Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025)

[Frayed Knot]

As you may have already suspected (I know I did) the sub-title of this sequel is the funniest thing about it.

But it was on HBO this past week so why not. Plus they were smart enough to slot the original (which I hadn't seen in years) right before it so you could watch

the two back to back.

I tend to ignore/dislike sequels* as a rule, so maybe I'm not the best to comment here. But this one is mostly warned-over jokes from the classic original plus

a bunch of age-related quips along with pointless cameos (Paul, Elton) thrown in.

It's not that this flick is totally without substance or chuckles. But there aren't enough of them and, in general, it just lacks the originality of the first one

and so just about everything they try here sounds old and/or tired.

Plus it's weird seeing Rob Reiner/Marti DiBergi so soon after his tragic/violent death.

* If I dislike a movie I, of course, don't want to see a second version of it.

And if I like a movie I'm always afraid that a sequel is going to detract from its predecessor (ie. I'd have much better memories of ROCKY had Stallone's

character not gone on to fight everyone short of RAMBO in god knows how many sequels, aka: I don't want to see CASABLANCA II

[cal sharpie]

Pretty much totally agree. I saw it before Rob Reiner’s death so there wasn’t that queasiness. A few of the “what they’ve been up to inbetween” bits worked but overall nothing special.

Also agree re sequels: I never watch ‘em plus the kind of movies that are naturals for sequels I rarely see in the first place.

[Edgy MD]

The legacy sequel — returning to revisit (and perhaps do a soft reboot of) a property a generation or two after the prior film — is more than a sequel. It is a cry for help from an industry at sea without a paddle.