“I like to kick it/I’m a karate guy.”
That’s the refrain from fictitious pop band The Style Boyz’s hit “Karate Guy.” At first glance, it’s a pretty funny bit of nonsense. But listen to the track during The Lonely Island’s latest movie, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, and something weirdly natural happens: it gets stuck in your head. Before you know it, you’re sitting down to write a movie review humming about how you like to kick it because you’re a karate guy.
And that’s pop, right? Those thoughtless earworms, made to be enjoyed by your mind whether you like it or not. Popstar, sets out to take down the modern-day celebrity, especially pop stars, and they do that in part by creating songs like “Karate Guy” that are so clever they could legitimately pass for a hit in the genre if you just don’t think about the lyrics too much. But then again, that’s advice that should be followed for most of what tops the national charts these days.
“Just don’t think about it too much” is a phrase that also applies to many comedies. And yes, The Lonely Island has certainly created mindless, silly things in the past and there are more than just shades of that in Popstar. But at its heart this is a strong, biting satire, a commentary on modern day celebrity and celebrity culture that puts everything from TMZ to Tyler, the Creator to USA Today in its crosshairs.
Andy Samberg, Jorma Tacome and Akiva Shaffer wrote the movie together, with Tacome and Shaffer teaming up to direct. Samberg, arguably the most recognizable face of the three, takes on the star role of Mr. 4 Real. Connor is a Bieber-esque figure of mega-fame who started off in The Style Boyz but later made the Timberlake jump to solo stardom. The film finds him on the verge of releasing his second album (titled CONNquest), with ever-growing fame taking its toll. The plotline is simplistic and almost irrelevant, with the film adopting a music documentary style that means most developments are just spelled out in a card before a scene in which Samberg and others can play out a funny scenario. This is smart because it avoids at all cost most dramatic developments that would bog things down. The result is a fun, brisk film that never stops firing out jokes.
What’s clear in Popstar is that, in addition to still being some of the best comedic minds out there, The Lonely Island is, well, very famous. The roster of stars, many of whom are the embodiment of what the movie is satirizing, that the trio got to make a cameo in this film is stunning. To provide a list of those celebrity guests here would be primarily too long of an ordeal but also spoil the fun because half of that fun comes from seeing a famous face pop up on the screen knowing they’re about to say something ridiculous.
Sure, getting excited over seeing someone famous say something funny is a cheap thrill. And there are a lot of cheap thrills in Popstar, jokes that make a theater experience a ton of fun but certainly won’t stick with you after the credits. In fact, outside of “Karate Guy” burrowing its way into my brain, I find it hard to remember many specific jokes from the film. But, like a good piece of satire, I will remember the film as a marker of the times and the trends it plays off of. My hope is that I won’t be the only one and that Popstar will live a long life as a funny memento of when the world and its pop heroes did some crazy shit.
