Spinal Tap II - The End Continues

 

Of course, as the good rock'n'rollers that we are, we both dug the original Spinal Tap movie from way back when so we decided to make a rare trek into an actual theater and check out the sequel.

Hard to believe that it's been 40 years since the first Tap flick and this follow-up chronicles their lives since then - with their real-life post-film gigs followed by a hiatus (in real life and fictional, apparently) with bad feelings between Nigel and David (just the fictional characters, I assume). But they decide to bury the hatchet for one finale reunion show and, of course, they make a film of the occasion.

I do believe that a lot of the original film worked because you didn't know the characteristics of the members of the band so the jokes were fresh and so now it's a bit of nostalgia as they rework some of the humor. A number of the original characters make a reappearance, but there are also new faces, as well as mega-guest stars like Paul McCartney and Elton John. I kinda think that the writers relied a bit too much on these names, but then I guess a lot of real-life reunion/final shows do use special guests to make it more of an event. Of course, Tap needs to find a drummer and after some slapstick-ish auditions and online requests to known commodities, they find an excellent, young, female percussionist who revives their spirits. (The actress appears to really be playing and is quite good.)

Various silliness and chaos ensues until their triumphant, packed reunion show, which, of course, ends badly, due to various circumstances that I won't divulge here.

Naturally, sequels rarely hold up to the original and this is obviously a bid for nostalgia, but regardless, it is a bit of fun and fans of the original should see it just for a few giggles.