Review of the movie “Spinal Tap 2”; Bitter and sweet goodbye

Every year that we live, we see the departure of artists and heroes who made our memories and nostalgia. This year, the carousel took many people from us; From Robert Redford, to David Lynch and Tatsuya Nakadai. But Rob Reiner’s departure is the hardest to accept; A director who has some of our happiest moments and cinematic experiences with his films, but his horrible death overshadows everything. Reiner’s death is all the more poignant when you see that this year he returned to his directorial days with the sequel to This Is Spinal Tap, a comedic masterpiece that still lives on in the collective memory 40 years after its release. In the review of the movie “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” (Spinal Tap II: The End Continues), I refer to the events of the last concert of the loudest British heavy metal band, even though its members have turned gray and Rob Rainer has passed away, but their legacy will continue to survive in a new generation.

Warning! There is a risk of revealing the story in the review of “Spinal Tap 2”.

Review of the movie “Spinal Tap 2”; One last concert

I will never forget the experience of seeing “Spinal Tap”; A documentary about a fictional band, Britain’s most vocal heavy metal band, as Rob Reiner captures the highs and lows of their massive US tour in his directorial debut. Upon hearing the news of making a sequel to “Spinal Tap”, I spent days watching the movie again (for the number of times I’ve lost count), listening to their entire discography again and watching their scattered performances from 1984 until now, and I counted down the minutes until the release of “Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues”; Even though I knew in the back of my mind that even Rob Reiner and his friends couldn’t help themselves. You can imagine what a shock the news of Rob Reiner’s death was to me.

Now I can’t watch Spinal Tap 2 without tears in my eyes. A film that not only the three stars of the comedy story, Christopher Guest, Michael McCain and Harry Shearer, which gathered all the guys from the first film. From David’s controlling girlfriend, Janine (Jon Chadwick), to Bobby Fleckman (Fern Drescher), Artie Fafkin (Paul Schieffer), and even the startled blonde fan from the first film (Jane Crome, who later becomes the wife of the Eagles’ bassist), Reiner brings everyone back to Spinal Tap 2; The ones without whom Nigel Tufnell, David St Hobbins and Derek Smalls wouldn’t be Spinal Tap.

Obviously, “Spinal Tap” wouldn’t be possible without Marty Debargi. Wearing a nondescript viewfinder around his neck and a USS OORAL SEA baseball cap, he begins Spinal Tap 2 with a monologue like the first film. Debiraghi has returned to record one last concert from Spinal Tap, whose members have been apart for fifteen years.

During this time, three members of the group have turned to different ways to make a living; Along with his caring wife, Nigel owns a cheese shop where customers can trade guitars for cheese or vice versa! Derek, who has always described his role in the band as lukewarm water or glue, has now built his own museum of glue. David plays with a mariachi band and composes music for crime podcasts or hotlines.

Hope Faith, daughter of the late Ian Faith, who was the band’s program manager in the 1984 film Spinal, has now inherited her father’s contract with the band, which obliges the members to reunite for one final concert. Although more than forty years have passed since Tap’s tour in the United States and the other members have turned gray, but music is in their blood and this news brings Nigel, David and Harry together again; Although it’s thanks to the old murky of Nigel and David’s relationship, the two guitarists fall into rhythm again, leaning on Derek’s bass.

Tap invites Roots’ Questlove and Metallica’s Lars to play drums in Spinal Tap. But their dark history of unexpected drummer deaths keeps all but one from standing behind Spinal Tap’s drum kit: a girl named Didi Crockett (Valerie Franco). Finally, with the drummer issue resolved, Spinal Tap prepares for the final concert with the help of Paul McCartney and Elton John.

A movie for fans

Spinal Tap 2 is made entirely for fans. If you haven’t seen the first movie and you don’t know the story of ‘It Goes to Eleven’ and ‘Stonehenge’, don’t bother watching it. Relying on the story bits and jokes of the first film, Rob Reiner and friends have filled the second film with references big and small. Of course, because the nature of “Spinal Tap” and the group of comedians who made it is based on improvisation, even Spinal Tap itself cannot repeat itself; So don’t worry about the jokes being repetitive.

Tapp, who are all getting older, with the oldest being Harry Shearer, 82, obviously can’t conjure up the physical comedy of yesteryear, but they still have sharp tongue and their antics are amazing as veteran rock stars. Although more than 50 years have passed since the professional life of Gast, McCain and Shearer, their commitment to making people laugh deserves a lot of praise and appreciation. Rob Reiner follows in the footsteps of these three and once again establishes his position as the fourth member of this comedy group.

The 1984 movie “Spinal Tap” did not have much success at the box office. But over time, from an isolated film in the cult cinema, it entered American popular culture, and like many of Rob Reiner’s films, such as “When Harry Met Sally…” and “The Princess Bride”, its traces can even be found among people’s idioms. So, it is not surprising that people like Paul McCartney and Elton John are Spinal Tap fans. Rob Reiner, who in 1982 was scrambling for a studio to finance his tiny little film, Spinal Tap, or Michael McCain, who was ready to make a living with his guitar when his career as an actor failed, never imagined that they would one day play with one of the Beatles and Elton John. In addition to the role they play in the story of “Spinal Tap 2”, these two rock stars are also present in several pieces of the film’s music. In particular, Elton John’s singing on stage in the song “Stonehenge” created a dreamy scene, which, of course, in the style of Spinal Tap, does not last long and ends with disaster.

Although the comedy “Spinal Tap 2” is not as bright as the first movie and the story does not have the freshness of the past, but on the days when we need laughter more than anything else, “Spinal Tap 2” can pull out laughs from the bottom of your heart. The music of the film also has its place, where Guest, McCain and Shearer show off their compositional power again with old and new pieces.

Like an old friend

Watching Spinal Tap 2 is like watching old family VHS; It’s like seeing old friends and acquaintances, some of whom you haven’t seen for years, some of whom are no longer with us, and everyone who is left is now old and frail; Michael McCain can’t sing like he used to, Harry Shearer’s fingers aren’t as nimble as they used to be, and Christopher Guest is more bored than ever; But so are we. Some of us have turned gray hair, some of us have gone through several marriages and divorces. But we all still turn to Spinal Tap for a warm hug to a Rob Reiner movie.

Rob Reiner (he gets hot every time I mention his name) was supposed to release a movie of Spinal Tap’s final concert next to the real Stonehenge, complete with full performances, in a month. The release of this film has been delayed until an unknown time; But as the title of the film says, the ending continues and the legacy of this late director, whose presence has always been a source of joy, will remain alive in the memory of all of us. Michael McCain once said that the most interesting thing about Spinal Tap is that they are a fictional rock band that plays and sings on stage for people who pretend to be their fans; A big joke that everyone from the creators and the audience share in it. This is the staying power of Spinal Tap. That we all consider ourselves a member of the big family of a group whose history we share and we can say that we knew them when they were still nobody. With “Spinal Tap 2” we’re pulling out the old t-shirts and posters again, because it’s never too late to rock and roll.

Film ID “Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues” (Spinal Tap II: The End Continues)

Director: Rob Reiner
Author: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner
Actors: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner
Product: 2025, United States
Site score IMDb to the movie: 6.5 out of 10
Rating of the movie on Rotten Tomatoes website: 66%
Summary of the story: Marty Debirghi, the documentarian who accompanied English heavy metal band Spinal Tap on their US tour forty years ago and documented their ups and downs, is back to visit the kids of Spinal Tap. The band have not heard from each other for 15 years, but the contract of their manager, the late Ian Faith, stipulated that the band should get together for one last concert. Can Nigel, David and Derek put aside the murky past and take to the stage again as Spinal Tap?

The review of the movie “Spinal Tap 2” is the author’s personal opinion and is not necessarily the position of Digikala Mag.

Source: Digikala Mag