Legendary mock-rockers Spinal Tap, starring Christopher Guest as lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel, Michael McKean as frontman David St Hubbins, and Harry Shearer as bassist Derek Smalls, make their improbable yet somehow inevitable return in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. Director Rob Reiner once again steps behind the camera and in front of it as fictional documentarian Marty DiBergi, capturing the band’s reluctant comeback gig in New Orleans. What unfolds is a mix of calamity, comedy and unexpected tenderness as the world’s loudest band tries to survive one last show.
Much like the 1984 classic, the sequel leans into the band’s perpetual bad luck: failed rehearsals, faulty equipment and on stage accidents. The breakup itself is chalked up to some falling-out between Nigel and David back in 2009, though we won’t really find this out until nearer the end of the movie.
Reiner has fun playing with the film’s own history, recycling some of the old gags in fresh ways while throwing in new twists to keep long-time fans on their toes. There are also clever cameos from characters you’d half-forgotten about, little Easter eggs and two huge British rock stars.
What surprises most about The End Continues is its tone. While the first film was a satire of rock’s excesses, this sequel feels shaded with melancholy. Seeing them wheeze through rehearsals, or shuffle on stage under the glare of younger, sharper bands, is funny, yes, but also really quite moving. Even so, the trio’s musicianship remains razor sharp; their mock-anthems land with the same absurd conviction, reminding us these actors are, in fact, genuinely talented players.
The setup is suitably absurd: Ian Faith’s daughter Hope (Kerry Godliman, a revelation) has inherited the rights to Spinal Tap and legally forces the reunion to cash in on their legacy. Enter slippery promoter Simon Howler (Chris Addison doping his best Simon Cowell impresson), who promises a payday but only seems to be interested in what he can get from the band.
In the meantime, the band members’ post-Tap lives are gently ridiculous. Nigel tends his cheese and guitar shop in rural England, occasionally thrashing out Irish folk-metal at the local pub. Derek owns a glue museum while David makes a comfortable living scoring true-crime podcasts and corporate hold music.
Not every gag lands. Derek’s lecherous subplot with their new drummer Valerie Franco veers into uncomfortable territory, and Howler’s characterisation is painted in overly broad strokes. Yet the climactic Stonehenge sequence – a knowingly overblown call-back that escalates into full chaos – delivers a finale worthy of the band’s reputation for turning disaster into triumph.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues may not reach the impossible heights of its predecessor, but it doesn’t need to. This is a tender, moving and actually quite funny sequel. Yes, I’m just as shocked as you.
