With the 70s behind him, San Diego's top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy, returns to take New York's first 24-hour news channel by storm.
Like all Judd Apatow comedies, the movie could do with ruthless pruning, but the top story is that Ferrell’s fearless energy keeps things going, even if the skits are a little hit and miss.
This Anchorman sequel knows who its fans are, and does its best to keep them happy. No one will be complaining.
Bigger and broader than before, Ron’s return occasionally feels like autocue’d sequel-making. But it spikes old news with enough fresh comic zip to keep you hooked through the self-indulgent stretches.
Disappointing sequel.
The staggering last act will leave you reeling but the overall effect doesn’t last for along.
Patchy and in need of a rigorous edit, but amid all the weeds there is some ripe comedy - satire, even - for the plucking.
It’s Burgundy’s show and he has some droll moments but the scattershot plotting grows wearisome while some jokes are in such poor taste – “laughs” at the expense of Burgundy’s casual racism, for example – that you wonder what they were thinking.
Thankfully, for the most part, Anchorman 2 finds Ron and co as enjoyably irrelevant as ever.
Ron...is a child at heart. Taking its cue from him, Anchorman 2 is infantile in the extreme – and therein lies its strange appeal.
It's by no means a masterpiece, but stays reasonably classy.
While the underlying thread is sound (and more satirically substantial than its predecessor), the brickbat humour rings hollow, with the usual knob gags offset by a string of ill-judged "interracial intercourse" japes as drawn out as they are old hat.
Sure, at times it’s as shapeless as some of the 1980s fashions, but Ferrell and Co inject an air of insanity into every scene. For the moment, at least, they’ve managed to make this particular brand of idiocy stay classy.
Well that escalated slowly: The cult of 'Anchorman'
Ron Burgundy is real-life anchorman in Bismarck, North Dakota
Interview: Adam McKay
Anchorman: A movie legend
Interview: The cast of Anchorman 2
General release. Check local listings for show times.