A small town girl and a city boy meet on the Sunset Strip, while pursuing their Hollywood dreams.
Like every one of its songs, it makes a lot of noise about nothing much and cockily straddles awfulness and greatness. It’s enormously entertaining nonsense.
There are only so many close-ups of gyrating crotches, ironic or otherwise, that a person can watch before they start to feel a shade tacky, and Rock of Ages goes a couple of hundred beyond my limit.
Rock of Ages has about as much authentic rock‘n’roll spirit as Glee; it’s as bouncy as a backcombed bouffant and as daft as the brush that styled it.
Disposable, overly long fun best enjoyed with BFFs and a bevvie. Some will win, some will lose, some were born to sing the blues…
Whereas Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure tapped into whatever merits this kind of music held at the time, Rock of Ages merely leaves you feeling thankful Nirvana came along when they did.
Shamelessly toe-tapping stuff for those who like that sort of thing, with the added bonus of Alec Baldwin in funny mode as a nightclub boss.
The irony may not be intentional. It really does go on for ages.
The music, of course, is a big plus with some rousingly-staged anthems and it’s an amiable enough alternative to the summer’s special effects blockbusters. Just don’t expect a wild time.
It's all so terribly tame. Lemmy of Motörhead once said, "Rock'n'roll is about not being able to stand, but still being able to play". He would loathe Rock of Ages, and with good reason.
Rock of Ages is an affectionate and energetic look at hair metal, with a swathe of hard rock hits from the likes of Guns N’ Roses, Foreigner, Scorpions and Poison.
All Rock of Ages has to recommend it is Cruise's out-there cameo as a frazzled rock god who's always three-quarters of the way through a bottle of Scotch. Anyone who sees the film would be advised to be in the same condition.
I enjoyed Rock Of Ages slightly more than Mamma Mia, although in the same way that most of us prefer a pill to an enema.
Never has Los Angeles looked less enticing.
Tacky and not terribly original.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
Dominion, Edinburgh from Friday July 20, 2012, until Thursday July 26, 2012. More info: http://www.dominioncinemas.net
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