Gemma LaMana/Paramount Pictures
David Koechner (Left to right) is Champ Kind, Paul Rudd is Brian Fantana, Will Ferrell is Ron Burgundy and Steve Carell is Brick Tamland in 'Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.'
By the beard of Zeus, what a disappointment!
"Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" is filled with exclamations like that from Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), the pompous, 1970s news-dude whose catchphrases ("Stay classy, San Diego!") and leisure-suited loserdom made the original "Anchorman" a cult hit in 2004.
Alas, the magic is gone.
Gemma LaMana/Paramount Pictures
Will Ferrell is Ron Burgundy and Steve Carell is Brick Tamland in 'Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,' to be released by Paramount Pictures.
RELATED: WILL FERRELL'S WILD RIDE WHILE FILMING "ANCHORMAN 2"[1]
It's 1980. Ron and his wife Veronica (still-game Christina Applegate) co-host a New York morning show until a network bigwig (Harrison Ford) gives Veronica a promotion - and fires Ron.
With his marriage and career ruined, Ron returns to San Diego to emcee dolphin shows at SeaWorld. But he eyes a comeback when he's approached by a station trying something completely different: 24-hour news.
Gemma LaMana/Paramount Pictures
Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy in 'Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,' to be released by Paramount Pictures.
Tracking down his old team - horndog reporter Brian (Paul Rudd), dopey sports guy Champ (David Koechner), dim weatherman Brick (Steve Carell) - Ron heads back to New York, where a new foe awaits: Slick headline reader Jack Lime (James Marsden).
RELATED: INSIDE 'AUGUST BLOWOUT,' THE WILL FERRELL MOVIE THAT WE NEVER GOT TO SEE[2]
Ron hopes to land on top, win back Veronica and become a good dad to his young son (Judah Nelson). But first he must fend off his sexy new station manager (Meagan Good) and fight off a personal crisis of hating the parade of "fake" news his network is covering.
Paramount Pictures/ZUMAPRESS.com
A scene from 'Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,' to be released by Paramount Pictures.
Ah, there's a twist for the Burgundy character. Ferrell - one of our top comic talents, no matter what - and his cowriter, director Adam McKay, are working on a bigger canvas this time, but this movie's lofty satirical ambitions become a hindrance. Where the first film was energized, this one lumbers like a bear. An extended sequence in which Ron goes blind and recovers his ethics along with his sight is leaden.
The most consistently funny stuff comes courtesy of Brick's romance with a mousy secretary (nicely deadpan Kristen Wiig). They speak in strange, blurted-out sentences (Him: "What's your favorite time of day?" Her: "Two minutes ago!"), yet that wears thin, too. It's at least better than dull bits like Lime changing his name to "Lame" when he loses a bet.
RELATED: WILL FERRELL RECALLS 'ANCHORMAN'S' MODEST START[3]
"Anchorman 2" also has a message, denouncing our fascination with non-events (cue an O.J. Simpson-like white Bronco chase.). Its ethics fit like a Chihuahua-shaped hairpiece.
The movie even recycles the great bit from the first film in which various network teams rumble. Now, Madison Square Park is the battlefield for Ron's gang to fight, among others, perky "Entertainment Tonight"-like co-hosts (Tina Fey and Amy Poehler), a BBC brigade (led by Sacha Baron Cohen) and a History Channel troupe (commanded by Liam Neeson) that includes a minotaur - though as someone points out, "Minotaur's mythology, not history!"
Fun as that scene is, it's too bombastic, and soon "Anchorman 2" joins "Caddyshack II," "Airplane II," "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo" and "Arthur 2: On the Rocks" on the list of unnecessary sequels. Like the bloated channels it parodies, the movie stretches to find something to say, then settles for stupid.
jneumaier@nydailynews.com
References
- ^ RELATED: WILL FERRELL'S WILD RIDE WHILE FILMING "ANCHORMAN 2" (www.nydailynews.com)
- ^ RELATED: INSIDE 'AUGUST BLOWOUT,' THE WILL FERRELL MOVIE THAT WE NEVER GOT TO SEE (www.nydailynews.com)
- ^ RELATED: WILL FERRELL RECALLS 'ANCHORMAN'S' MODEST START (www.nydailynews.com)
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