While most long-gestating movie sequels suffer from an over-reliance on nostalgia, This Is Spinal Tap 2 has never come to ... until now. Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer return as the original band , all of whom have fallen out and gone their separate ways, but are legally obliged to reunite for one final gig.
Hollywood is more reliant on sequels than ever before, and absolutely no franchise is sacred. Beetlejuice, Top Gun, Ghostbusters, Labyrinth and Bill & Ted have all been - or will be - resurrected after decades on ice. Though failure isn't guaranteed (Top Gun: Maverick is actually touted as an improvement upon the original), one overarching concern hangs over them all - nostalgia. All too often, sequels to decades-old classics contently retread old ground, relying on an audience's hazy lust for the past instead of finding something worth saying in the present.
This Is Spinal Tap 2 is the exception to that rule. Most movies returning after a 40-year absence would justifiably be dismissed as cynical cash-grabs, but Spinal Tap's lengthy big screen hiatus actually plays perfectly into the mockumentary-style setup and rock band subject matter. The rock & roll genre is packed with examples of aging bands who reunite when they should probably retire, embark on more than one "farewell tour," or play a comeback gig despite all the hating each other. Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen, and Mötley Crue can all slot into at least one of those categories. Arriving 40 years after the original, This Is Spinal Tap 2 sits perfectly poised to parody this very real phenomenon of historic rock bands trying to relive their glory days.
1984's This Is Spinal Tap lovingly poked fun at the stereotypes (most of them worryingly accurate) of a rock band in their prime through the 1980s - the excess, the ridiculousness, the squabbles. Because 40 years have ed, This Is Spinal Tap 2 can lovingly poke fun at the stereotypes of a rock band very much not in their prime - an aging, nearly-forgotten act desperately trying to remain relevant in a very alien world. Just the concept of Spinal Tap trying to peddle their brand of hard rock in the 2020s is hilarious. Can Derek Smalls still fit into his costume? Is cranking out "Big Bottoms" really a good idea in a society more attuned to misogyny? And will four decades of bad blood erupt when the boys get on stage? So many genuine rock bands have been in this exact position over the years, This Is Spinal Tap 2 is blessed with a wealth of material to parody - material that's completely different from the first movie.
Generally, film sequels releasing 40 years after the original struggle to avoid the tempting pit of nostalgia. This Is Spinal Tap 2 will struggle to avoid become a scathing commentary on nostalgia. As the aging Spinal Tap reunites to find their also-aging fan base more interested in hearing "Tonight, I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" for the thousandth time than witnessing new material, and as the band grapples with whether or not they're still relevant in the 2020s, fans and rockstars alike will find the skits just as painfully accurate as This Is Spinal Tap was back in 1984.
