Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Rock of Ages (2012)

This is topic Rock of Ages (2012) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-15-2012, 09:24 PM:

This is a fun movie to watch due to two things: The music, and Tom Cruise. And to a somewhat lesser extent, Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin. The main characters are sort of cookie-cutter types for this kind of a movie, and the sub-plot about the threatened night-club has been done about a thousand times before, and of course you know the ending of the main story almost from the beginning....but it's a fun ride anyway with some interesting twists along the way.

The vocals (by the actual cast, no voiceovers) are actually pretty good. Tom Cruise pulls off a fairly close Axl Rose impression, surprisingly, and Julianne Hough is sort of a more-wholesome Britney Spears type. You find yourself wishing you were hearing the original vocalists since the arrangements hew pretty close to the recorded versions, but that's a small quibble considering it IS a musical.

And there are some true laugh-out-loud moments, too.

Tom Cruise should probably get an Oscar nomination for his performance here. His character is a weird combination of Axl Rose, Michael Jackson (due to his choice of pets) and Jim Morrison, and he makes you wish he was in the movie more than he is.

The concert/nightclub sequences are the best parts of the movie, being particularly well-filmed (although it must be said that the stage setups are a TAD bit over-blown for a nightclub, especially in the '80s!)

All in all, I had a great time. 3.5 stars for the movie overall, and 4.0 stars for the musical soundtrack. The sound mix was great too, I thought.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 07-15-2012, 09:46 PM:

it's hard to be unbiased when comparing the stage version to the film version - but the former is insanely entertaining - the film version is a valiant attempt, but really doesn't quite achieve the same overall effect. And personally the loss of the song 'The Search is Over' just really really annoyed me... oh well.

grade: C