"Spice World"
A Review by Ryan Kohler
Why do people hate the Spice Girls? What exactly have they done wrong, other than perhaps offend the Fashion Police? So what if they are not "great" singers---they ain't singing opera, folks, its pop music! Who exactly IS a "great" singer?
Judging by that opening paragraph it is obvious that I like the Spice Girls. They do what they do--sing some catchy tunes--and they do it pretty well. They are able to carry that into their first film, "Spice World". "Spice World" certainly isn't a great filmgoing experience. . . what it is what the Spice Girls are all about: fun, songs, and a lot of "Girl Power!"
Drawing from a number of different films (like the Beatles' "Hard Day's Night") "Spice World" chronicles the week heading up to the Girls' first concert at London's Albert Hall. They get to tool around London in a big ol' bus (driven by Meat Loaf!) and generally have fun. In order to through a semblence of plot into the film, there is an evil tabloid publisher played by Barry Humphries, better known to Americans, for about 15 minutes, as Dame Edna (remember her?) He wants to sabotage the Girls' concert so he can sell papers.
Of course, the point in a movie like "Spice World" isn't plot. The center of the film is the Spice Girls themselves: Ginger (the recently departed Geri Haliwell), Posh (Victoria Adams), Sporty (Melanie Chisolm), Scary (Melanie Brown), and Baby (Emma Bunton). Each one has their own personality and, perhaps the best part of the film, look like they are having some honest-to-goodness fun, something that can't be said for a lot of people in films today.
Along for the ride are Richard E. Grant as their manager, Clifford, and various other characters making quick cameo appearances (including teriffic British actors like Richard Briers and Stephen Fry). And, every once and a while, Roger Moore pops up as The Chief to spout odd koans (added bonus: he gets to, in the words of Craig Kilborn, dance, dance, dance.)
Watching this film was fun, for the most part. There are a few slow segments, but overly, director Bob Spiers keeps things moving at a quick pace, with plenty of hummable Spice Girls songs in the background. His camerawork is fairly pedestrian, though the final concert number is done quite well with effective use of editing.
The look of the film promotes the high fun, with the design of the SpiceBus being quite original and eye-catching. Add in wall-to-wall Spice Girls music and this film is lovable romp. If you don't like the Spice Girls, you won't change your mind with this film. But, if you find them at least tolerable, get ready to sit back and chill because the Spice Girls are here to entertain you. . . and do it QUITE well.
Rating (out of 4.0): 3.25
"Spice World" (1998). Directed by Bob Spiers. Written by Kim Fuller. Music by the Spice Girls. With Geri Halliwell, Victoria Adams, Melanie Chisolm, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Richard E. Grant, Claire Rushbrook, Roger Moore. Distributed by Columbia Pictures. Running time: 92 minutes. Rated: PG. Available on Home Video. ---- 29 June 1998
Visit my Film Review Multiplex: http://pages.prodigy.com/XWKZ01B/index.htm
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews