Review: "Spinal Tap II: The End Continues"

This is Spinal Tap was released in 1984.  It was the brainchild of Rob Reiner and fellow actors Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, who created a mockumentary comedy about a fictional heavy metal band struggling to save their rapidly tanking careers.  It was brilliant.  It was funny.  But it was not a hit at the box office, at least not initially.

Audiences eventually discovered it on cable TV and their local video stores.  It became an enduring comedy classic, and like so many successful movie comedies, it left audiences begging for more.  Years passed, but the project never happened.  Hope faded as the cast and crew aged, making the possibility of a sequel seem unlikely, if not impossible.

Forty years is a long time.  But somehow, against all odds, life was breathed back into Spinal Tap and the movie went into production.  The legion of fans held its breath.  And that included me, a rock star from the age of 13 who, like other rockers and musicians, found a deeper level  of truth in the movie, and the way it depicted the dynamics and trials and tribulations of a working band. 

It was about road managers, record promoters, the jealousy-driven infighting between bandmates, the destructiveness of clueless girlfriends, the obsession about musical instruments and amplifiers, the costumes, stage props and the ongoing problem of exploding drummers during live performances (perhaps the only blatant exaggeration in the script).

The performances were spot on.  The documentary approach allowed for hilarious, improv, ad libs from seasoned comedians.  It was a triumph.  This is Spinal Tap was a movie that was increasingly funny upon repeated viewings.  Part of you wanted to see a spinoff but part of you feared that a follow-up film could never be as funny as the original.  So much stood in the way.

For starters, there was the age of the characters who had grown older, significantly.  Granted, real life rock stars like Mick Jagger are strutting around stages in their early eighties.  Satanic pacts apparently work.  But the trailers for Spinal Tap II were shocking.  The three lead actors looked old – really, really old.  It was shocking and sad. 

But then came the dialog from their new promoter who suggested that it would be a great idea if one or two of the band members could die on stage during their big, contractually obligated, final performance.  It was funny, and it became clear that age and mortality could be played for laughs.

A big part of Spinal Tap II is the humor about over-the-hill rockers struggling to do the career-topping (and career-ending) performance of their lives.  Particularly since they haven’t spoken to each other for several decades.

The story wastes no time tracking down the band members and showing where their post-rock careers have led.  No spoilers.  It also fills in the story about whatever became of ex-girlfriends and record promoters (Bobbi Flekman, played by Fran Drescher, and Artie “Kick My Ass” Fufkin, played by Paul Shaffer).

There are flashbacks to the original movie and a re-working of many of their hit songs (which are both listenable and enduring, four decades later).  Guest appearances include Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood as well as major star cameos from Paul McCartney and Elton John.  All reportedly expressed strong interest in appearing in the film.

Worth mentioning is the performance of Valerie Franco as Didi Crockett, a bright-eyed rock drummer who joins the band despite the curse of Spinal Tap’s previous percussionists.  She nails it.

The movie taps into the mojo that made the original so successful.  The same banter and gags resonate all over again with fresh new material.  It’s heartwarming to see the story pick up where it left off. 

Thankfully, paraphrasing Paul Simon, everyone is still crazy after all these years.  Crazy in a good way.

I saw Spinal Tap II in an IMAX theater with thundering audio, something I would highly recommend. 

As glimpsed in the movie trailers, Elton John and his piano rise up onto the stage in the movie’s finale for a powerhouse performance of Tap’s signature song “Stonehenge.” He sings with all the might and majesty of his own iconic concert appearances over the years.  “Stonehenge” (forgive the pun) truly ROCKS!  And so does this belated gift to all the faithful fans of Spinal Tap.

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is a movie worth waiting for.  I just wish they hadn’t waited so long.

It is rated R.