Rob Reiner’s long-awaited sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues reunites the original cast and a string of high-profile cameos but, according to a review by Brian Viner, struggles to match the comic precision of the 1984 mockumentary classic and "falls a bit flat." While the film offers moments of amusement and the principals return convincingly as worn rock veterans, Viner found the laughs fewer and the tone more strained than in the original.
Spinal Tap II follows the fictional band as they attempt a reunion concert 15 years after a crippling rift, reuniting Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), David St Hubbins (Michael McKean) and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer). Rob Reiner reprises his role as the guileless interviewer Marty DiBergi, and the plot sends Nigel to a cheese-and-guitar shop in Berwick-upon-Tweed while David composes hold-music in California and Derek runs a glue museum in London. The film mines familiar riffs — literal and figurative — and includes cameo turns from Paul McCartney and Elton John, but Viner judged that the sequel often "strains and gurns to be funny," crossing the line from clever parody into broader, less subtle territory.
Viner highlighted a handful of sharp one-liners and situational gags — a New Orleans venue found after the cancellation of an event titled An Evening With Stormy Daniels, rehearsals in a house said to be haunted by Fats Domino and Louis Armstrong, and playful echoes of the original’s Stonehenge joke — but said the frequency and impact of those moments do not match the original's sustained comic invention. He singled out Chris Addison’s promoter character, Simon Howler, as a performance that “grates more than it amuses,” and noted a narrative beat in which Howler suggests a publicity-maximising death during the reunion, a conceit that illustrates the sequel’s tendency to push satire to excess rather than sharpen it.
Viner also reviewed several other new releases. The Long Walk, directed by Francis Lawrence and adapted from Stephen King’s early novel published under the Richard Bachman pseudonym, was described as a "blisteringly nasty" dystopian thriller. Set in a near-future authoritarian United States, the film stages an endurance contest in which young men must maintain a minimum walking speed or face lethal consequences. Viner praised performances from Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson and noted a striking turn from Mark Hamill as the ruthless officer overseeing the contest, while characterising the film’s tone as brutal and unrelenting.
The third Downton Abbey film, subtitled The Grand Finale, drew mixed but largely affectionate attention. Viner noted the movie is dedicated to Dame Maggie Smith, whose character died in the previous film, and that the production reflects other cast changes: Jim Carter’s Mr. Carson is retiring and Lesley Nicol’s Mrs. Patmore also leaves service. He argued that the franchise’s films tend to compress full television seasons into two-hour features and described the new installment as lacking a strong, singular plot, yet delivering familiar comforts for longtime viewers who appreciate the series’ atmosphere and ensemble dynamics.
Among smaller releases, Islands, set at a resort hotel on Fuerteventura, received attention as a slow-moving psychological drama. Sam Riley plays a long-serving tennis coach whose dissolute routine is disrupted by a bickering English couple and a missing-persons investigation. Viner called the film slow but effective, noting director Jan-Ole Gerster’s tendency to toy with narrative expectations and red herrings. The Golden Spurtle, a documentary about the world porridge-making championships in a Scottish Highland village, was singled out as a joyous celebration of eccentricity and awarded high marks for its charm.
Not every new title impressed. The Man in My Basement, featuring Willem Dafoe and Corey Hawkins, was criticised for a convoluted plot and overwrought dialogue; Viner wrote that the acting was competent but that he had lost interest before the film concluded.
All of the films reviewed are now in cinemas. Viner’s assessment positions Spinal Tap II as a reunion with respectful nods to its predecessor and memorable cameo moments, but ultimately a sequel that arrives short of the comic benchmark set by This Is Spinal Tap in 1984. Other releases in the week provide a mix of dystopian intensity, nostalgic serial comfort and smaller-scale curiosities, giving audiences a range of choices across genres.