Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) — Movie Review

This movie was on my watchlist for a long time. I like Andy Samberg and The Lonely Island and I was itching for a comedy, so I decided to finally give it a shot. Turned out to be a wise decision because Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) was a hilarious ride.

It satirizes the music industry the same way Tropic Thunder did with the film industry — not as ambitious or good, though. The comedic trio of The Lonely Island — Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone — play as a famous boyband who, in a traditional way, breaks up and goes solo with Samberg’s character Conner doing everything he can in his ego-dominated finite wisdom to maintain his celebrity lifestyle when his solo album flops. Running with this premise, the movie is a non-stop bombardment of satire mixing stupidity with wit and a core plot centred around friendship shot in a mockumentary style.

With a runtime of about 85 mins, the pacing is tight and fast only slowing down in crucial moments of emotional significance, which was handled properly. One of my favourite scenes was near the end when the friendship plot comes full circle and I certainly wouldn’t have enjoyed this movie to the level I did if it was just full of jokes and stupid fun. The comedy on a whole had a lot more hits than misses whether it was witty, stupid, offensive, crude, or any of the combinations. The movie also boasts a plethora of cameos from celebrities, most of whom are from the music industry and meshed well with the style of filmmaking.

Now, my experience with music is nowhere near the level of, say, films. I mention that because of that subjective element, I’m certain I missed references, nods and context that those who are bigger fans of music would probably not and get more enjoyment out of this.

Anyway, it’s a good solid comedy. Throughout, my mind couldn’t help but remind me of Tropic Thunder and while I enjoyed it on my first watch, that movie only got better with time upon revisits. I have a feeling this might share the same fate if only owing to the fact that there is a lot jam-packed in a short runtime. If you like comedies of such nature or if you like The Lonely Island or are a fan of Andy Samberg, I’d highly recommend it. And if I were to rate it, I’d give it a 7.5/10.