Review of Rock of Ages (2012) by Bruce722 — 20 Jan 2013

Rock of Ages is a film about the survival of Rock & Roll and the people who live it. It's a decent movie but it starts out with a really cheesy quality that plagues most musicals and makes it difficult to get into the plot.

Most of that is due to the fact that the first part of the movie is centered almost entirely around Julianne Hough. While she is absolutely gorgeous, is a fantastic dancer, and is even a decent singer, her acting ability is essentially nonexistent.

However, once you get into the meat of the movie it's actually quite enjoyable. Sure, the impromptu musical numbers popping in throughout the film sometimes feel a little ridiculous but the mash-ups that are done and put together really well and progress the plot along well portraying the feelings and emotion of the moment.

Also, Tom Cruise' role as Stacee Jaxx absolutely steels the show. This was honestly probably one of my favorite Cruise roles because he was pretty hilarious but also it's a character we've never really seen before, not just from him but in general.

There were some surprising roles by people like Mary J. Blige, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Malin Akerman that I wasn't aware of before watching. There were also some unexpected cameos by Constantine Maroulis (former American Idol contestant and pop/rock singer), Kevin Cronin (of REO Speedwagon), and Sebastian Bach (modern metal God and former singer of Skid Row).

Overall, I think rock fans will enjoy the film but I'm not sure how well most people would. Personally, I love rock and enjoyed it for the most part but there were even times, especially towards the beginning and end, where it felt like it just dragged on and on.

There was even a funny part in the end where the lyrics of one of the songs covered stated how the movie goes "on and on and on and on" and that seemed like an accurate assessment.