SPINAL TAP II: THE END CONTINUES...But Not To 11

SPINAL TAP II: THE END CONTINUES (Blu-ray)

2025 / 84 min

Bleecker Street/Decal Releasing

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😺

To paraphrase…41 years and three albums later (since Smell the Glove), Spinal Tap is still going strong. And their film, This is Spinal Tap, has earned a distinguished place in movie history as one of the funniest satires. So when I heard that Rob Reiner, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest were releasing a new film called Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, needless to say I jumped at the chance to review the mockumentary - or, if you will - superfluous sequel, that you’re gonna read about here. But hey…enough of my yakkin’...

Obviously, a little more yakkin’...

A movie like Spinal Tap II: The End Continues doesn’t really need to exist. You can obviously say that about most sequels, of course, but the original 1984 film was so damn funny and satirically spot-on that it not-only became a cult classic, it practically invented the mockumentary. Since then, the infinitely quotable dialogue, scenes mocking rock tropes and even the band itself have wormed their way into our culture over the years. So to quote Nigel Tufnul, “Where do you go from there? Where?”

Well, The End Continues certainly doesn’t go to 11. How could it? Even if the rock music world the original film parodied still existed in any relevant way, there’s simply no stone left to unturn. In fact, large portions of this sequel end up revisiting the same legendary scenes and gags (drummers' untimely deaths, problems with the Stonehenge prop, etc). Secondary characters from the first film show up in where-are-they-now bits. Even most of Tap’s 'classic' songs are revisited. 

Where's Bruno Kirby when you need him?

Still, I can’t say I was disappointed, because let’s face it…David St. Hubbins (McKean), Nigel Tufnel (Guest) and Derek Smalls (Shearer) are still wonderfully endearing characters. And you know what? I was kinda curious about what they’d been up to during the 15 years since they last played together…even if it is made-up. The story also has Tap reuniting and preparing for one last concert. Along the way, there are conflicts (especially between David & Nigel), new drummer auditions and plenty of gratuitous cameos. It culminates with a show of Tap classics before an excited crowd (which goes spectacularly awry, of course). 

The film is seldom uproarious, nor does it really make much of an attempt at satire. But even though I didn’t laugh all that much, I found it consistently amusing. It’s great seeing these guys returning to their most famous roles, the only difference being the passage of time. In a way, watching this is like a visit from old friends who haven’t changed much. Nigel, David and Derek remain as blissfully clueless as ever.

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues plays more like a tribute album where its creators are ultimately paying homage to themselves. We get the impression they’re happy to get the band back together - even if the song remains the same - and their enthusiasm is kind of infectious. The movie never goes to 11, nor should anyone have expected it to, but there are plenty of real bands that have made worse attempts at a comeback than Spinal Tap.