Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues 2013

Christy Lemire, ChristyLemire.com: The whole thing goes down like a second, giant tumbler of scotchy scotch scotch: familiar, comforting and, ultimately, numbing. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Wine connoisseurs would call this a new Burgundy with an old bouquet. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Scene after scene rockets past dumb, past camp, past Kabuki, and into the Milky Way of Silly where laws can be made up and discarded as long as what happens gets laughs. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: "Anchorman 2" is like watching "Anchorman" being re-enacted by semi-professionals trying to cover up their lapses by being extra-emphatic, super-doofy: 2013 Steve Carell does a lousy impression of 2004 Steve Carell. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: It's a pinata at which Ferrell & Co. swing away wildly. They often miss their mark, but when they connect, out fall the laughs in great big bunches. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: A modestly less quotable but generously funny new adventure for scotch-and-mahogany-loving 1970s newsman Ron Burgundy, here catapulted into 1980 and the dawn of the 24-hour news cycle. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, AV Club: If Anchorman 2 seems hit-and-miss now, there's a significant chance that it will get funnier over the long haul. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: For almost every aspect of the movie I want to criticize, there is a corresponding defense. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: See it with a crowd, laugh yourself silly, and feel slightly ashamed in the morning. Read more

Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press: Can there be too much of a good thing? Where did that expression come from, anyway? If it's good, isn't more always better? Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The jokes are more weird than funny, and Ferrell and Carell, never the most subtle of performers, labor to put them across by bellowing, howling, and screeching. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Maybe if I liked the first "Anchorman" a little less, I'd like "Anchorman 2" a little more. Still, I laughed. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Too much of a good thing isn't always a good thing, especially if you don't think the good thing was so good in the first place. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: A silly sequel to the 2004 Will Ferrell breakout comedy, this new chapter manages to make some smart satirical hay in the course of its stupidity. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: Of course, the plot is pretty much beside the point in a film like this one. What we want are jokes that are as comforting and familiar as the laugh track on a sitcom rerun. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: Ferrell and McKay were so determined to tell new Burgundy jokes that they didn't appear to care what they were about or whether they were any good. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: It's bawdy, on-target in its take on what's become of TV news, and packed with wacky performers. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: While I'm glad "Anchorman" is back - we need a little levity in this year of heavy films - I do wish it were better. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Fans have been clamoring for a sequel to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy for so long, Will Ferrell (and financier Paramount Pictures) finally decided to give the people what they wanted. The moral of the story? Be careful what you wish for. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: This sequel may not produce any quotable lines, but to borrow one from the original: Don't act like not you're not impressed. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: A dash of outrageous visual humor (notably, in a car-wreck scene) and crazily crude sex talk can't compensate for the formulaic stiffness that dominates ... Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Ferrell and director Adam McKay pushed things even further, raunchier and weirder. Read more

Ian Buckwalter, NPR: Time will tell if this film is as quotable as its predecessor, but for now, Anchorman 2 coasts along quite successfully on sheer manic eccentricity. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Joins 'Caddyshack II,' 'Airplane II,' 'Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo' and 'Arthur 2: On the Rocks' on the list of unnecessary sequels. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: The sheer density of the jokes guarantees a few laughs for every taste ... and the loose, improvisational energy of the performers keeps things lively. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: At its best, McKay and Ferrell's brand of homegrown American Dada can make you collapse laughing in your seat and cry uncle. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Burgundy and his goofball buddies are faced with dramas and dilemmas that may seem arbitrary and contrived on paper but have an urgent puissance onscreen, as Ferrell and company act their little hearts out. OK, not really. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: At two hours, Anchorman 2 overstays its welcome by at least 20 minutes, if not longer. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: One of the funniest movies of the year, and in its own loony way, it's a sharp, dead-on satire. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: When is a movie fall-down funny even when some scenes fall flat on their fat ones? When it's Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: This is the kind of movie where most people know what they want and are pretty sure what they will get, that being "more of the same, please." Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: It's clear that the people who created the first "Anchorman" wanted to hang out on a set again together. That's better than getting back together just to make money. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Worth a watch despite occasional laugh-free stretches ... Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It may not leave the same imprint on American culture as its super-quotable predecessor. But it has moments of howling hilarity and the improvisatory spirit that gave Ron Burgundy's origin story its shaggy, ramshackle charm. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The movie lacks an effective comedic structure. There's nothing to stop Ferrell and co-writer/director Adam McKay from wobbling across the fine line between stupid and clever like they've had too much scotch. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Anchorman 2 is frequently amusing, with your personal hilarity meter likely to rate it higher if you enjoy seeing beloved characters acting even goofier than before. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: It's a constant barrage of joke-joke-joke, but they're all gags that take place in the moment and are immediately shoved aside for the next one. Nothing builds. There are no setups for later payoffs. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: Not the disaster some feared it might be, but neither is it the endlessly quotable, deliciously idiotic follow-on so many of us were optimistically anticipating. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The movie cleverly spoofs the 24-hour TV news cycle, as well as sexism and racism in the workplace. Not every scene is equally funny, of course, but most of the comic antics generate laughs. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: With those eyes that are a little too close together, and that confident swagger that looks as if it could disintegrate into a pratfall at any time, Ferrell makes a grand ringleader for all this nonsense. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Considering the improvisatory talents - even genius - of Ferrell and his co-stars, it's no surprise that laughs abound in "Anchorman 2" ... Read more