Review of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013) by Jbonz — 20 Dec 2013

Uncomfortable, political, lazy...and possibly brilliant?

(disclaimer: I write my reviews for people like me who like to watch the movie first and analyze it afterwards vs the traditional attempt at advising those who are considering watching the movie.).

I've never been so conflicted with my feelings about a movie. Anchorman 2 tried to be completely different from its predecessor in so many ways, but in other areas tried too hard to be the same as the first groundbreaking movie, one that many believe holds the crown amongst all of the great comedy movies. I get the impression that Judd Apatow understood that any attempt to be "funnier" would be met with ultimate failure, and therefore decided to try and find a way to make Ron Burgundy's second attempt at iconic status a different destination...somewhere profoundly relevant and political.

At least this is what I want to believe. If I'm wrong, my only other conclusion would be that Apatow and company failed miserably at making even a shadow of a comedy in comparison to the "Legend of Ron Burgundy. If the former is true, I would suggest this movie is near genius...a whole-hearted recommendation for the thinking-person's type of movie. If the latter, I'm disappointed to see such an excellent brand be handled so carelessly.

Most would agree, Mr. Apotow is one of the best comedy movie writers and producers ever. So it's hard to accept the blatant rip-offs from other movies such as Austin Powers and Canadian Bacon while filling comedic space with rehashed gimmicks and scenes from the first movie, such as a long and over-the-top gang fight comprised of competing news teams to Baxter saving Ron yet again from a deadly situation. Such blatant examples of lazy comedy writing is cut and pasted throughout the entire script.

It's almost unbelievable, as you consider almost every actor that appears in this movie could sneeze out more original and better executed comedy without even trying. So unbelievable in fact that I had to ask myself, "was this by design?".

I say this because if you ignore the comedy and look closer at the narrative structure, Anchorman 2 is a whole different movie that tries to educate or even rally its viewer by directly taking on one of human kinds most protected and deceitful enemies; News network's evil twin, the one that shares the same name but made a deal with the devil by sacrificing its integrity for ratings. And they made no attempt at subtle suggestions or sporadic pokes, no, they jammed it down your throat to such a degree that any FOX diehard would feel beaten to a pulp by the time the credits rolled. And speaking of the credits, the audience favorited outtakes that many remained in their seats anticipating were absent. Again, why?

This movie ventured into so much different territory than its predecessor. And that was at its attempts at seriousness, with serious characters, tackling sensitive subject matters. They played with fire leaving the finger over the flame longer than most ever would mimicking african american slang, making light of a terrible disability such as blindness and managing to position Mr. Burgundy himself as the enemy mocking American pride and taking advantage of the more gullible amongst us.

By the way, I do realize that the first Anchorman approached the sensitive subject of women's rights while making a mockery of the 70s stereotype sexist male. But it did so in a way that never felt uncomfortable as even the target of that sexism, Ms. Corningstone (masterfully played by Christina Applegate) had her own laughable and absurd imperfections falling too easily for a character that would be despised in real life. And there were never any villains. Never one character with a serious tone, even the rivaling news anchors had such a ridiculously lovable quality to them.

This time, cameos including more serious actors such as Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson, and controversial celebrities such as Drake and Kanye West felt so out of place...something Judd must have known...I once again dare myself to consider this movie was trying to send a deep message to its viewers and not try to compete for the comedy throne where its predecessor resides.

"You deserve better America" was the line in this movie that stood out the most for me. And the race that followed as Ron tried to get to his son's recital facing obstacles of pure nonsense along the way. The statement he made that his wife and son were more important than the job of manipulating his viewership, the unbelievably talented son who played beautiful classical piano while watching absurd visuals of Brick blasting a weapon from the future. It's as if this movie was trying to say "go home and spend time with your family rather than watching stupid movies and TV".

Reading WAY too much into it you say? Possibly...even probably. But just what if? Maybe The legend truly continues and Anchorman 2 has its own throne as the anti-movie hero.