Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Ridiculously underrated. Despite not doing good box office numbers, it remains a hilarious movie

Look, I love Andy Samberg. But, his comedy just didn't carry the movie far enough for it to be good. But, I will say this movie is good to just watch with friends and not pay much attention to. But sitting down to watch it is just eh.

I truly was expecting more out of this movie. Based on Andy Samberg's strong recent outputs in Brooklyn 99 his performance was a little light in this film. Although packed with cameos, it was a derivative and scripted. I do admit certain parts had me chuckling. The song parodies are still strong and a highlight of the movie, but the plot was easily discernible. I realize that heavy plot twists were not expected in an offering of this type, but a good story is still a good story and it lacked in this aspect. Any Lonely Island fans might enjoy the music and a few light guffaws. I still prefer Samberg in "Hot Rod" over this film.

I am not in the target audience for "Popstar", as I am a guy in my 50s who has no interest in rap or anything written after about 1985. So, the fact that I enjoyed this is something...isn't it?!

In many ways, this film is very much like "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" as well as "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby"....along with a heaping helping of pop music and rap. Just like Ricky Bobby, Conner (Andy Samberg) goes from the top of the game to total loser very quickly...and only by learning humility and appreciating his friends can he once again be on top. And, like "Walk Hard", it's a mockumentary about the music industry...and it's very crude at times and has some genitalia. It is NOT a film for kids, that's for sure!

Overall, it's a clever an perceptive film...making fun of the stupid antics MANY modern musicians engage in as well as tickling your funny bone in the process. Enjoyable and worth seeing...provided you are an adult and have a relatively high threshold for the offensive.

The excessive world of modern pop is so soulless and pretentious, it's ripe picking for drama. The mental breakings of stars like Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and others show an inherent flaw in how human beings are turned into oblivious money-making commodities, and then unceremoniously spit-out when their glimmer dies. Popstar, the brain child of the YouTube-turned-SNL stars The Lonely Island, touches on these things enough, but mostly it's just fantastic jokes. A timely and lightning-fast musical mockumentary, I could barely catch my breath from laughing. The story works as a parallel to the careers of the three Lonely Island guys themselves. Conner4Real (Samberg) is an international popstar who has grown beyond the popularity of his two Style Boyz partners (Taccone, Schaffer). While it uses that parallel effectively, it never becomes overbearing. Instead what shines are the original songs, a staple of these guys past endeavors, including their groundbreaking "SNL Digital Shorts" segments. Each one is an instant classic (i.e. "I'm So Humble", "Things in My Jeep"), played ridiculously as if they have influenced real musicians, many of whom make hilarious cameos. For those of you old enough to remember the comedy classic "Spinal Tap", this format may seem somewhat familiar. However, a distractingly blatant rip-off this is not. It uses its 30-year separation as a way to point out the modern massive difference between actual artistic influence and silly cultural nostalgia that permeates the musical landscape. And while it doesn't quite reach Spinal-Tap-heights of greatness, if you're looking for a perfect friends-night-out, this is a comedy you will be happy to visit and revisit over and again.