Regardless of what you think of the Spice Girls' music, this is an unfocused mess!

Rating: 3/10 (25 November 2007)

I remember during the Spice Girls' heyday in the late 90's, I despised them for a while. When I think back, I don't know exactly why I did, but I was only eleven/twelve years old at the time, so I've obviously changed a bit since then. Right now, I'm basically indifferent to the group, so I don't have any strong feelings about their reunion. Anyway, I obviously wouldn't have even thought of watching this movie back in the day, but a decade after it first came out, I have finally watched it, and have learned that I wasn't missing much.
The film shows the Spice Girls (Melanie B, Melanie C, Emma, Victoria, and Geri) as they travel around in England on their double-decker bus, meeting lots of people, and sometimes having fun, but also experiencing all sorts of trouble. Meanwhile, a newspaper editor named Kevin McMaxford, who hates the Spice Girls, is spreading rumours about them to try and ruin their reputation, and a film director named Piers Cuthbertson-Smyth keeps coming up with silly movie ideas for the band. The five pop stars have a gig coming up in a few days at the Royal Albert Hall in London, but as it draws near, a lot gets in their way!
Some love the Spice Girls and some hate them, but regardless of that, as a film, "Spice World" is a very poor effort. The story isn't very well-written, carelessly slopped together, and it seems a lot of things were just thrown in, such as the group meeting extraterrestrial fans. The film often seems rushed, jumping from one scene to another too quickly. The script, which was clearly just slopped together as well, is very poor, with both the band members and other characters blurting out lines which are supposed to be funny, but are just ridiculous! Almost all the gags in the film (yes, this is a comedy) are lame. I never laughed, and none of the gags ever gave me a full smile. Lastly, the ending of the film is a tad abrupt.
Now, if I were a big Spice Girls fan, I'm sure that would have helped a bit, as a good number of their songs are featured in this film, whether in full or in part, but I still certainly wouldn't have cared for much else in the film. I think I've made it clear that regardless of the music, this is one unfocused mess of a film! It was probably meant for the group's preteen fans mainly. I remember a lot of them, the majority of them girls, but there were definitely quite a few boys as well, and I'm sure most of these fans liked it. However, the movie really doesn't have a lot for most people, apart from the songs for fans, and sadly, that is not enough to make up for the extremely poor quality of "Spice World".