masonsaul

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is a worthwhile comedy sequel that has some gaps between really successful jokes but it still has plenty of them overall. It's a loving return with all the expected absurdity contained in another efficiently brief run time. There's a few fun cameos from music legends to counterbalance the incredibly brief appearances from original supporting cast members which feel pointless.

Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer & Michael McKean retain their endearingly awkward rapport. Chris Addison and Kerry Godliman are wonderful new additions who match the film's energy like their predecessors did. Returning director Rob Reiner brings the same lovable energy in his performance and his direction still understands how to be a mockumentary with the best decision being to keep the film going throughout the credits again.

Rush Hour 3 wastes no time getting the plot going, runs out of steam in the middle and then regains its footing towards the end. An incredibly predictable plot and reliance on franchise formula is counterbalanced by the same winning humour that's delivered consistently enough, especially in the bloopers which remain the best part. Despite being the most recent entry, this has actually aged the worst out of the trilogy.

Jackie Chan & Chris Tucker can still sustain their vital and highly entertaining comedic rapport, even if Chris Tucker is wandering into self parody at this point. It is annoying that the film tries to put their relationship on shakier ground however, it never hurts their chemistry or detract from the fun scenarios they find themselves in. Hiroyuki Sanada could've been a standout villain but ends up being wasted with minimal screen time.

Brett Ratner's direction is so lackluster thanks to a distracting reliance on bad CGI which is all the more frustrating because the budget for this one is the biggest of the three. Jackie Chan's stunt work continues to be impressive when it's utilised but those moments are few and far between in comparison to what came before. The film seriously needed more stunt work uninterrupted by CGI so the comedy didn't have to do so much of the heavy lifting.

This is Spinal Tap is a fun mockumentary with a winning, unwaveringly straight faced commitment to its absurdity. There's some quotable dialogue, a particularly strong running joke about exploding drummers and memorable songs all contained in a highly efficient 82 minute run time that doesn't waste a minute. Overall, the best humour is a bit front-loaded but it never runs out of steam completely, even during the end credits.

Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer are great because they wholeheartedly imbue their lovably misguided characters and everyone else (including director Rob Reiner) does a good job matching the main three's relaxed energy. Their performances are enhanced further by Rob Reiner's direction and especially Peter Smokler's cinematography absolutely nailing the documentary style of the film.