Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) are back to rock in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (Distributed by Bleecker Street Media)

This is Spinal Tap wasn’t exactly a commercial hit upon its release in 1984, but it has become beloved in the years since. The now iconic rock mockumentary found its audience on home video, gaining enough popularity that it has passed right through cult classic status and turned into a genuine classic. The story of the world’s loudest band, heavy metal rockers Spinal Tap, it was created by stars Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer, and largely improvised. So many of the lines have become a part of pop culture. Anyone who has seen it instantly thought of several the moment they saw the title. It seems like a nearly impossible act to follow.

The sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, isn’t really a follow-up, per se. It is more of an epilogue. It doesn’t tell a new story for the gang, so much as adding a coda to the previous one. As a continuation, it’s a little empty. It doesn’t have anything fresh to say about aging rock bands or nostalgia-fueled reunions. However, as an opportunity for viewers to catch up with these characters at a different point in their lives, it is pretty fun. The jokes are still cleverly stupid and it is just plain enjoyable to see these actors slip back into these roles, finding some new places to mine humor from. While it is not required viewing, like the original is, fans will definitely want to give it a look.

It has been fifteen years since Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls broke up and lost touch. Now, due to a clause in their contract, they have to reunite for one last concert. And documentarian Marty DiBergi is back to film it all.

The most important question when it comes to any comedy is: Is it funny? Thankfully, I can report that I did laugh quite a bit at Spinal Tap II (83 minutes). If it’s not as endlessly quotable as its predecessor, well, few movies are. It doesn’t update the characters in any significant way, keeping them as they were, just older. It surrounds them with more celebrity cameos and new goofy entertainment stereotypes. Once again, everything is played straight. Nothing is treated like a joke. The fact that they don’t know they’re funny makes the silliness all the more amusing.

This is not a modernization of Spinal Tap. These guys are who they are and if the world has changed around them, they haven’t noticed. There is no attempt to move them into contemporary pop culture. As a result, the references are charmingly dated. The goal that Reiner, Guest, McKean and Shearer seem to have come into this with is not to reinvent the concept. They simply wanted to put on those outfits and accents again and come up with more dumb gags. That they do.

All three band members have some hilarious moments and they don’t try to redo old bits too much. It sometimes feels like a special put together for a collector’s edition DVD release to mark an anniversary. Spinal Tap II is absolutely inessential. It never fully justifies its existence. Unless being lovable and making people laugh is enough. Come to think of it, that is probably true.

3¼ out of 5

Cast:

Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel

Michael McKean as David St. Hubbins

Harry Shearer as Derek Smalls

Rob Reiner as Marty DiBergi

Directed by Rob Reiner

Written by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Rob Reiner and Harry Shearer