Rock Of Ages - Film Review Friday

Admittedly, a significant portion of my enthusiasm for Rock of Ages does just stem from its setting. The film is an elegy to the glam metal scene that arose on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip in the 1980s and was responsible for spawning such iconic bands as Guns N’ Roses, Poison and Mötley Crüe. Given that glam metal is one of the things that means most to me in the world, a movie jam-packed with the big hair, tight leather, and loud guitars that I love so much was never going to need to put in much work for me to appreciate it.



However, it is more than this. Even beyond its chart-topping soundtrack and world-class costuming, Rock of Ages is a truly entertaining and whole-hearted tribute that manages to avoid ever slipping into mockery, even when the profound stupidity of glam metal means it would be justified in doing so. Although it’s (blissfully) never serious, the film hits its mark in all areas, and offers viewers an undeniably joyful two hours.



The story begins with a scene obviously indebted to Guns N’ Roses’ video for ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ (itself a nod to singer Axl Rose’s origin story): the film’s protagonist, Sherrie Christian, arrives in LA on a Greyhound bus, with dreams of making it big. She is quickly drawn into the rock’n’roll world and its ensemble cast of outrageous, charming, and downright bizarre characters. Chaos ensues. There are boy bands, and there are love songs. There are monkeys (well, one monkey). There are cowboy hats, expensive alcohol, and dancing. There is definitely something going on between Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin.



Basically, Rock of Ages is everything you could want from a movie about glam metal, and more. All the stars do a more-than-satisfactory job of their roles, and Tom Cruise is outstanding as washed-up rockstar Stacee Jaxx, who, despite his name being nowhere near the most outlandish glam metal ever produced, is otherwise every bit the hero the genre needed. Malin Akerman is an unexpected treat, blending journalistic fire and wide-eyed delight as reporter Constance Sack. Rock of Ages also makes memorable use of cameos, including Nuno Bettencourt, members of Night Ranger and REO Speedwagon, and Sebastian Bach, former singer in Skid Row and one of my certified Favourite People Ever™.



Now, although I mentioned the soundtrack earlier, it would be remiss of me to leave that at a single sentence. After all, Rock of Ages is a musical, and it exists primarily to give audiences a chance to sit back and enjoy some of the greatest hits 80s rock ever produced. The cast, who all lend their own singing voices to the film, do a phenomenal job, making the tracks their own while preserving the magic of the originals and ensuring you’ll never want to stop singing along. Songs by Poison, Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Def Leppard, and so many more feature, and even the most casual of glam metal fans will hear something in here that’s guaranteed to get them dancing. The film’s reverence to the genre is clear, and for that shared principle alone I can even forgive it having the audacity to open with Tom Cruise singing Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Paradise City’.