Spinal Tap 2 Thoughts

There's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all.

There's a moment in This is Spinal Tap (1984) where Nigel and David are called by Derek into a room to hear an very old song of theirs (Cups and Cakes) being played on the radio. A moment that brings them great joy - a reminder of a very happy past. When the song finishes, however, the DJ comments, "The Thamesmen later changed their names to Spinal Tap they had a couple of B-side hits they are currently residing in the 'where are they now' file". This stomach punch of a moment seems to break both Nigel and David as it's another reminder that no one cares. They're on a tour that is failing week after week. Cancellations are piling up, gigs and audiences are becoming harder and harder to come by, and their own relationship is fracturing. It's a sober look into the eyes of failure.

After seeing Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues, I can't stop thinking about Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues. About why it really, really doesn't work, and the reason it doesn't work is that there is no struggle in Spinal Tap 2, no failure, and no difficult moments like that. Everything for the most part, just works out fine, apart from the very end, in a joke that is so telegraphed that it is essentially wearing a post office hat.

The 1984 original is packed full of comedy threads that are pulled in all sorts of directions. Moments both large and small. There's an overbearing narrative happening - the album "Smell the Glove" for instance. Will it ever come out? Will the cover ever be seen? They all have cold sores they picked up somewhere. Ian is clearly out of his depth handling a dying band. The tour, as I mentioned, is also dying a slow death. David's wife has inserted herself into the world, and made an already big issue, into a friendship splitting one. Everything is heading towards an inevitable and sad end.

In Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues, they find out they need to play one more gig, and Ian's daughter Hope (a largely redundant Kerry Godliman) has to get the boys back together to play the gig, and after weeks of rehearsal, they do. That's it. That's as far as it goes. Threads are pulled out in terms of conflicts and problems, but more often than not, they are never returned to or resolved. Chris Addison plays a manager who hovers around the periphery hinting at potential problems via baggy improv, but that all suddenly comes to a halt in the weirdest way and he's never seen again. Nigel and David have a cold relationship when it suits - and really feels like that was something decided upon when they started, but the reason why also feels like they thought "we'll come up with that later", but when it arrives it feels exactly as half-arsed as that.

There's so much here that feels like it could have been improved with another pass. Marti DiBergi for instance. What's he been doing since the first film? Could we mine some jokes from that? Maybe he did a Sharknado type film recently? Or another advert that everyone hates? Nope. He's just back, and he still has the same cap, and we never hear where he's been. Things like that happen in nearly every scene and I just found myself sitting there thinking that I could see where the joke is going, and how it would be so much better with some further tinkering, or a little subversion, but it just all feels very safe, and worst of all, like one of those Comic Relief reunion specials that Richard Curtis seems like enjoy.

The biggest problem of all, however, is that everyone, and I mean everyone, is a fan of Spinal Tap now. Even Paul McCartney and Elton John. Not only do they love the band, they know how to play the songs, too. In Elton's case, he wants to play a big number with them live. Moments like these are where the colour runs out of the film. There's no failure like comedic failure, and in Tap 2, there's no failure at all. Surely the funnier way to take it is for Elton John to think they are a joke - or for Paul McCartney to have no idea who they are? But in this new world, they're essentially a very successful and beloved band, and that's where it lost me.

While it's nice to hang out with these silly lads again, and there are some funny moments (mostly in the end credits), it feels so utterly and quite literally, pointless.