MOVIE REVIEW: Rock of Ages

Rock and Roll will always live forever!

Warner Bros. brings a classic broadway musical to the big screen with some heavy hitting names like Tom Cruise who plays the role of rock star Stacie Jaxx as well Catherine Zeta Jones and Alec Baldwin just to name a few.

While the film shares a LOT of elements there were some things from the play that was dropped and some elements that were rehashed or changed. I won't call it a bad thing, more of a surprise. (Yes I'm guilty of reading the wikipedia entry for the ROA Broadway version).

Anyway both the film and the play was based on a book written by Chris D'Arienzo which revolved around 80's fashion and music and the overall trend during that decade. There's a variety of colorful characters we get to meet during the first act of the film but the main characters are Sherrie (a small town girl) and Drew (just a city boy) who meet and fall in love.

I really don't want to spoil too much about the plot both to preserve the excitement and at the same time to make you realize that you want to watch the movie. Here's what I can safely say about the revised plot for the movie (supposing you've already seen the play); you can expect at least 85% of the story intact. The remaining 15% gets chucked to provide a "feel good" ending which actually works.






Let's talk about the other stuff from the movie. Hmmm. We can focus on the music. Yeah that's right. The songs that appear in the film are totally cool. It takes you back to the time when nobody has even head of the Jonas Brothers or Justin Beiber. It was a time when guys like me were either still in our diapers or just learning our first words.

In short they have a staple of good song selections. Can I get a "hell yeah" when I say that the first season of Glee ripped as much songs as possible from the set list of this awesome play/ movie? We've got classic "hair bands" like Def Leppard, Journey (with Steve Perry and not Arnel Pineda), White Lion, and much more.



One of the more incredible stuff about the movie is the way they captured the era. They managed to get the look and the entire vibe right. Heck we can actually substitute the film's "Bourbon Room" for something more real-world like CBGB's in the US.

This Jaxx dude looks like Adam Lambert and yet manages to get the babes. Amazing

Tom Cruise was a natural for the role of rock star Stacee Jaxx in this flick. He got the look just right coupled with some bad a$$ tats and a lot of attitude. He also sang some classic songs throughout the film like Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" which made it all the more fun.

Other notables here were Catherine Zeta Jones who plays the Mayor's wife with an agenda against Jaxx and everything about rock'n roll. She's this movies official cold hard (and sexy) bitch. Plus the twist towards the end of the movie makes a lot more sense.

There's also Malin Akerman's Constance which happens to be a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine. The former Silk Spectre sheds all her inhibition and belts out a thing or two while romancing Jaxx. Not only does she shed her inhibition but we also get to see her shed some clothes and dance suggestively while still wearing her cowboy boots. (Kinky!)

The lead stars Diego and Juliane weren't so bad either. They had the vocal range and the whole look. Not too shabby if you ask me. And that's actually saying a lot. Oh if I might add, my friend Joriben was telling me prior to the screening that Ryan Seacrest had to be the luckiest guy for having a girlfriend like Hough. After seeing the film, I totally agree with my friend.

Ma Sherrie Amor!

Rock of Music will also make you laugh thanks to the comedic presence of 30 Rock's Alec Baldwin together with Katy Perry's former husband Russell Brand who plays Dennis and Lonny respectively.

Baldwin and Katy Perry's former bitch.

There's a good part in the film that will make you either cringe or laugh out loud depending on the level of your liberalism. PLUS Baldwin plays the role of an old rocker refusing to go down very naturally. It's as if he's channeling some Jerry Garcia (of the Grateful Dead) when you see him as the Bourbon Room's owner.

Plus if you've seen the commercial for the local McDonalds here, you'd get this vibe once you here this song being sung.



Another thing that I loved....

STRIPPERS!!!!!

Mind you its not just that. It's strippers dancing to the tune of Journey's Any Way you Want it. How hardcore is that??

Quotable Quotes from the film:

Sherrie: I'm a stripper
Drew: I'm in a boy band!
(Awkward silence)

As much as I had fun with the movie and the characters, there were some pitfalls that were painfully obvious. Mary J. Blige's role as Justice was short. Too short. While the writing made it look like she cared for Sherrie, it was never really given too much detail. Heck we don't even get to see too much back story for her. It was as if she was just planted there.

Other subplots are dropped towards the third part of the film and we never get to see or hear about. We're just dazzled by the lights and the music. Things like while minor in nature affects to the overall feel and cinematic experience.

Overall, the way I see this is that the movie and the play are two separate entities, two separate beings. You can enjoy the movie and then buy tickets for the "Rock of Ages" play and enjoy that as well. People who have seen the play before might not like the major overhaul the film version received but hey, IMHO, I loved the happy ending for all the characters involved. No deaths, no escapes and somebody even procreates. (Won't spoil which).

Rock of Ages will make you laugh and sing but most importantly it'll give you this whole rocker vibe. Trust me, you'll want to release your inner rocker after seeing this.

VERDICT: 8/ 10

As always, I'd like to thank Warner Bros for the special invite. Seriously guys, please follow/like/subscribe on their Facebook fan page. Also I'm totally loving the Marshall Headphones I won last night.