Spinal Tap has a lot of famous friends, slightly fewer jokes in sequel trailer
There are a lot of distractions in the Spinal Tap II trailer, but Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer still seem to grasp these idiots pretty well.
We get a little nervous, honestly, when the trailer for a new sequel/revival/general nostalgia-based film or television project features a lot of material from the old works it’s building off of—something in ready abundance in the first trailer, released today, for Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. Yes, trailer, we do in fact remember the bit from 1984’s This Is Spinal Tapwhere the dials go to 11; what have you got for us today?
A whole lot of famous friends, is the immediate answer, as Spinal Tap II‘s trailer rolls out Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Questlove to remind us that musicians like This Is Spinal Tap, too. (McCartney gets to play the “pretending to think Tap are geniuses” game, talking to Rob Reiner’s Marty Di Bergi about the poetry of “Big Bottom,” while Questlove declines the chance to be the drummer for the band’s reunion show because “I don’t want to die.”)
Beyond these eye-catching elements, though, the trailer does give fans some of what will actually determine how well the movie works: Time spent with David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel, and Derek Smalls (or, as we know them in the real world, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer), who do, in fact seem to still have a strong grasp on rock’s dumbest semi-success story. Some of the more timely gags in the trailer are hit-or-miss—jokes about crypto and Stormy Daniels are going to age like beef on a sunny day—but the affable dopiness that all three comedy legends bring to their characters is still in ready evidence. (They’ve also brought in a couple of British comedy ringers to help round out the cast/jokes, including Chris Addison and Kerry Godliman.) (Bosh!) We might feel a little skeptical, but moments like Tufnel rocking out, full electric, with his quiet acoustic pub band, or McKean’s blithe idiocy as St. Hubbins, gives us a bit of hope that the film can capture some of the old magic.
