Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

The recursiveness may be the most striking aspect of this production. While parodying the idea of it not necessarily being a good idea for an over- the-hill band to do a reunion concert, these guys make a movie … as an over the hill group of comedians getting back together to do a sequel. Hmm. The good news is, this outing is not the kind of disaster that inevitably follows the fictional rockers around … but it isn’t exactly a triumph reminiscent of the original movie, either. There are good bits in here, mostly during scenes where the participants offer some fresh gags and wry remarks rather than rehashes of the first film’s notes. That’s a fine line, of course; they couldn’t possibly have made this sequel without referring back to at least some of the earlier material, so they can hardly be blamed for echoing previous jokes. Still, the viewer can help but get the sense that the principal creators didn’t quite trust their own abilities to really let loose and come up with entirely fresh pieces of funny. Maybe they were just tired; if nothing else, this flick shows the impact of age catching up to you. That condition especially comes through in the musical performances, which are uneven throughout. More encouraging is the support the core group gets from the guest stars, Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John in particular; both are quite funny in their cameos. All together, this work is something short of what one might have expected or hoped for, but the movie does deliver enough new laughs and nostalgic moments that it certainly isn’t anything to be ashamed of. These banshees still live, and they do (sorta) live well. 

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

I'm not sure about this. This movie and its predecessor seem to want to be a looser, updated version of James Bond, and in some ways it pulls that off. It's got all the action--in spades--the gadgetry, the humor, the 'save the world' trope...it's all in place, and I can't really say it's not entertaining. And once again, the filmmakers have a certain amount of political insight where they try to deliver a satirical but somewhat cogent point. All well and good. But--and it's a huge 'but'--there are problems here, too. The combination of sophisticated and crude will clash a bit too much for some viewers. This film (and this applies to the previous entry, too) relies almost obsessively on long action sequences that are heavy on visual and camera gymnastics: stuff that looks good at first, but gets tedious after a while, despite the director's obvious love affair with his own shot-making cleverness. And, in addition to being crude, this outing is also remarkably violent; only the John Wick movies are a match for the violence displayed here, and those flicks are substantially darker in tone. This is almost like "playful psychopathy" here--which isn't always funny and entertaining. Toning it down a bit would probably make for a better movie--though I wouldn't count on seeing that in the seemingly inevitable third installment.