Movie Scene: Doesn’t reach up to 11!

A whole 41 years since iconic mockumentary, ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ brought the (apparent) talents of David St Hubbins, Derek Smalls and Nigel Tufnel to the screen, the band have decided to get back together for ‘Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.’

A huge success back in 1984, the original film has become something of a cult classic fuelling the mockumentary craze that spawned films like ‘Best In Show’, ‘A Mighty Wind’ and ‘For Your Consideration’.

The plot, for what it is, involves Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) reuniting the trio for a one-off gig. Having been estranged for a number of years due to a crypto coin scheme, Nigel (Christopher Guest) runs a guitar-and-cheese shop whilst Derek (Harry Shearer) is into candles and Dave (Michael McKean) is the king of elevator muzak. Utilising the help of the band’s former manager’s daughter (Kerry Godliman) and an obnoxious promoter called Simon Howler (Chris Addison) who – for some reason – can’t hear music, they coax the band through rehearsals in time for the big night.

In the interests if full disclosure, I was never a huge fan of the original; fun yes but never had me rolling in the aisles. However trying to recapture lightning in a bottle after four decades was always going to be difficult.

Still told in mockumentary style, ‘Spinal Tap II’ relies heavily on the trio’s familiarity with one another and a healthy dose of nostalgia which includes bringing back Bobbi Fleckman (Fran Drescher) and Artie Fufkin (Paul Schaffer) for cameos. It also has a plethora of cameos including Elton John, Paul McCartney, Lars Ulrich, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

Zipping along at just over 80 minutes, ‘Spinal Tap II’ recaptures some of the original film’s magic, with some cracking lines, puns (Hell Toupee, Night of the Living Assisted Dead) and silly bone dry wit – and the original trio lean into the funny with good performances. However, given the trio’s estrangement, it also pulls some punches by not exploring that for comedic purposes. The film’s shining star is Addison who, in the interests of creating something special, encourages one or more of the band to die on stage and his total absurdity makes it all worthwhile. ‘Spinal Tap II: The End Continues’ is a nostalgia trap that fans of the original will flock to for the familiarity but will immediately complain that ‘it’s not the same as the original.’

At most, the film dials it up to seven.