Shark sandwich! Spinal Tap return for a sequel that taps into what made the rockumentary band so funny in the first place
It’s such a fine line between clever and stupid. Nigel Tufnel’s immortal words from This Is Spinal Tap speak to many things, not least the 1984 rockumentary about the fictional titular English metal band itself. A perfectly-balanced mix of improv-dialogue comedy, wry observation, oh-so accurate songs and genuine love for rock ‘n’ roll, not to mention a precision honed by its creators spending time with Saxon, it perfectly encapsulated the tragically ludicrous, brilliantly daft world of life in a band.
The idea of picking things up 41 years on also walks that fine line. The original remains one of the funniest films ever made, and most quoted, beloved by those it roasted. Reunions for Live 8 and Glastonbury were less-than-stellar, and less-than-hilarious. A sequel could only be a shit-sandwich, couldn’t it? Wrong. So very wrong.
Following the death of the band’s legendary and cantankerous manager Ian Faith, his daughter Hope inherits what there is of his estate, including a contract which states that they’re obliged to do one final gig, fifteen years since their last. In the intervening years, Nigel Tufnel has opened a cheese and guitar shop (same place), while also playing in the local pub. David St Hubbins has continued to make music, mostly for call centres and true crime podcasts, while Derek Smalls, very philosophically, as it happens, has opened a glue museum.
Marty and his film crew follow them as they reunite, having not spoken to one another since they were last onstage, and head to New Orleans for the final hurrah. Why? The venue was free after An Evening With Stormy Daniels cancelled. With time ticking on, they have to find a new drummer, relearn their old songs, and get to grips with being a band in 2025, as well as deal with the machinations of manager Simon Howler (Olly from The Thick Of It being much more punchable), a man who claims to medically not be able to hear music.
There are great bits. Taking on a new, younger drummer – a woman! – provides room for laffs, as does Marty’s quests to find out what happened to the band’s old associates like publicist Bobbi Flekman and hopeless Polymer Records rep Artie Fufkin. The band are presented with myriad terrible, modern ideas (dance, Tap Water merch, dying onstage to properly manage their legacy), all observed with similar cutting keenness to the original, largely managing to rise above simple, crappy, ‘old blokes as fish out of water’ obviousness.
The star turns are all good and at the correct temperature as well. The band’s Zoom calls with the equally game-for-a-laugh Lars Ulrich and Chad Smith are amusingly awkward. And where the trailers worryingly made appearances from Elton John and Paul McCartney look like bullshit walk-ons from the biggest names possible, the way both of them absolutely deadpan their scenes (Macca in the studio, Elton onstage performing Stonehenge with them onstage) is a stitch.
But it’s the improv chat between the three key players that makes it. The natural flair for talking inspired nonsense that made scenes like the “miniature bread” outburst, Stonehenge argument, and “they were still boing him when we came on” sneer from the original so classic is still one of the greatest comedy dynamics around. That and the toe-curling accuracy of Tap’s in-band politics and tensions. Nigel and David still cannot help arguing, the bit with Macca trying to help them with songwriting will be eerie to anyone who’s ever tried to teach a riff to another person, and the tour through Nigel’s pedal board will haunt bandmates everywhere.
It's no match for the original, of course (would it ever be?), and there are some moments where the joins between the more freestyle improv and more conventional plot aren’t quite flush with one another. But like Liam Neeson’s recent Naked Gun do-over, The End Continues is well aware of what’s at stake, and is done with no small amount of reverence to its source and its fans. It’s actually better than that film, because the natural chemistry between the main players is still deliciously potent, even after so many years. Crucially, it understands itself, why Spinal Tap is so beloved, and how its characters would behave in 2025.
It's a fine line between clever and stupid. The End Continues dances gamely on it like a dwarf around Stonehenge.
Verdict: 4/5
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is out now
