MTV Review: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

UK Release Date: 18th December 2013

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 119 minutes

Cast: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd and Steve Carell as well as more celeb cameo appearances than you can shake a stick at.

Director: Adam McKay

Plot: After losing out on a career-making promotion to his co-anchor and (now) wife, Veronica Corningstone, Anchorman Ron Burgundy hits rock bottom. But when he’s offered a job at a 24-hour news channel, Ron wastes no time in rounding up the old gang (Brick, Brian and Champ) and heading out to 1980s New York City, where he changes the face of news forever.

Best Scene: Ron Burgundy hugging a shark. Enough said.

Scene Stealer: Bridesmaids’ Kristen Wiig is awkwardly brilliant as Brick’s love interest Chani, making her a perfect match for the lamp-loving weatherman. 

Best WTF Moment: This is Anchorman 2, so almost every scene is a WTF moment. But our favourite has to be the inevitable news-on-news battle at the end featuring a Who’s Who of the Hollywood comedy circuit, as well as a cameo appearance from your favourite entertainment news team – MTV News – represented in the film by none other than Kanye West.

Best One Liner: Champ serving up fried bats at his new restaurant Whammy Chicken, where he reassures Ron: “They call them chicken of the cave.”

Date Movie Or Mate Movie? Depending on your cringe threshold, both. Anchorman 2 will have you and your date in stitches but after watching two hours of Steve Carell trying to hit on Kristen Wiig you may not be able to look each other in the eye afterwards. On the other hand, take your mates to see it and as well as comfortably laughing over really inappropriate jokes together (jokes that will make you feel bad even while you’re laughing at them) you can enjoy repeating one-liners from the film back to each other for the next month or two.

Summary: It’s been almost a decade since Ron Burgundy last lit up our cinema screens with his salon-quality hair and Movember-worthy moustache and boy have we missed him. But after nine years, we also didn’t know what to expect from a reunion with Ron, Brian, Brick and Champ: would it sully the memories we’d already created together? Or would we walk out of the theatre with an even deeper love for San Diego’s finest?

We’re pleased to report that despite the ever-wackier jokes, a perfect combination of tight script, good direction and brilliant comedy acting creates a movie magic that will keep you cracking up throughout. Some of the scenes are downright hilarious (particularly those showing the gang’s non-news jobs: Ron hosting a show at SeaWorld, Brian as a sleazy photographer and Champ has opened a fast-food restaurant) and almost all the jokes are excellent, even if you have to enjoy some of them with your face in your hands.

Ultimately, while the film spends two hours treading a fine line between hilarious and absurd, it never crosses over into ‘unfunny’ and it’s good enough to keep our fingers crossed for a third one (as long as it doesn’t take another ten years to make). 

Until then, stay classy Ron Burgandy.

MTV Rating

By Karen Yossman @mtvuknews