OBSERVER: Rourke’s Reviews
Spinal Tap II : The End Continues
(M). 83 minutes. Opens in cinemas September 25.
Blessedly not as bad as one might have been expecting, this belated sequel to the 1984 cult classic doesn’t come close to hitting the heights of the original.
The main players are back; band members David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) and film-maker Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner), while newcomers are new manager Hope Faith (Kerry Godliman), promoter Simon Howler (Chris Addison) and new drummer Didi (Valerie Franco). The group, who haven’t played together in 15 years, have to do a reunion concert due to contractual obligation, in New Orleans of all places.
Frictions still remain, but an underlying friendship does keep them going.
The original creative team gently makes fun of the current stream of belated sequels, legacy tours and stars who believe they are ageless, while also knowingly relying on that sense of nostalgia that will bring the 1984 film’s fans back.
They walk a very fine line, but the end result is mildly amusing (Elton John’s performance is clunky, however), and should send most fans out with a smile on their face, even if they don’t feel fully satisfied.
RATING – ***
The Long Walk
(MA). 108 minutes. Now showing in cinemas.
The first of two Stephen King dystopian stories to come to the big screen screen this year (the other being The Running Man), this adaptation of the prolific author’s 1979 novel proves to be a surprising success, thanks to a talented cast and crew who are largely able to overcome the potentially cinematically inert premise.
Set in a non-specific time, the story, set in a US structural collapse after a major war (which is never named), centres on an annual game where fifty young men
are chosen to ‘participate’ in a televised game where they have to walk until there is only one left.
If contestants fall below three mph, or stop or stumble for any reason, they are given a warning from the small group of soldiers accompanying them.
After three warnings, the person is shot dead, so there is no room for failure.
Overseeing the walkers is The Major (Mark Hamill), delivering the kind of distorted support and patriotic speeches that is sadly being heard around the world. The two main contestants the script concentrates on are Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) and Peter McVries (David Jonsson), whose growing friendship has a ripple effect on those around them, but in very different ways. Though some of the dialogue and elements make it obvious King wrote the novel in the 1970\s (he apparently began writing it in
the late 60s), J.T. Mollner’s screenplay does well enough setting up characters and environment, though some may criticise him for stripping things down a little too much.
Francis Lawrence, who helmed multiple entries in the Hunger Games franchise, as well as the underrated Constantine, thankfully presents the scenario with more dramatic weight, and is allowed to be grim and graphic in the treatment and fate of the young walkers.
Helped by a first-rate technical crew, Lawrence is able to present the dour landscape in impressive fashion. Anchoring it all are two excellent performances from Hoffman and Jonsson, who bring a genuine humanity to the material, and are backed by a solid supporting cast, including Ben Wang and Charlie Plummer, while Hamill makes the most of his deliberately showy role.
The Long Walk will not be for everyone, as so much is inevitably fatalistic, but it presents a time, place and mindset that is sadly relevant, based on a book published almost 50 years ago.
This would make a terrific double bill with Kinji Fukasaku’s potent 2000 film, Battle Royale.
RATING – ****
The Bad
Guys 2
(PG). 105 minutes. Now showing in cinemas.
After the middling first film went on to become a box-office hit, the Bad Guys are back, and this much more confident sequel is definitely a step up, with sharper humour, a better plot, and a larger, more interesting gallery of characters.
The voice cast are all in good form, the animation is great, while the material successfully keeps young and old entertained, even if the film ends up running a little too long.
RATING – ***
Aaron Rourke