Anchorman 2

I was one of those people who missed out on Anchorman when it first became a hit in 2004. Everyone was talking about it and it claimed a huge following of people who, if Twitter existed then, would be exactly the die-hard fans who would break the internet.

When Anchorman 2 was advertised, thankfully, the internet did not break but I finally caved and bought Anchorman (2004) for myself. I thought it was ok, it was easy to watch over Christmas and Brick made my life. It does make it hard though, when I hate men like Ron Burgundy. His (and fellow cohorts) slightly misogynistic humour annoyed me. He certainly has his comedic moments, but Brick was my star.

So, I wasn't overly fussed about Anchorman 2 when it came out either. I went because I needed some comedy in my life and hoped that maybe the hype for the sequel, was a bandwagon I could easily jump on - and not nine years too late this time.

To no avail, Brick was once again my star. It didn't matter how many times I'd already seen the green-screen gag in the trailer, when Brick falls to the floor screaming 'Where are my legs, I have no legs Ron!'. It still made me laugh. Perhaps that was just appealing to me as I've recently been working with green-screen. The timing was also perfect.

The majority of the humour was at a good enough standard, not necessarily laugh-out-loud comedy but it kept me entertained. That was until the final scene when everything got hugely out of hand, with the introduction of too many news crews for the final showdown. I was ready for it to end - but on it went.

Jim Carrey, Will Smith, Kanye West, Liam Neeson, Kirsten Dunst, Sacha Baron Cohen, Nicole Kidman - the list of unnecessary faces continues beyond entertainment and instead just got well... boring.

Brick came to rescue once again though, with his timid romance, with the equally dim Chani (Kristen Wiig). The duo performed brilliantly in their comedic misunderstanding of life and everything in it. A particularly heart-warming moment was the date they spent together in the laundrette sipping on sodas and kissing "passionately".


So, to be honest, there isn't much more left to say. Steve Carrell and Kristen Wiig were the stars of the picture, even if they quite obviously were stifling laughter in some instances, probably due to a rather hectic shooting schedule for Wiig's other appearance in Walter Mitty, resulting in 'that'll do' take. It was good to finally sit through some comedy at the cinema, I just wish that the final showdown was kept shorter and that Ron Burgundy could have sorted out Jack Lime (sorry, Lame) a little sooner.

If you, like me, missed out on the first Anchorman bandwagon, then you won't be missing much by skipping the next one too. If something inside you however, feels inclined to follow up a viewing of the first film with the second, I suppose it won't be a completely wasted trip.