Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

[CJohn]

Discuss it

[Jay Beezy]

While the elephant scene in The Brothers Grimsby will be the funniest scene of the year, this will probably be the funniest overall comedy of the year when all is said and done.

[Webslinger]

It's a guilty pleasure if ever there was one. Given the cinematic track record of the members of The Lonely Island behind the camera - the hit-and-miss MacGruber and the mostly horrifically unfunny Hot Rod - I went into Popstar with some hesitation, even despite the surprisingly strong critical reviews. The final product may be paper-thin in substance, but it's consistently funny and doesn't wear out its welcome. The songs are funny (at times hysterically so, and reminiscent of the work that the group did for SNL digital shorts during Andy Samberg's time on the show), Samberg's over-the-top portrayal of the egotistical musician of the title has just the right doses of vain hollowness and occasional hidden depths to register well with viewers, and the jokes come at such a quick clip that another laugh isn't too far away if a gag bombs.

 

B

[Empire]

I saw it today & I was pretty much laughing from star to finish! I love Andy Samberg & Lonely Island's style of comedy, so I am not surprised I enjoyed it so much! Funniest movie of the year so far and honestly one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time! All the songs were hilarious and I liked that is was done in a documentary style as I really enjoyed all the talking head parts! Might even be my favorite movie of the year so far! With that said, I can easily see why somebody could hate it if this is the style of comedy they prefer. 

 

[Ezen Baklattan]

Absolutely hysterical. The Lonely Island goes all out with its frentic, gloriously stupid, and borderline surreal humor with their simple yet clever satire and a somewhat meta breakdown of The Lonely Island itself. The slight verge into more traditional narrative towards the climax is a bit distracting from the loose mockumentary feel, but the laughs keep coming from start to finish. 

 

 

[MrPink]

Equal Rights and CMZ bits had me in stitches. Totally spot on.

[Water Bottle]

A pretty funny comedy! Not all of the jokes landed but enough did that I was laughing consistently. Surprising amount of heart.

 

B+

[That One Girl]

One of the funniest movies I've ever seen.  See this movie now and you will get major laughs from start to finish.

 

10/10 or A+

[SteveJaros]

Was fortunate enough to catch "Popstar: Never stop Never stopping" in the theater today. I say fortunate because (a) this film has flopped badly so won't be around for long, and (b) it's pretty darn funny!

Andy Samberg does a fine job playing the Justin Bieber character. Other SNL alumni are equally effective in various roles as managers, ex-bandmates, DJs, and sundry other hangers-on who indulge his whims. The film also boasts loads of celebrity cameos. Whoever made the film knows a lot of people and they called in their chits. Mariah Carey and Snoop are particularly effective. Ringo Starr (!!) is too. What is surprising is that the comedy gags revolve around obviously ridiculous aspects of modern pop fame that we are all familiar with - social media screwups, manufactured hits, product endorsements, egomaniacal posturing - and yet more times than not they score their mark anyway. And beneath all the surface bling, the film has a heart, and the directors are wise enough to end this long before it can overstay its welcome. I was entertained.

Really, "Popstar" is a 2016 "Spinal Tap". It's about that clever and endearing.

[filmlover]

This is the silliest movie I've encountered in a very, very long time but Popstar manages to avoid overstaying its welcome by remaining brisk and often hilarious throughout its brief running time. The movie throws so many attempts at humor out there that some of the jokes are destined to land, but fortunately the hit-to-miss ratio is mostly in favor of the former. B

[The Panda]

I saw this in a sold out crowd in an Alamo Drafthouse, and this was utterly hysterical. The movie hits you hard at the start and then never stops never stopping with the laugh riots. 

 

The he film is a great deconstruction of the modern Popstar, and is also a wildly hilarious never-ending sketch that works.  While there isn't much substance beyond the bear laughs and "in your face" moments, the movie works on a What We Do in the Shadows level (albeit, the humor isn't quite as clever and biting as that ones.)

 

While I did feel as if the movie dragged on a little bit too long, it'd be difficult to go into this film and not get some enjoyment out of it.  This would be a contender for best comedy of the year, if it wasn't for the fact that this has been a great year for comedies so far (Zootopia, Deadpool, The Nice Guys, Hail Caesar! to name the other highlights so far).  

 

B+

[baumer]

I pretty much echo the same thoughts as everyone else.  Absurd and fucking hilarious.  So many cameos, so much hilarity, so much raunch.  Pretty much loved most of it.

 

8.5/10

[somebody85]

Quite a few really funny scenes and filled with a ton of star power. It sagged the most during some of the performances (especially the final one) when it began to feel like a giant Lonely Island music video. Some of the strongest stuff was the send up of the music industry. The TMZ gag fell flat though.

B

[Goffe]

I don't remember the last time I saw a comedy this unfunny. The CMZ bits got a few chuckles, but that'a .

[Blankments]

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is a clever morsel of a comedy. Effectively skewering the band documentary, it hits all the right notes to be appropriately funny. A few of the songs are hilarious, and Tim Meadows is consistently great in it. Sadly, it does not entirely escape the legacy of the band documentary, falling to the same pacing and repetition issues of many of them. Overall, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is fun, but feels much longer than the rather short runtime it has, a somewhat fatal flaw for a comedy. C+