Review of Rock of Ages (2012) by Alex M — 17 Oct 2014

The 80s are certainly in full force here, from the music to the clothes to the hair. Several 80s classics are sung throughout, and they're done pretty well for the most part. Diego Boneta and Julianne Hough have great chemistry, and they're both great dancers, but while Diego Boneta can sing, Julianne Hough cannot. She sounds like a combination of Jewel and Michelle Branch, but with a clothespin over nose. Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Mary J. Blige, Paul Giamatti, and Bryan Cranston are fairly good, but Catherine Zeta-Jones is very over-the-top, and her character's trajectory is extremely predictable.

Then there's Tom Cruise as the legendary fictional rock figure Stacee Jaxx. In terms of looks and behavior, Cruise nails being a rock star, but the singing? Not so much. Despite the fun nature of the music and crazy 80s fashions, the story is overall extremely clichéd and predictable, and in the end, it feels more like a 2-hour MTV/VH1 80s tribute than an actual film. 6/10.