‘Spinal Tap II – The End Continues’ movie review: An enjoyable return to old friends
Not every film needs a sequel. We all know that well by now, in a world where the drive to make everything into a franchise has become an obsessive money-grabbing habit all studios seem to fall into.
When Spinal Tap II: The End Continues was announced, there was rightfully a fear that this was the same old story.
40 years on from the originally ‘rockumentary’, This Is Spinal Tap, there is a case to be made that the film should have been left to stand alone as a uniquely perfect piece of cinema. It was perfect because, somehow, even when watching it back in 2025, its parody of the music industry stands up despite the vast differences between the 1980s and today’s world. Somehow, the characters invented by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer hold up as the perfect caricatures of rock stars that have heart and hope amidst the ego and sheer silliness.
The fear is that a sequel, decades on, would taint that. Already in the original, the band is built of fading rock stars, so there’s the worry that years on, they’d fall beyond being caricatures and become tired cliches of old men clinging on. But somehow, thanks to the lightheartedness of it all, it actually only boosts it all.
What Spinal Tap II: The End Continues has is a totally endearing quality. Is it absolutely outstanding cinema? No. Is it anywhere near as pioneering as that original mockumentary felt? Also, no. But what it is is a deeply enjoyable jaunt back into the world of these infectious characters, feeling like a return to old friends.
Much like the original, it’s also powered by a sharp view of the industry. Chris Addison does a lot of heavy lifting here as their new PR man with absolutely zero interest or ear for music. He brings the coldness of the modern music world to the warmth of this film, providing gags at the industry’s expense when he’s suggesting things like getting the 80-year-old to do dances, or asking Elton John to play less piano.
Another surprising scene stealer is none other than Sir Paul McCartney. His cameo is perhaps the film’s crowning moment. Who knows how much of that was scripted, as it felt deeply natural to McCartney’s own and well-documented wit, but his bantering with the band, attempting to help them fix a song to only be dubbed “toxic” by David St Hubbins, is one of the most laugh-a-minute sections and a perfect example of exactly how to do a celebrity drop-in.
There are many of them here, as one thing is for certain: the Spinal Tap budget has definitely gone up. Now with major Hollywood money, it does have a kind of airbrushed sheen that the original obviously lacks. But at its core, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues maintains the soul of the comedy unit. Is it exactly a necessary sequel? Not in the slightest. But it’s one not to complain about and merely enjoy.
