Film assessment: ‘Spinal Tap II’ a enjoyable reunion with some new vitality

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 10 (UPI) — Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, in theaters Friday, serves as a double legacy sequel of kinds. It is a sequel to 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap, but additionally to the world of music within the ensuing many years, together with the reunions and farewell excursions of main real-life acts.

Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner returns as his character Marty DiBergi, a filmmaker who meets Hope Faith (Kerry Godliman), the daughter of Spinal Tap’s former supervisor Ian Faith. When Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood carry out a canopy of “Big Bottom,” Hope sees the potential in a Spinal Tap reunion.

Marty seeks out the unique members of Spinal Tap and finds Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) now owns a cheese store, whereas David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) writes scores for podcasts and “on hold” messages, one of many movie’s cleverest bits. Meanwhile, Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) owns a glue museum after an unwise crypto enterprise.

There’s not loads of battle between Nigel, David and Derek. All three of them appear to need the chance to reunite and attempt to make it work.

Nigel and David actually battle to get again in concord, nonetheless, as Nigel cannot play a few of David’s compositions and David objects to a few of Nigel’s new results. Nigel’s assortment of wah wah pedals is his new amp that “goes to 11,” and whereas the bit shouldn’t be as humorous, it’s not less than authentic.

The battle solely involves a head on the tech rehearsal for the reunion present. It has resonance, given the band’s tumultuous historical past and would have been worthwhile to discover additional, nevertheless it’s additionally not unusual for folks to keep away from battle till they cannot anymore.

Still directed by Reiner in a faux documentary fashion, the improvisation within the sequel results in some actually intelligent one-liners. David’s zombie film has a witty title, and asserting his pleasure within the acknowledged flaws in his character is traditional Spinal Tap absurdity.

Marty finds different characters related to the primary This Is Spinal Tap, so actors like Fran Drescher, Paul Shaffer and June Chadwick get to do one scene every. Many real-life musicians cameo on a Zoom display, however Paul McCartney and Elton John actually jam and commerce barbs with Spinal Tap.

Spinal Tap nonetheless wants a drummer and so they maintain auditions for “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight.” These embrace some actually unique percussionists.

The one they rent is Didi Crockett (Valerie Franco). Franco and her character add younger, feminine, LGBTQ+ vitality to the comedy, and Didi simply rocks.

Spinal Tap faces pressures from a younger report government (Chris Addison), like hiring a health coach (John Michael Higgins) to pressure them to train. New stage accoutrements accompany songs like “Big Bottom” as they argue with stagehands over the creative integrity of letting the underside actually fart.

Most of the mishaps are rather more predictable, as they’re both a redux or the alternative of one thing from the unique movie. Still, they’re well-executed slapstick.

The finale is actually a live performance movie of Spinal Tap’s best hits. Fans will admire how the set record consists of deep cuts from the band’s 1992 Break Like the Wind album.

Overall, Spinal Tap II is an amiable romp with the boys, and now their drummer woman. Like a traditional band performing new materials, the brand new stuff is enjoyable nevertheless it does not hit fairly as laborious because the jokes with historical past.

Fred Topel, who attended movie college at Ithaca College, is a UPI leisure author based mostly in Los Angeles. He has been an expert movie critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read extra of his work in Entertainment.