海角社区官网

Rob Reiner鈥檚 mockumentary about fictional British metal band Spinal Tap, starring Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer as narcissistic rockers riffing toward redundancy, hilariously skewered many rock 鈥檔鈥� roll clich茅s.

It was smart about being dumb, so much so that many real musicians embraced Tap鈥檚 mayhem about turning it up to 11, getting lost backstage at a concert and having 鈥渘one more black鈥� demonic album art. They were happy to be in on the joke.

The late-arriving sequel, 鈥淪pinal Tap II: The End Continues,鈥� suggests the fine line has long since been crossed and the band is now firmly entrenched in the stupid zone. The savage satire of 1984 has become the bemused, bewildered and frankly tired nostalgia trip of 2025.

Which is not to say it鈥檚 not a trip worth taking. If you loved 鈥淭his Is Spinal Tap,鈥� you鈥檒l probably at least like this sequel. But I鈥檒l wager you’re older than the four decades between the two films.

The problem is actor/director/co-writer Reiner and actors/co-writers McKean, Guest and Shearer seem to have run out of good jokes 鈥� and good songs. The mockumentary format, so fresh in 鈥�84, similarly seems played out, despite the film鈥檚 modest 84-minute runtime.

鈥淭his Is Spinal Tap鈥� followed frontman David St. Hubbins (McKean), lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Guest), bassist Derek Smalls (Shearer) and their trouble-prone entourage as they attempted what proved to be a disputatious and ultimately disastrous comeback tour of the U.S. The meta joke was that the trek was being filmed by Marty DiBergi, the deadpan adman turned documentarian played by Reiner.

鈥淪pinal Tap II鈥� plows a similar furrow. The Tap members are reuniting for a single comeback concert, in New Orleans, and DiBergi is back to commit the occasion to history.

The bandmates haven鈥檛 kept in touch, or kept up their chops, as evidenced by the lack of any songs or performances to rival the humour and musicality of such Tap classics as 鈥淗ell Hole,鈥� 鈥淏ig Bottom鈥� and their pre-metal hit 鈥�(Listen to the) Flower People.鈥澛�

Instead, the bandmates have gone in for such Monty Python-ish pursuits as Nigel鈥檚 Cheese and Guitars shop, Derek鈥檚 Museum of Glue and David鈥檚 sonic contributions to a murder podcast.

They鈥檙e still in need of a drummer, a 12th one, since the previous 11 all expired under mysterious circumstances, including a 鈥渂izarre gardening accident鈥� and choking on somebody else鈥檚 vomit. David鈥檚 bothersome girlfriend, Jeanine (June Chadwick), is now a nun living in a convent.

The jokes are all past their sell-by date and the band members seem to be up past their bedtime: McKean and Guest are 77 and Shearer is 81, and it shows in their weary banter.

New, younger members of the cast are considerably funnier, among them Kerry Godliman as Hope Faith, following in the stumbling footsteps of her late father, Ian Faith (Tony Hendra, RIP), as band manager; Chris Addison as music-hating band promoter Simon Howler; and Valerie Franco as drummer Didi Crockett, who isn鈥檛 going to let the Spinal Tap 鈥渃urse鈥� stop her from pounding the skins. They give the film a blast of needed energy.

But age ain鈥檛 nothing but a number, as they say. A couple of musical old-timers, the most famous of the film鈥檚 many star cameos, also contribute mightily to what mirth 鈥淪pinal Tap II鈥� possesses.

Beatle Paul McCartney, 83, manages to keep a straight face as he drops in to offer songwriting advice and David tells him, 鈥淲e鈥檒l take it under advisement.鈥�

Crocodile rocker Elton John, 78, goes even further, agreeing to play piano for the band during the triumphant return of the Stonehenge slabs of 鈥淭his Is Spinal Tap鈥� fame.

Paul and Elton are still fans of Spinal Tap 鈥� and who isn鈥檛? 鈥� even if the band has faded into a fond memory that鈥檚 hardly worth poking fun at anymore.