Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – review

Aside from Zoolander 2 and Seriously Dude, Where's My Car?, no sequel can have been more yearned for than this. The grotesquely conceited San Diego news anchor Ron Burgundy is back for more adventures, more fashion errors, more profoundly misjudged comments on the subjects of race and sex. This funny, if very indulgent, follow-up is directed by Adam McKay and co-written by him and its star Will Ferrell.

As the 80s dawn, unemployed and washed-up Ron is offered the 2am slot in an absurd new-fangled "rolling 24‑hour news station" in New York City, owned by a sinister Australian mogul. Despite his astonishment at this ridiculous concept, Ron takes the job and assembles the old team: weirdo weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), roving reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and repulsive sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner); their mix of crass patriotism, chauvinism, sentimentality and unthinking endorsement of the status quo is a huge ratings smash. Like Kubrick's apes learning how to use bones as tools at the dawn of time, Ron Burgundy has invented modern American news values. It's a nice satirical touch, and I can only hope Aaron Sorkin isn't watching. Pretty often, A2 is funny, though a fair bit of the material is about 60-70% of the way there. For every minute spent laughing, there's 10 seconds spent suppressing your disappointment and a further 10 milliseconds banishing a tiny suspicion that even A1 maybe wasn't quite as good as you remembered it. The showdown finale, featuring a lot of self-conscious cameos, is moreover a bit of a shark-jumper. But never mind: there are real laughs, aimed as ever at the high-comedy connoisseur. The "interracial" fantasy montage that accompanies Ron's moment of love with his African American boss is appalling and offensive in just the right way: and Ron's era in the spiritual wilderness, living in a bizarre converted lighthouse, is droll. It's by no means a masterpiece, but stays reasonably classy.