Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (REVIEW)

Written by Jacob Chimilar (@sweetlows)

After the not so appreciated Hot Rod hit theatres in 2007, The Lonely Island have returned to bring us Popstar, a music mockumentary revolving around Conner4Real played by Andy Samberg who is in the midst of promoting his sophomore album "Connquest" after his debut solo album "Thriller, Also" was a smash hit along with his time in The Style Boys before going solo and finds that with a bunch of yes men behind him and no input from his Style Boys members he has made an offensive flop and the documentary follows his struggles.

I enjoy The Lonely Island's music and it is by far the best part of the movie. I wish there was more of it in the movie but that is what the album is for. Samberg, Taccone and Shaffer are all great in their respective roles and the supporting cast are all up to par populated by a plethora of celebrities, working on SNL i'm sure helped land those appearances, Conner's chef being one of my favorites.

For a low budget R Rated comedy the cinematography and direction are excellent and it feels like a real concert film in that respect. The music like I said is great, as you would hope from a musical comedy. The comedy however is kind of hit and miss. There are a few good laughs here and there as well as plenty of jabs at the celebrity social media game, endorsements, over the top wedding proposals and TMZ (god that was good), but it rarely reaches the heights of hilarity. It kind of suffers from throwing every joke it can at you and some times the jokes drag a bit too long and other times they go so fast and jump around it is a tad disorienting. The premise is there ripe for jabbing and coming from The Lonely Island you expect them to be a bit more on point or absurd but it plays it a bit safe and goes for some easy laughs and almost just plays into the hands of a typical cheesy reality show without it being entirely funny while it's doing it. Look at something like Tropic Thunder for comparison and they just nailed the whiny washed up actor type of movie that Popstar couldn't quite hit all the time.  

That said I had a fun time, the jokes were consistently entertaining and funny. The music makes me wish The Lonely Island would go on tour because that would make for an amazing show if this movie is any indication. If you are a fan of The Lonely Island you will certainly enjoy yourself and I think non-fans will have a good time too, the gang certainly seemed. It's harmless and fun and worth watching and one that would be fun to put on every now and then but it's not quite the biting satire, non stop laugh riot it could have been. At the very least we get a new Lonely Island album out of the deal that is like a funny and weird concept album.