Spinal Tap II: The End Continues Review: A Legacy Sequel Fit For Legendary Legends

Over forty years ago, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Rob Reiner came together to make one of the best comedies of all time, This Is Spinal Tap.

The stars of the film have gone on to do various things throughout their careers, but they always made time for “England’s Loudest Band.”

CHECK OUT MORE MOVIE REVIEWS!

While the original film itself is a cult classic and hailed as a favorite in many circles, a direct sequel has never been made, until now.

A Long Time Coming…

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues doesn’t exactly pick up where the original left off, but does acknowledges the rising popularity of Spinal Tap since the first film’s release. The paper thin line between reality and the movie’s world blends and bleeds at its will. This new movie acknowledges that there was a documentary made that details the band’s demise in 1982, that catapulted Spinal Tap into a legendary status.

Real footage of Spinal Tap reunions playing places such as the Royal Albert Hall and Wimbledon is used to fill in the gaps of the band’s history while acknowledging that there was a falling out between members in 2009, the last official time the actors got together to play these Spinal Tap. After the death of their former manager, Ian Faith, Spinal Tap is contractually obligated to play one more concert at Lake Front Arena in New Orleans.

There’s animosity between Nigel Tufnel and David St. Hubbins and contact between the two has diminished over the years creating tension. Its mystery drives the conflict in the film. Beneath the surface, Spinal Tap II tells a great story about friendship and how we maintain these relationships after many years as old and new flaws come about in each other’s lives. One hopes that this part was written for the characters and did not represent any reflection of real life.

The Cast

Everyone’s performance in Spinal Tap II is solid. Christopher Guest and Michael McKean are so insync with each other its like not time has passed. It would have been nice to give Harry Shearer a little more to do. There is this meta moment that describes him as the glue that holds the band together. Most of the characters in Spinal Tap’s world are played straight, and Shearer’s glue almost feels like a reference to comic relief, which is what he typically gets used for in both films.

A role that must be strange to have in a comedy movie. The two actors playing the band’s publicist and manager respectively, Chris Addison and Kerry Godliman, fit right in with Christopher Guest’s cadre of actors. Some of the actors from that stable do make appearances in Spinal Tap II filling those background roles that made the original so great.

Callbacks

Mostly anyone who had a memorable role in This Is Spinal Tap makes an appearance here, even if it’s for less than a minute. We get a follow-up of the minor characters’ roles from the first movie that are mostly set-ups for the story proper. The film does do that thing that made Happy Gilmore 2 less tolerable by showing footage from the original to give context to characters showing up, while it’s handled much better here. It feels like an addition suggested by an annoying studio note so the younger generation doesn’t get lost.

The grit from the original is gone, but there are valid reasons for that. From a technical standpoint, This Is Spinal Tap was shot by Pete Smokler, who had been a rock cinematographer known for shooting Jimi (Hendrix) at Berkeley and a camera operator during the Rolling Stones’ infamous Altamont concert from Gimme Shelter. There isn’t an issue of the movie not being funny.

There are many laugh-out-loud moments, and the jokes land as they need to; the humor may not be hip, but it’s far from stale. It succeeds better than most legacy sequels in remixing the story elements and jokes and making them seem just as fresh.

A Different Beast

While there is some adlibbing done here, this story seems to hone in on its finish line much easier than some of Guest’s previous efforts. The original movie riffed on heavy metal while this movie riffs on these characters we’ve grown to love. The small details are what make this style of movie that Christopher Guest has perfected over the years. A lot of the credence in comedy and rock‘n’roll world was put into the lexicon by This Is Spinal Tap, so much so that when Anvil, an actual documentary about a failing heavy metal band came out, many people questioned its legitimacy.

That’s the flaw with Spinal Tap II, we are already in on the joke. Like most legacy sequels the plot structure is loosely tethered to the original film. Of course, This Is Spinal Tap didn’t have the cameos it’s sequel has, nor would it make sense given the band’s status in the timeline of the overall story. Spinal Tap II doesn’t rely on the cameos, but it wouldn’t make sense to not include them for the reality within the movie’s world.

Rob Reiner’s faux documentarian Marty DiBergi feels a bit underused here. Mostly because the film is presented differently than the original. Spinal Tap II tries to recapture the spirit of the original and does so adequately, but This is Spinal Tap feels like a Marty DiBergi movie. Spinal Tap II feels like a Rob Reiner movie.

This movie goes to 11/10

I hope the sun isn’t setting on the careers of the original actors in the film, because they are as funny as ever. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is a strong movie. The spontaneity is gone, but the laughs are there. While the main story is presented less subtly and it’s trajectory may be predictable, the ending has one of the best misdirections I’ve seen in a while. If Rob Reiner bookends his directing career with Spinal Tap films, it will be a nice bow on top of a fantastic body of work.

Read Forrest’s review of Nobody 2, here.