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REVIEW — “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”

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Full disclosure, your enjoyment of “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” entirely relies on your knowledge of pop culture, and the state of the music industry today. It features a ton of in jokes surrounding celebrity cameos, but also weighs in a lot of reliance of modern age technology. A friend told me that the film probably won’t age well, due to how many plot points are reliant on mass social media spreading on apps/sites like Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc; but I think all of this adds more to the film. 1984’s “This is Spinal Tap” is a pretty dated mockumentary that was a statement on the state of the music industry in that day and age, and it still holds its own. “Popstar” explores how artistry has been lost in an age of instant gratification, easier mixing/tuning, and a culture that is so quick to move to the next best thing.. and it kind of captures it perfectly?

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I’m not going to sit here and pretend like this film is some deep statement on the industry, but I do think that it explores some interesting topics and makes good use of its mockumentary style. That being said, I feel like most people won’t care much about any of that and just want to know if the film is funny, and to that I answer with an overwhelming YES. If you’re not a fan of “The Lonely Island,” or Samberg’s core SNL-based humor, you won’t enjoy this. If you are a fan, like I am, I think you’ll be in heaven. The editing is rampant with both absurd and hilarious inclusions of humor, and it catches you completely off guard; it pays off incredibly well. Hell, even the music in this is genuinely well written and damn’ catchy. I’ve been listening to “Finest Girl” all week.
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I’d also love to know how exactly they got so many damn’ cameos in this thing. Are half of these just Samberg’s friends who owe him a favor? None of these people feel entirely out of reach, but the sheer quantity of cameos nearly compete with every season of “Entourage” combined. I do feel like they were put to good use, as each of them is hysterical and used to their full potential, but they also add to the fast paced and crowded nature of the film, and how Conner (Samberg) is just the “it” guy of the century. In that regard, it makes sense that he would know all the successful music legends, and they’d look at him like some sort of messiah to the music industry.
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The film isn’t entirely without its faults. It does drag out a few gags that weren’t as funny as I think Samberg and co. believed they were, and I think they could’ve gone out of their way to make this a little more accessible to modern audiences, as opposed to people who are really in the mix in what culture and social media is today. That being said, I found a lot to love here. I laughed pretty much from start to finish, admired what it was trying to say, and actually found its message about friendship and artistry to be oddly endearing. It works incredibly well when you know exactly what you’re going into, and as someone who did, I sort of loved it. I recommend you to do the same! 4/5.

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