If Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues represented an exercise in comedic innovation and franchise rejuvenation last December, then this month's unique Extended Cut re-release Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Continued... represents an exercise in loosened restraint and expectation management. The former factor manifests itself primarily through this alternate cut's hefty 143-minute running time, a sizeable increase of almost half-an-hour on the original cut which enables director Adam McKay and his editing team to alter and enlarge a host of running gags, such that barely a single scene passes by that hasn't undergone a minor (or at times major) transformation in some form or another.
While at first the prospect of a virtually renewed version of the hit 2013 comedy sequel will seem irresistible to franchise fans, the latter aforementioned factor involved with the viewing experience should be heavily considered before cash changes hands in their local cinema. To be clear, there are most certainly occasions where Continued... benefits notably from the extra breathing space, as McKay brings to light a few more inspired punchlines in the sequences involving Ron Burgundy and co. smoking crack, the surely-already infamous Jackson family dinner and, naturally, the climactic gang confrontation that ensues at the moment of Walter's piano recital. Better yet, goers can expect a sublime additional musical number called It's A Big World at around the 20-minute mark, and despite the inevitable pacing misstep which comes about as a result of the song, at the very least its newfound inclusion should just about justify the admission price for the movie's overtly-stated target audience of hardcore Anchorfans.
A side-effect of Big World's inclusion, however, is the simultaneous omission of the memorable tune that Ron utters in the midst of his blindness during the second act regarding the departure of his pet shark Doby, and it is here where this cut's major shortcoming lies. For those of us who engaged positively enough with the original version of Anchorman 2 just two short months ago to prompt a second or third viewing at the time, the reaction that comes from witnessing a rendition of the same narrative sans many of those puns and inappropriate moments of satire which first captured our laughter can be bitter-sweet at best, or downright confounding at worst. That this reviewer found himself resenting several of the changes and trims made in the editing suite to the pre-titles sequence alone between Continues and Continued... was hardly assuring initially, and the sense that those frequent switches which had been enacted for the sake of comedic diversity were more often that not unnecessary and/or detrimental lingered throughout, only becoming gradually more prominent as the slightly bloated narrative reached its gratifying denouement.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Continued... is a rare beast, not least in terms of the near-unprecedented reviewing process. The bottom line, though, goes something like this- anyone who's lived and breathed Anchorman since the franchise's inception in 2004 owes it to themselves out of dedication to catch this Extended Cut, whereas anyone who was either on the fence regarding the sequel's quality or managed to neglect the second film entirely can definitely give this particular version a miss. For each area in which McKay's final (we hope) rendition of Ron Burgundy's latest morally-eschewed 'journey' gains from additional material and improvised gags, there's another area in which momentum is lost or the removal of a chuckleworthy punchline ("chicken of the cave" and "I'm actually full-blooded Mexican" being the most curious absentees) manages to hold it back from the original edition's greatness. Though it hasn't lost all of the charm of its 2013 incarnation here, Anchorman 2 looks a little worse for wear in its new guise, such that far from being "trapped in a glass case" of hilarity (and, of course, "emotion"!), fans who give its Extended Cut a try ahead of its inclusion in April's full Blu-Ray package may find themselves trapped only by the glass case of their desire to get their money's worth by staying put in the designated auditorium.
3/5
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