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Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025)

Rate: 7
Viewed: 3/26

SpTap2
3/26: Initially, I had no interest in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues because I didn't want to see old farts rocking and rolling.

That would be more depressing than the decline of the erstwhile loudest band in England as shown in This Is Spinal Tap, a movie I've seen so many times with more than 75% of the lines memorized. Recently, I picked up Rob Reiner's book called A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap and felt persuaded enough to see the sequel. By the way, it's cute that "II" in the title is represented by Stonehenge.

I have to say that Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, and Derek Smalls are back, but they're slower and not so quick-witted. At least, there are funny moments among lulls and lots of music. One of them is David St. Hubbins admitting to being insulted by Paul McCarthy even though his band didn't know whether to stand up or salute him when he first appeared in the recording studio. Another is when Elton John yelled, "Fuck Spinal Tap!" after the 1,000-pound Stonehenge replica fell on his legs, breaking them.

Many times, I had wondered if Spinal Tap were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. What a surprise they haven't been. Not that I care. Then, Simon proceeded to show the kind of museum they could have by looking at the model (amusing when everybody got scared of the miniature Stonehenge repeat): International House of Rock. Afterwards, David said, "I don't know why I keep wanting pancakes." That's because it sounds and looks like IHOP!

How about Simon suggesting that one of the band members should die in order to generate new sales? Or when somebody stupidly yelled, "Do Stonehenge!" while they're playing it? Only a brain-dead metal head would do that. There was a video during the concert that showed people going down a hill to chase a cheese roll. It's a tradition called "Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake" which takes place every April in Gloucester, England. Oh, whatever happened to that musical called Saucy Jack?

All in all, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues isn't as brilliant as the original, but it's worth watching once.