| Worth seeing: | to catch up with some of the most enduring characters since the 1980s |
| Director: | Rob Reiner |
| Featuring: | Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Rob Reiner, Chad Smith, Chris Addison, Elton John, Fran Drescher, Garth Brooks, John Michael Higgins, June Chadwick, Kerry Godliman, Lars Ulrich, Nina Conti, Paul McCartney, Paul Shaffer, Questlove |
| Length: | 84 minutes |
| Certificate: | 15 |
| Country: | US |
| Released: | 12th September 2025 |
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
It’s 15 years since the last tour by the British heavy metal giants Spinal Tap – or more correctly written, Spın̈al Tap – came to a shuddering halt after one too many heavy metal arguments – and their late manager’s daughter, Hope Faith (Kerry Godliman), sorting out her father’s affairs, has found paperwork, showing that they are still contracted to do one more gig.
She ropes in a pompous concert promoter, Simon Howler (Chris Addison), to arrange the biggest rock reunion gig since – well, perhaps Oasis or Black Sabbath.
Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), David St Hubbins (Michael McKean) and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) have long since found other careers and started new lives, far from their heady days as globally famous heavy metal stars – and no, Nigel is not working in a chapeau shop – but they are all tempted to revisit the old band, just one more time.
The documentarian Marty Di Bergi (Rob Reiner) – who last met the band for his film This Is Spın̈al Tap, more than 40 years ago – returns to follow the trio as they meet for the first time in 15 years and prepare for their back comeback gig in New Orleans.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
Four decades ago, Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer created This is Spinal Tap, one of the most enduring, satirical, endlessly quotable pieces of comedy cinema, that has entertained generations – whether rock fans or not.
Phrases such as “these go to eleven,” “you can’t dust for vomit,” and “it’s such a fine line between stupid and clever” have entered the vernacular of people who have never even encountered the film.
So, it’s with trepidation that fans will approach this sequel that’s been a long time in coming; a very high bar has been set and there’s a long way to fall.
Adopting the same ground-breaking format – that ushered in its own genre of mockumentary – the team show us what these iconic heavy metal heroes have been up to and follows their attempts to put their differences aside to perform one more gig – with a little help from their friends, as it turns out; while they’re snubbed by some big-name drummers, for obvious reasons if you’ve seen the original, a couple of the biggest names in music turn up to offer their support.
We have a brief catch-up with a handful of the minor characters from the first film, but this very much centres on David, Nigel and Derek, as it should. They have certainly mellowed with age, but their passion for their music and lack of irony remain intact.
But while it remains constantly entertaining, like an older rock star, it’s lost its teeth. It has little to say about anything – from the music industry to relationships or ageing. Chris Addison’s sleazy concert promoter is the only source of cynicism as he proffers some merchandising options and takes a quick pop at the woke left but otherwise, there’s nothing that would offend residents of a care home.
There are references to gags in the earlier film – from another “eleven” joke and the Stonehenge mishap could not go unmentioned – but it’s all very tame. Some earlier jokes are simply repeated – some new ones are simply poor copies of gags that have been used better elsewhere – one of the better Zoolander moments is borrowed here. The jokes lack the punch of younger men with a point to make – much of the humour is more silly than clever – and many of the best moments are given away in the trailer with one of the sharpest gags, involving Derek Smalls, thrown away as an afterthought in a closing credits sequence – the final moment also feels somewhat anticlimactic, with a rather obvious drummer gag that won’t have the longevity of the chapeau shop.
Somehow, they managed to squeeze so much into the previous film – from fall-outs within the entourage, arguments over album covers, problems with stage props, difficulty eating sandwiches whose meat was bigger than the bread – but here, we get nothing more than the somewhat pedestrian build-up to a single performance.
Fans of the original will spend most of the 84 minutes smiling – possibly even laughing – and it’s always nice to have a little catch-up with some long-lost friends, but there are few moments – or lines – that will be remembered 40 minutes after you leave the cinema, let alone 40 years. And there is very little that would draw in newcomers, not already familiar with the band.
Narratively, there is also the odd contradiction that the whole point of the first film was how the band became a laughing stock, even within the business – but here, they are treated with the respect of artists such as – to pick a couple of names randomly from the air – Sirs Paul McCartney and Elton John.
This doesn’t really feel like it warranted a film in it’s own right – it’s more of a PS to the original. It’s almost as if they’ve only recently won back the rights to the original film so they thought they’d take advantage of the earning potential.
Like with your ailing elderly relatives, while you enjoy spending time with them and hearing their stories, you’ll want to remember Nigel, David and Derek how they were when they were younger.