Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

Review

86min

Genre:       Comedy, Mockumentary, Music

Directors:   Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone

Cast:         Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer…and more

Writers:     Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer

-Synopsis-

Andy Samberg stars in a satirical music “mockumentary” featuring fellow members of pop parody group “The Lonely Island”, and a host of American pop & comedy stars; following the fortunes of a fictional yet eerily familiar young, moronic and self-unaware pop/rap megastar as he navigates the treacherous waters of super-stardom.

‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’ is the brainchild of American pop-parody trio The Lonely Island, comprised of writer/actors Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer; whose real life childhood friendship plays into the film’s narrative of successful Beastie Boys wannabes, who break up the band when Sandberg’s character “Conner” branches out into solo pop megastardom.

Using their own brand of hit & miss, absurdist “R-rated” comedy; The Lonely Island lads, who write as well as direct and star, craft a fake satirical fly-on-the wall style documentary, taking aim at the trappings of celebrity and the farcical behaviour of not only those in the middle of it, but the feeders around them and society as a whole.

Taking inspiration from pop-star behaviour past and present and with a not-so-subtle-focus on a certain self-crowned, meticulously coiffed Canadian “prince of pop”; ‘Popstar’ combines all the elements of successful mockumentaries and music-based comedies before it.

It’s also crammed with lewd humour, plenty of pop-culture references and a host of celebrity cameos; so if you’re over 35 or not in tune with what millennial are up to these days, that’s a huge chunk of the film which will do nothing for you.

Unsurprisingly the film features plenty of music with the 3 stars making good use of their talents for writing original and amusing pop/rap parody songs in the key of laugh. There are plenty of sexual references and even some social and political ones, not to mention the obligatory dick jokes, all working to pretty funny effect when combined with ridiculous over-the-top visuals which are only a slight exaggeration of what they’re satirizing.

If you’re thinking this sounds a lot like ‘This is Spinal Tap’ you would be right; every mockumentary of the last 30 years owes something to the 1984 Rob Reiner classic, but ‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’ recycles the entire core of that film, plus the basic structure and feel-good ending, into what is essentially a millennial pop version for a new generation.

Despite how farcical and over-the-top the film is, like any decent mockumentary it’s only a slight exaggeration of the truth; and that should tell you how detached from reality and surrounded by enabling “yes men” some of these music “icons” quickly become. Which in turn says even more about a society and parasitical media which feeds on their every move… not to mention the legions of adoring fans ready to defend their “martyrs” at any cost.

As always comedy is that most subjective of art-forms and if you’re not a fan of infantile, crude and deliberately silly comedy, then this film might not be for you. Even if you are, the laughs are not exactly non-stop; but the hit-to-miss ratio is better than most of The Lonely Island’s work and the film is slightly more than just an extended sketch or digital short for ‘Saturday Night Live’, a show for which the three stars wrote and performed.

Despite its flaws and derivative nature, this loud and flashy farce has plenty of outrageous humour and boasts some legitimate belly-laugh moments; while managing to say a little something about the ridiculous nature of celebrity culture and exposing the cringeworthy recesses of a modern society obsessed with it.

The one fatal flaw which ultimately makes ‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’ virtually pointless as a piece of satire though, is the notion that you can’t really make current pop and celebrity culture look any more ridiculous than it actually is; and conversely for a certain section of the audience on which the very notion of satire will be wasted, the film will probably seem like an aspirational comedy.

The Bottom Line…

An appropriately irreverent millennial pop ‘Spinal Tap’ which owes everything to the films which inspired it; ‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’ is flashy shallow satire, but one with hits which far outweigh the misses. Its stars and creators manage to craft a music mockumentary to delight a new generation, but with little appeal beyond it.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

The iconic rock comedy which truly launched a sub-genre; chronicling the misadventures of an inept, washed-up British metal band, as a camera-crew captures their hilarious attempts to reclaim past tour glories in this classic “Mockumentary” directed by Rob Reiner and created by its three stars.

Directed by Rob Reiner and starring Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer among others.

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