Being born in the 90's, you would expect me to be to listening to current music. Not really though. 80's music and 90's music a little is where it's at for me even though this is not really common for people in my age group. It is music that brought me to where I am now as a teenager and in some ways how I found my friends. That being the case, I really should have liked the 80's - themed musical Rock Of Ages. It appealed to me because of the music but there were many problems that caused me not to like it.
Rock of Ages is set in Los Angles in the 1980's, Sherrie (Julianne Hough) ditches her Oklahoma hometown and family and sets off to LA for a new start. She meets the handsome Drew (Diego Boneta) and a relationship forms with both working at The Bourbon, a rocking bar where rock bands perform. Rocker, Stacee Jaxx ( Tom Cruise) is the main subject in the film and his interactions with Sherrie causes Drew to be distant with her.
Actually you are not going to find a finer collection of 80's music in one piece. You get Journey, The Scorpions, Guns N' Roses and other big names from the 80's but actually this is the main problem with this film. Who really wants to watch an actor who is lip-syncing one of your favorite songs when you know the band who really plays it and you would rather watch them? Also at times the song's rhythm and message don't really fit the story. On the other hand, the atmosphere depicted is pretty wild with good lighting on the stage which makes you want to be there.
After struggling with the music, the plot is not all that strong either. The story is one of a middle-age person running away where that's not really common. The supporting cast includes Russell Brand who sports a terrible wig and also Paul Giamatti who seems lost here. The lead characters are thin and about as cheesy as they come. Tom Cruise is not very likable and it is hard to follow what he wants or where he's going. There is also a rap idea that added nothing for this film. Further, the main band here is something called Wolfgang Von Colt and I can't come close to figuring what they are all about.
I am also not sure why this movie was sanitized to give it a PG-13 rating. Drugs and sex were a big part of the 80's music scene and the movie needed more of this to be realistic. The ending is also a little weird with amateurish bands who seems tame and that's dates back to the PG-13 idea.
In short, this movie does not really depict the 80's music scene very well. The setting of the movie is one cheap bar with nothing special to it. The filmmakers just did not show the 80's very well and many more ideas could been used to get the full 80's effect.
Rock Ages is a film that kind of makes me want to listen to 70's or alternative music and makes me forget how much I was into this type of music in the first place. It was that bad for me.
1.5/5
