The Rob Reviews Anchorman 2

Does "the legend continue?"

I have been trying to get to the theater to see "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" since it came out nearly three weeks ago.  Yesterday, during the country's "polar vortex" or whatever the media has been calling our severe weather, I got a chance to go out and revisit my friends Ron, Champ, Brian, and Brick in the sequel to one of my all-time favorite comedies!

2004's "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" is one of the funniest movies ever made in my opinion.  I'm a huge fan.  I quote from the movie all the time and think it's one of Will Ferrell's greatest performances.  I wasn't expecting "The Legend Continues" to be AS GOOD as the first one, but I was still slightly disappointed.

I don't want to come off as someone who disliked "Anchorman 2," but 'disappointed' is the appropriate word to describe how I left the theater.  I'd give it a C grade...  It wasn't great nor terrible.  You'll laugh -- in fact you'll laugh a lot -- but you'll long for Ron and company's previous adventures in San Diego newscasting.

The characters didn't change much.  So while they're still funny, they're also now predictable.  You'll be able to see jokes coming, and possibly sometimes have funnier lines in your own head than the characters on screen.  Some characters got watered down completely.  Brick (portrayed by Steve Carell) went from being an affably dumb Homer Simpson-type in the first movie to an unrealistically super-over-the-top brain-dead nincompoop this time around.  A character I adored from the first movie became my least favorite this time around.  Seeing Brick get confused and scared in programming meetings was funny in the first film...  Seeing him get confused at his funeral because he's so stupid he can't determine whether he's living or dead was not.

I also disapproved of so many unnecessary scenes that tried to recreate moments from the predecessor.   This was easily most obnoxious towards the end of the film when the main characters get into a brawl with other news teams.  This scene was absolutely unnecessary to the plot, crowbarred in, far too long, and completely the same as the scene in the first movie.  There were SOOO many star cameos in this scene and some honestly legendary comedic actors (Jim Carrey, Vince Vaughn, Sascha Barron Cohen, Tina Fey, Amy Pohler, John C. Riley, Harrison Ford...  Even Kanye West) and ALL of that talent is completely wasted in a terribly long unfunny fight sequence that I felt like I had seen before.

I think a large part of the problem is that I'm very much exhausted of Ron Burgundy right now.  He's absolutely everywhere!  While I think it's admirable how much unique and viral publicity Will Farrell has done for the film, I've seen SO much of him that I didn't feel like I was seeing something special.  Combine that with the fact that Will Farrell has been playing the same character in many of his major motion pictures outside of the "Anchorman" franchise (think "Talladega Nights," "Blades of Glory," "Semi-Pro," etc...), 'exhausted' is really the best word I could use to sum up my feelings towards Ron Burgundy at this time.

If you want my honest opinion, if you're new to the "Anchorman" franchise or haven't seen any of the movies, don't watch "Anchorman" 1 & 2...  Watch "Anchorman 1" twice.