Rock of Ages

Rock of Ages - PG-13 (New Line Cinema, Warner Bros.)

Being a lover of all things 80's, I was very excited about seeing this movie. The first time I saw it, I absolutely loved it, but being worried that I had hyped it up in my mind too much, I went to go see it again. I must say, I'm very surprised that I still enjoyed it. The atmosphere created by Adam Shankman (Director) was very fun and 80's-esque. The acting was overall done well and I believe the choices for the cast were good. But what boosted this movie and, on a few occasions, saved it was no doubt the music. 


The atmosphere of Rock of Ages did a great job of setting the tone that was wanted. From the bar, to the strip club, to the places used for a montage scene, all the sets and props seemed authentic and allowed the actors to really sell being in the 80's (at least as far as I can tell). This film was not trying to do something original or to achieve something groundbreaking, it was trying to show its audience a good time. I feel its goal was to have the audience leave and feel happy and entertained, which it did achieve. In my opinion, I believe it was genius to get Adam Shankman to direct the movie. He achieved success with another musical, Hairspray, set in the 60's so why not have him jump to the 80's. Like Hairspray, Rock of Ages was simply a good time that left you feeling good about life and yourself; it was a true feel-good movie, that I would personally watch again if I was feeling down. 


The acting was fine. There were nothing special, but nothing too horrible. The stand-out performance was definitely Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx, who was hilarious and really did a great job. I was surprised at how good Julianne Hough was, especially coming off of Footloose. She wasn't great, but I was expecting less from her. Diego Boneta was good. He did his job at selling his character, although again, he was not great in his role. I found Malin Ackerman incredibly funny and well cast; I would have not even considered her for the role, coming especially from the critically-acclaimed Watchmen, but the horrible comedy The Heartbreak Kid. I really didn't care for Alec Baldwin's character; I've never been a fan of Alec Baldwin except maybe in The Cat in the Hat, and this role was no exception. I just felt like he didn't sell his character; I was very aware that I was watching Alec Baldwin act. So, all-in-all pretty good acting, with actors that did a good job of carrying the story on and developing their characters well. 


The music is definitely what saved this movie from a crash and burn. Yes, the actors did a good job of advancing the story, but the story was only advanced when they were singing. When there was just dialogue being given, the movie seemed very flat. So, the music was very important in the development of the story line. The actors did a great job of capturing the energy in these iconic rock songs that defined the 80's. They delivered the songs technically well also; there was no song that sounded like nails on a chalk board, so that's good. I particularly enjoyed the mash-ups between songs; they were always done well and sounded fluid. And the cameos from 80's rock legends was clever and I really enjoyed seeing them singing again.


The whole movie was well done. The story line was flat when there was no singing and I would have like them to pick it up on the dialogue, however the songs developed the story and honestly, that may have been the intention of the movie. The acting was good with a stand out performance by Tom Cruise, but I was disappointed by Alec Baldwin. However, all other actors did well enough to cover for him. The music was tremendous and really carried and pushed the movie to as best as it was going to get with that cast and that story line. I would definitely recommend it, but be wary of taking younger children as there are some scenes that made me uncomfortable watching them with my mother, and will probably go see it again before it leaves theaters.


Rating: 
**** of 5
Trailer for Rock of Ages