About the movie:
Spice World was the attempted capitalization on the Spice Girls pop music success.
Unfortunately, by the time it came out, the pre-fab five had already hit their peak and the group
would break up soon afterward. The movie faced the backlash of critics and overexposed fans and
was not appreciated for the clever self-parody of the Spice phenomenon that the movie in fact was.
Featuring a brilliant cast including Richard E. Grant, Roger Moore, Alan Cumming, Barry Humphries
(in a rare break from his familiar 'Dame Edna' persona), George Wendt, Mark McKinney, and from
The Rocky Horror Picture Show,
Richard O'Brien and Meatloaf, and sporting cameos by everyone from Elton John to Bob Hoskins, Stephen
Fry, Hugh Laurie, Bob Geldof, Elvis Costello and Jennifer Saunders in full Absolutely Fabulous
mode, the movie is a hysterical pastiche of the Spice explosion, a witty commentary on the price
of fame and a snarky look at the entertainment machine at its hyped-up worst. It's a wonderful,
underrated film that also serves as a useful commercial for the Spice Girls two hit albums of
catchy dance tunes.
On an interesting note of trivia, the Spice Girls were put together by Simon Fuller who also
created the pop TV sensation American Idol.
Personal:
The WriterGroupie adores this film though she didn't see it until years after its original release.
While she was no Spice Girls fan prior to seeing the film, after watching it she realized when
she wasn't being over-exposed to their music, that it was actually quite good. Plus she loves the
darkly comic take on the paparazzi and music and film production. She also thinks the film is worth
seeing just for Roger Moore's hilarious deadpan dialogue and miscellaneous and ever-changing pets,
Richard E. Grant's trademark hysteria and for the great Meat Loaf in-joke.
The WriterGroupie suspects that a re-release of the film on the midnight movie circuit ala
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
might find the right audience to appreciate the inherent subversive, cult nature of the film.
