Yes, Spice World Belongs In The Same Conversation As A Hard Day's Night And Help!
It's easy to be dismissive of "Spice World," the 1997 musical comedy about the global musical sensation, the Spice Girls. While the movie has seen some critical reappraisal in recent years, there are still other critics who disregard the film as a frivolous, pointless mess. "Spice World" is far from pointless; some people just missed the point. "Spice World" screenwriter Kim Fuller, brother of British music super-producer Simon Fuller, based his script on the Beatles' 1964 film "A Hard Day's Night," and "Spice World" is a subversive riff that's so much smarter than people give it credit for.
When "Spice World" hit theaters, the band was at the height of their popularity. Their debut album, "Spice," had soared to the top of the Billboard Top 100 and stayed there as their CDs and cassette tapes flew off the shelves. They were an international powerhouse, preaching "girl power" and rocking platform shoes and skin-tight outfits. They owned their sexuality, performed some serious bops, and became the best-selling female pop group of all time. "Spice World" really was their "Hard Day's Night," giving the girls a chance to riff on band films, fame, the music industry, and even poke a bit of fun at themselves. The movie exists in a weird film sub-genre — not quite a musical, not quite a band biography — but it absolutely deserves to be held in the same regard as the film that inspired it. "Spice World" is just as good as "A Hard Day's Night," and possibly even better, as long as people are willing to give it an honest chance.
A surprisingly subversive romp
In "A Hard Day's Night," the Beatles go through a wacky 36 hours before a big television performance. The kooky adventures of Paul, John, George, and Ringo were a critical hit, with reviewers praising the humor, music, and various cameos that capitalized on both Beatlemania and the height of British pop around the world. The Spice Girls were the biggest British band since the Beatles, and while they didn't end up with nearly the number of number-one hits, they were a global phenomenon whose impact was undeniable.
Much like "A Hard Day's Night," "Spice World" follows the Spice Girls in the days leading up to their big performance at Royal Albert Hall. The Girls, Scary Spice (Melanie Brown), Sporty Spice (Melanie Chisholm), Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell), Baby Spice (Emma Bunton), and Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham) are excited about the big show, but they also want to take some time to spend with their friend Nicola (Naoko Mori), who is pregnant and due to give birth any day. Their manager (Richard E. Grant) pushes them to constantly keep going, doing promotions, going through "concert boot camp," and more.
There are also some truly surreal interruptions, including dream sequences, like one where Hugh Laurie lets Baby Spice get away with murder for being too cute. In format and plot structure, it's a lot like "A Hard Day's Night," but where it diverges is in its tone. "Spice Girls" seems like a silly, flimsy story about a group of bubblegum pop singers, but it's constantly pointing out the inequality and bizarre culture of the music industry. It's a meta-comedy from a time before we really talked about those, and yes, it depicts Scary Spice getting felt up by an alien from outer space, but it also has a lot to say about how musicians, especially women, are commodified.
Who do you think you are?
There are a lot of very on-the-nose jokes about the Spice Girls' commercialized brand of feminism, including their marching song while in boot camp: "We know how we got this far, strength and courage and a WonderBra!" It's "Girl Power" on a surface level, providing some fun escapism for every girl who ever wanted to be a pop star or live in a sweet double-decker bus. Beneath these glossy girl power sentiments, there are some tougher questions raised about the Girls' treatment as human beings and their portrayal in the media. One scene captures the irreverent humor of the movie perfectly: the Girls all dress up as famous women throughout time for a photo shoot, then at the end, they dress up as one another.
They make fun of their roles within the band, but Scary Spice ends it all beautifully, dressed as Ginger, when she puts her fingers into a peace sign, and says, "um blah blah blah, girl power, um feminism, do you know that I mean?" It's a tiny peek at the women behind the Spice Girls, and the real fun they seem to be having doing the fictional scene shows just how constrained they felt by the boxes the world put them into. I mean, they didn't even get to go by their names most of the time, but were marketed as "Scary," "Ginger," "Baby," "Sporty," and "Posh." Women are so much more than that, but they were only allowed to be the caricatures the music industry wanted them to be. Their rebellion is a very sneaky one, but it's in a movie full of sneaky humor, so it's just ... perfect.
A fun flick that deserves more love
Look, I will not try to argue the overall cultural impact of the Beatles vs. that of the Spice Girls. There's just no way. But in terms of their films, the goofy legacy they've left in the world of cinema, they're in the same league. Both movies did similarly well at the box office, with each more than doubling its budget in ticket sales. That's not "Avengers"-style money, but it's pretty good for jukebox musicals about British pop bands. "Spice World" also features a "who's-who" of British cameos, like singer Meat Loaf as the double-decker bus driver, "Rocky Horror Picture Show" creator Richard O'Brien as a creepy paparazzo, Jennifer Saunders ("Absolutely Fabulous") as a snooty rich woman at a party, Elvis Costello as a bartender, and Elton John, Bob Geldof, Jonathan Ross, and Bob Hoskins all appear as themselves.
Alan Cumming plays a documentarian eager to make a film about the girls, while George Wendt and Mark McKinney ("Kids in the Hall") appear as producers pitching a Spice Girls' movie. They even pitch the movie-within-a-movie during the movie, which includes their vision of a double-decker bus jumping over a drawbridge, done with a toy bus. It's great, goofy fun that's a perfect encapsulation of British pop culture at the time, and it even features Sir Roger Moore, James Bond himself, as the Girls' record producer boss, known only as The Chief. What's more British than that?
"Spice World" isn't a masterpiece, but neither is "A Hard Day's Night." They're both fun and created almost entirely for fans of the band, but "Spice World" just happens to have some extra commentary on performative feminism and restrictive gender roles. They deserve to be discussed in the same conversation, with the same level of love and respect. If I had to pick a favorite, though, it's going to be "Spice World." What can I say? I'm a sucker for a joke about assless chaps.
If only a streamer would scoop up this gem for the viewing pleasure of younger generations.