Misguided and Disappointing
As a lifelong fan of the Anne of Green Gables books and 1980’s television miniseries adaptations, I was very frustrated and unsatisfied by this sequel.
The script was written by Kevin Sullivan, who produced the original series. It was not based upon the stories by L.M. Montgomery like the previous films. L.M. Montgomery offers a quite different continuation of Anne’s story in her subsequent books.
The storyline of Anne of Green Gables: the Continuing Story is not believable and neither is the dialogue. In addition, there are lengthy scenes that do not add to the story and drag on and on.
Fans will be disappointed that there are only a couple of short scenes featuring Anne and Gilbert together, after a long-awaited reunion.
Missing from this film is the spirit of the original films and the small town characters that were so captivating. Although actors Megan Follows (Anne) and Jonathan Crombie (Gilbert) give believable performances, clearly Kevin Sullivan waited too long between films. The actors have aged considerably in the 15 years since the last one, but the screenwriter expects us to believe it has only been 5 years.
The first 10-15 minutes of the film is spent in mechanical dialogue engineered to catch the audience up on the supposed 5 years that have passed between Anne of Avonlea and this latest film. Tiresome flashbacks are also used to the same end.
