About the Author: Jennifer Upton is an American (non-werewolf) writer/editor in London. Her latest book is Japanese Cult Cinema: Best of the Second Golden Age. She runs the podcast Cinema Junction and writes for Horror & Sons and Drive-in Asylum. She regularly appears on the podcasts Japan on Film, Making Tarantino, Making Scorsese, The Rad Revivalhouse and contributes essays to Cinemaforce. For links to her work, please visit https://www.jennuptonwriter.com or follow her on Instagram @jennxlondon. 

There was an intimacy about this film that felt familiar, having volunteered for a few years in a London music charity shop run by a retired punk star. I have witnessed firsthand the conversations about gear and chord progressions between old guys wearing leopard print shirts and eyeliner. I have seen men in their 70s hit on women in their 20s. I have heard the passive-aggressive slights and accusations of events long passed – “I still owe the manager money for a limo ride I took in 1978.” 

I have even been asked for a long rope to tie around an aging guitarist’s waist to “keep him from wandering off before the gig.”  Therefore, everything in Spinal Tap 2 felt real to me, but not real enough. More like a subdued version of reality created by comfortable people living comfortable lives in Los Angeles who have completely lost touch with what it means to be in an aging band that enjoyed only marginal success in their heyday. 

Perhaps if Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer had visited the little shop in Camden, the trio would have had better material for this movie. Nigel’s cheese shop was cute, but none of the three men had turned into the absolute lunatics they probably should have. None of them did a stint in rehab? Really? None of them had a younger trophy wife whose face is pulled taut from too much plastic surgery?  A Jane’s Addiction-style shoving match? Not a single failed reality show between the three? This film was filled with missed opportunities like that. All perfect fodder was ignored in favor of a safer, cozier movie. 

It’s a pleasant 82 minutes, to be sure. But, in no way does this film measure up to the greatness of its predecessor. Anyone who has seen their favorite band in their twilight years will know that the very act of buying a ticket to Spinal Tap 2 perfectly captures what it means to be an aging fan of an aging band. Or to be an aging fan of an aging comedy troupe playing an aging band. It really doesn’t matter what they do, so long as they play the hits. Our love for these characters, along with the film’s charm and warmth, is based on the feelings we all have for the original film. Nothing they can do at this point, short of killing one off, would ruin their legacy. 

The plot revolves around a one-off reunion gig to take place in New Orleans. They find a new drummer and begin rehearsals. The reunion gig ends in disaster, as one would expect, brought about by yet another small technical detail overlooked. That’s pretty much it. The film’s success rests solely on the shoulders of the cast, who slip back into these characters easily, sprinkling in a few new great lines, such as “Is he coming toward us?” following the Blue Man’s drummer audition. 

The celebrity cameos by Lars Ulrich, Chad Smith and Sir Paul McCartney felt wasted, while Sir Elton John brought the film its biggest laugh. He genuinely looked like he was enjoying himself, while it felt like Lars had slotted in his Zoom call between his daily Starbucks run and sending out copyright violations to fans sharing his music online. 

I could never fully accept that Spinal Tap was a Rob Reiner film; instead, I choose to judge that and this film within the canon of Christopher Guest’s mockumentary body of work. Spinal Tap 2 will not be revered in the way Spinal Tap, Best in Show or Waiting For Guffman all are. Those films are classics—the building blocks of just about every television comedy that aired in the 2000s. But Tap 2 is still a lot better than For Your Consideration, a film I found profoundly bitter and unfunny.

Go see Spinal Tap 2 if you are a fan. Otherwise, wait for streaming and watch it while you’re waiting in the online queue for your favorite band’s latest reunion gig to kill the time.