The laughs keep coming even when the music numbers and plot fall short in ‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’. This is the second film from YouTube comedy trio The Lonely Island (collaborators and ex high school buddies Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer). It’s a solid music mockumentary but it’s no ‘Spinal Tap’.
The story centres on Conner4Real (Samberg), a popstar and rapper who has risen to fame as part of a boy band, the Style Boyz (alongside Taccone and Schaffer), before going solo. After a massive debut album, Conner4Real’s follow-up is a dud, and all his fans – including cameoing powerhouses like Usher and A$AP Rocky – want is for Conner to reform the original band.
For the most part, the story serves as backdrop for a series of silly songs and appearances from comedians and musicians (a surprisingly up-for-it Mariah Carey has a self-mocking line early on that sets the tone). The tunes are fun, but it’s hard to believe any of them will become as big as The Lonely Island’s breakout hit ‘Dick in a Box’. Still, in a movie that deals almost exclusively in pals playing pop music and exposed penises, the boyish humour goes a long way. Just don’t expect this to go platinum.