s all about ratings.”
I give “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” three out of four breaking news stories. It’s a great sequel and the actors do an amazing job jumping back into their old roles. The cameos are perfectly placed and fans of the original news station fight scene from the first movie will not be disappointed. There are even talks of an nomination for best original song. That’s right people, Ron Burgundy sings a song about a — well you’re just going to have to see this film to find out.
