‘Spinal Tap II: The End Continues’ review: Dull jokes, great tunes

Rob Reiner’s Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is disappointingly safe, but squeezes out just enough musicality to be worth the effort.

This Is Spinal Tap was a 1984 heavy metal mockumentary that launched the careers of Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer. It also embedded several jokes so deeply into pop culture that people tend to quote it without knowing they’re even referencing a movie. It also has a good deal of heart (though nowhere near as much as the film’s 2003 folk music spinoff A Mighty Wind). The troubled relationship between David St. Hubbins (McKean) and Nigel Tufnel (Guest) is one of the most compelling platonic love stories of the 80s. And the film’s final scene, where St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) eagerly anticipate their retirement from music only to jump back into another tour the moment there’s more money on the table, hit a remarkable balance of poignancy and irony.

About that last scene…

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues picks up on the Spinal Tap story 40 years later. The band broke up shortly after the release of their 2009 album Back From the Dead. St. Hubbins has found a career scoring true crime podcasts, Tufnel runs a cheese shop, and Smalls works at a glue museum. One of Spinal Tap’s songs has recently found success on TikTok, which has led Hope Faith (Kerry Godliman) to call in the one show she’s still owed on the contract she inherited upon the death of her father and longtime Tap manager Ian (the late Tony Hendra). The trio reunites in New Orleans under the guidance of Hope and promoter Simon Howler (Chris Addison) to put on one last show, but modern demands and the wedge between St. Hubbins and Tufnel threaten to disrupt the reunion before it can even get started.

Same jokes, different drummer.

Photo Credit: Lincoln Else/Bleeker Street

Most of Spinal Tap II rehashes the things that worked the first time around. There’s a new reason for St. Hubbins and Tufnel to be mad at each other, but the effect is largely the same. While that tension manages some of the film’s sweetest moments, it gets more tired the more dramatic it gets. The songs are largely a repeat of the ones used in the first film instead of leaning on new material or the multiple albums Spinal Tap has released since the original film. A lot of original jokes are repeated, though now with much less energy given the main trio are all nearing 80. The new cast members aren’t exciting, but the film’s incorporation of unused footage from previous projects shines and some of the film’s best jokes follow-up with the minor characters Fran Drescher, Paul Shaffer, and June Chadwick played in the first film.

Thankfully, the trio is still at the top of their game in regards to musicality. A good portion of this film is just musical performances as the band rehearses for the big show and to that end it’s absolutely charming. A revolving door of celebrity cameos chip in for this as well, most notably Elton John in his second performance since his 2023 retirement. Spinal Tap II isn’t funny enough to succeed as a comedy and not compelling enough to work as a documentary, but as musical performance it’s outstanding. This will probably mean more for soundtrack sales than for the release of the film itself, but it’s enough to turn the film into something properly entertaining despite its numerous weaknesses.

The bottom line.

This is Rob Reiner’s first sequel as a director and he never offers all that compelling of a reason why this was a franchise he needed to come back to. But Reiner is nevertheless a talented director, and this is one of his best narrative projects in some time. The polished production has rubbed away most of what made the first film so special but the musical performances should be good enough to satiate fans until the next Spinal Tap album drops somewhere around the year 2040.

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is now playing in theaters. Watch the trailer here.

Images courtesy of Lincoln Else/Bleeker Street. Read more articles by Brogan Luke Bouwhuis here.

Brogan Luke Bouwhuis

Brogan Luke Bouwhuis is a writer and film programmer whose frequent pop culture deep dives have allowed him to write about everything from the Richard Gere gerbil rumor to the history of the holiday yule log video. He co-hosts the Franchise Fiends podcast, co-captains the narrative shorts program at the Slamdance Film Festival, and co-created three children with his wife, Jessica.