The original Anchorman is one of those rare comedy movies that gets better each and every time you sit down to watch it. On a first viewing, after all, it doesn't reveal itself to be anything special. But the more time you dedicate to Anchorman, the funnier it seems to become. Which is presumably why, in the years following its original release, it exploded from cult hit to mainstream classic of the highest order - a certified comedy behemoth, destined for the pantheons of greatness and a popular culture touchstone. Paramount Pictures seemed to go back and forth with the idea of a sequel, presumably nervous about the idea of doing damage to the esteemed legacy of the original. And yet, in 2013 (almost ten years after the release of the first flick), the studio finally delivered the comedy sequel the world had been waiting for - original cast and all. The result? Pretty good, actually - though the sense of self-conciousness that was entirely absent from the first movie is sorely lacking, which means that the jokes seem "designed" for their crazy, kitsch, meme-worthiness in a way that the gags in the original didn't. As a result, Anchorman 2 is less memorable than its predecessor, but still undeniably hilarious in places, and the cast - and cameos, from Harrison Ford to Will Smith - deliver in buckets. As far as sequels to insanely popular, culture-embedded sequels go, then, Anchorman 2 was kind of impressive. Best of all, it did nothing to taint the first movie.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
