Title – Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

Director – Akiva Schaffer (Hot Rod) and Jorma Taccone (MacGruber)

Cast – Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, Sarah Silverman, Tim Meadows, Chris Redd, James Buckley, Joan Cusack, Imogen Poots

Plot – Music star Conner4real (Samberg) finds himself in an uphill battle to remain relevant after his latest studio album fails and calls for him to reunite with his estranged The Style Boyz boyband members Owen (Taccone) and Lawrence (Schaffer) grow by the day.

“Ever since I was born, I was dope”

Review by Eddie on 01/03/2017

In 2007 a small-scale comedy with little hype and eventual disappointing box office returns and reviews appeared on our cinema screens, that film was Hot Rod.

Featuring the trio of comedians that would eventually become a popular singing group known as Lonely Island, Hot Rod introduced Andy Samberg, Jorma Tacone and Akiva Schaffer to the world and while initially it seemed like the gangs feature film foray may’ve been a mistake, in the years to come Hot Rod has become one of the great cult films of recent memory and a beloved comedy staple that continues to be enjoyed today.

On the back of Hot Rod’s eventual success and the heights they’ve reached with Lonely Island, it’s a shame that many cinemagoers failed to jump on board with Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping as what we have here is a mockumentary look at modern day music and fame that could very well be our modern day take of This is Spinal Tap.

It’s a big call, and one that is perhaps overly optimistic but Popstar with its clever mix of industry lampooning, cast of colourful characters, downright hilarious faux songs and high percentage of joke success (even though the often immature and low common denominator humour will absolutely not be for everyone) certainly stands as one of recent memories best mainstream comedy films and a further win for the Lonely Island collective.

Recruiting a star studded ensemble that features cameos from a huge collection of stars both from the movie industry and music scene, led by Samberg as the self-absorbed Connor, the film offers the trope a great playground to deliver their large swag of jokes that are on consideration a lot deeper than you’d gather at first glance and with a near endless stream of content coming at the viewer, as was the case with Hot Rod and key to its lasting success, Popstar is a comedy that will likely continue to find wins on repeat viewings thanks to the various hidden jokes and references that may take keen eyed viewers a while to fully discover.

In a genre that has largely been floundering of recent years, Popstar against all the odds stands as an against all the odds shining robot headed beacon of the mainstream Hollywood comedy factory and a likely new favourite to many that will discover the film on home formats, just as Hot Rod did when Rod Kimble found his audience at home after an initial lacklustre reception.

4 sick turtles out of 5