By: Sean Muth

Sentry Staff Reporter

Movie awards season is on the horizon. It is very apparent that 2013 had a plethora of fantastic films. From the fantastic dramas like Gravity, and 12 Years a Slave, to the superhero films of Man of Steel, and Iron Man 3, last year was a great year to go to the theater. With all the competition, it is difficult for any one film to stand out; however, one of the most anticipated films of the year seemed to be Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. The sequel to Will Ferrell’s hit comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was released on December 18, 2013 and made $26.8 million on its opening weekend. Because the original film was released almost a decade ago, many people found this to be both a surprising and unnecessary sequel, but this was a surprisingly good follow up to the first.

The first movie is arguably one of Will Ferrell’s best films. It included characters that were drop dead hilarious including the title character, Ron Burgundy, and the supporting cast which is his news team. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues saw these characters return to the big screen and they were still as funny as ever. Most of the laughs from Anchorman 2 come from Ron Burgundy’s sexist, racist and oblivious character, which was exactly like the character we saw in the original. Brian Fantana, played by Paul Rudd, and Champ Kind, played by David Koechner, also reprise their roles and add to the laugh count as well. However, the character that stole the show was Steve Carell’s Brick Tamland. His extremely strange personality was given its opportunity to shine when he became involved in an equally strange worker at the news station played by Kristen Wiig. Brick’s odd input in every conversation made Anchorman 2 very enjoyable and while it is not on the same level as the classic comedies like National Lampoon’s Animal House or the now mainstream cult-classic Napoleon Dynamite, Anchorman 2  was another movie that Will Ferrell and co. delivered. It was not one of those sequels that takes away from the original by being so horrible it makes you roll your eyes (looking at you Ghostbusters 2). While it may not have been as good as the first, it did the original justice by not being an unfunny flop.

However, like all movies, Anchorman 2 did have its problems. The main problem was the addition of a little Burgundy child. The only movie that can pull off the “child acting charade” to this day is Home Alone and this fact still holds true. While Ron Burgundy’s son was not in that many scenes, the few scenes that he did pop up in were almost unbearable. No matter how “cute” a child actor is, Hollywood has to realize that if people wanted to see six year olds act, they would rather show up to a little sibling’s school play because it only lasts 20 minutes.

Overall the film was very funny and had many scenes that took viewers back to the first, including a fight scene between news teams and another look at a collection that Brian Fantana has in one of his cabinets. While no sequel can ever surpass the original, Anchorman 2 was a good comedy that should be recommended to all of those who had a good time watching the original. 

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