Review: Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

In a surprise to absolutely nobody, Spinal Tap II turns the nostalgia up to eleven. Fans of the original classic will love the trip down memory lane in a ninety minute nostalgia fest which doubles as a tribute and virtual highlights reel of the first film. The in-jokes and throwbacks come thick and fast, creating delight and genuine belly laughs as the cast join with the audience in celebrating the cult classic.

If you haven’t seen the first film, you’ll be left scratching your head as there’s nothing new here on offer. But who needs new? If you’re a Tap fan, you came to hear Big Bottoms, you came to see the 2025 version of Stonehenge. You came to see the cameos from Fran Drescher and Paul Schaffer. And you won’t leave disappointed.

You’ll delight in Nigel Tuffnell’s cheese and guitar shop. You’ll get to see who slept who who’s wife. You’ll get to see whether the new drummer survives. You’ll see Derek Smalls’ side hussle as a crypto spokesperson. The film almost doesn’t need a plot, which is lucky because the premise of the Tap reunion is flimsy at best and the storyline hardly matters in a film who’s purpose is to serve up another helping of what’s come before, not to get bogged down trying to add on to the narrative.

The cameos come thick and fast, but its the work of Paul McCartney and Elton John that really make the film something special. Watching a dead pan McCartney tell fictitious documentary maker Marty DeBergi why the band’s hit Big Bottom is "almost literature" is delicious, while Elton John’s contribution realy makes the film, while not overshadowing the real stars, Spinal Tap.

There’s a magic captured in the original film that is the essence of the music industry. Sure, it’s a band getting screwed over by a corporate machine, but they are having fun doing it and the movie perfectly captured the dichotomy of life on the road as a band and their interaction with the Bobby Fleckman world of major labels.

Fast forward to today and Spinal Tap II has avoided mission creep by not trying too hard to be relevant. The welcome modern touchpint was the catalyst for the band’s return— a TikTok resurgence based on a hilarious viral video of Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood doing a live version of Big Bottom. To the uninitiated the film could be seen to be lazy on plot. It nods to the jokes from the first movie, pays tribute to them but never tries to build anything new.

And that’s what you want from a film like this. Less a sequel and more a homage to the original, if you loved the first film you will get your money’s worth and then some. Predictable, but genuinely funny, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues never steps out of the shadow of the original. Thank God.