Mickster Movie Review - "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" (2013) **

     Will Ferrell is an actor I like in short spurts. I think he was a genius in his Saturday Night Live skits. And almost every film he has made I can point to certain scenes, or lines, where I laughed out loud. But as a whole, I'm not a fan of most of his movies. After that hour, hour and a half mark, I start to grow weary of him and just want the silliness to end. The one exception to this was the original Anchorman film. That's a film I did not enjoy the first time I saw it but subsequent viewings have enriched my appreciation for it, and I now consider it one of the better comedies in recent memory. It is highly quotable and while not all the jokes work, the ones that do are very memorable and beg to be watched over and over.

     That brings us to Anchorman 2, the long-awaited follow-up film that is in many ways just more of the same...without the big laughs, unfortunately. The sequel finds anchor Ron Burgundy (Ferrell), along with friends and fellow newcasters Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), Champ Kind (David Koechner), and Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), leaving the 70's behind and entering the 80's. GNN, the Golbal News Network, is launching the first ever 24-hour news station and Burgundy and the gang head to New York to make their mark. It isn't long before Ron and his crazy ideas that will NEVER work (Follow a live car chase??), have changed television and he is living the good life. But we know with Ron, things are capable of falling apart quick.

     Many of the same jokes from the first are rehashed here, usually with a flatter delivery. One of the highlights of the first film was a battle royal between the different news teams. That same idea is used here, with some neat cameos, but it feels too forced this time around. Another problem is the sequel runs a solid two hours, where the original was just an hour an a half. Because of that, this movie drags quite a bit at times and I can't help but think a 30 minute cut might make this more enjoyable. I did mention that I did not enjoy the first movie when I orginally saw it but it grew on me over time. It will be interesting to see if this sequel has the same effect. But for now, I was pretty disappointed in what I saw. Yes, there are some good laughs, and it's not a total failure, but it could have been better.