ROCK OF AGES Review – Tom Cruise is a Rock Star

The other day, my pal sent me one of those, “You have to sign up for this!!” emails for a special pre-screening event for the new Rock of Ages movie starring Tom Cruise.

I was dying to see this movie, so of course I RSVPd right away!

In addition to a screening of the movie at our local AMC theater, there was going to be an 80’s themed cocktail reception and costume contest.

The event was put together by GiltCity.com and I have to say, they did a really crappy job of running the event. While they had people RSVP online, your RSVP didn’t secure your attendance – it was first come, first serve.

That is NEVER a wise move in Miami.

We arrived 1.5 hours early, and there was a small group gathered outside the theater. There was no roped off section, no formal line, no security…it was a hot mess. People began spilling into the theater, skipping others…it was just not pretty. AT ALL.

Of course, having been the 5th person to arrive, I wasn’t too worried about getting my seat.

But…I heard from one of the security guys once we got into the event that 700 people had RSVPd and they only had 150 seats available. You can imagine how upset the other 550 people were that were standing outside in the Miami heat for over an hour when they were sent away without admission!

The cocktail party was actually pretty nice, they served complimentary drinks and appetizers. We got fun little 80’s items like glow in the dark temporary hair dye and guitar pick necklaces.

There were blow up microphones but…I saw people stealing them. I tell you, free events always bring out the ghetto in people!

Once we finished the reception, we headed over to the theater to line up – AGAIN – to be let into the screening.

Once again, people began cutting into line.

So classy.

As soon as the movie began, the guy next sitting next to me (we met him in our original line and made friends so he sat with us in the theater) asked me if I thought the sound was strange in the theater. I had been thinking that something sounded off, but I couldn’t put my finger on it until he said something…

There was no surround sound. I don’t know if it was the movie itself, if I am just so used to HD movies and television shows…but there was only sound coming from the front of the theater and it was not very crisp.

So that sucked. You would think that if they were showing a screening of a rock and roll musical, they’d want the best sound quality possible, right?

I guess not.

But the movie…

Dear lord, Rock of Ages rocked. Seriously, I hate musicals, but it’s hard to hate a musical when you love every single song in it.

Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Journey, Poison, Skid Row, Warrant, KISS, the list goes on and on and on and on…

Julianne Hough, that girl has some pipes on her. I hated her in Footloose because well, I just hated that they remade Footloose. But in Rock of Ages, I was actually able to appreciate her acting and her singing – she really is a fantastic actress and she was perfect for this role! I thought she was fabulous as the little country girl trying to make it in the big city.

I had never heard of Diego Boneta before, but I loved him as Drew! That kid can sing! They had great on air charisma – I hope to see them work together again in the future.

Alec Baldwin and Russel Brand? Hilarious and adorable. I won’t spoil the surprise but let’s just say…you are in for some good laughs and a sweet “awww” moment.

And even though Baldwin played a crusty old 80’s venue manager, those ice blue eyes were as swoon-worthy as ever! Poor guy can’t sing for sh!t but at least he really sang and didn’t use a voice over. I have to give him credit for at least singing a little…

The entire cast of Rock of Ages was freaking awesome. Awesome.

But…Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaax?

He blew me away. 

I’ve been a Tom Cruise fan since Risky Business – it’s one of my favorite movies of all time – but this was unlike anything I’ve seen Cruise in before. He made me really believe he was a rock star.

He sang Bon Jovi’s Dead or Alive and Def Leppard’s Pour Some Sugar on Me like he’d been doing it all of his life.

He walked and talked like a rock star.

He gyrated like a rock star.

He sported those tattoos like they were his own…

Who knew Tom Cruise had it in him to be so funny, so sexy, so totally bad ass?

Dude, who knew he could sing like that?!

Let’s put it this way: if Tom Cruise were to drop a record tomorrow, I would buy it. He was that convincing.

But of course, Tom Cruise’s stellar performance as Stacee Jaax wasn’t the only thing I loved about Rock of Ages. The movie was honestly the best I’ve seen so far in 2012 – and I’ve seen a lot of great movies this year.

And I normally hate musicals. 

It had a love story that wasn’t so sugary sweet that you wanted to barf, rather, you rooted for the young lovers…it had a story of hope and making it in Hollywood, a almost-burnt-out rockstar’s story of finding love and renewed vigor for rock and roll, a crazy church lady fighting to bring down rock and roll, only to find out she’s really just in love with a rock star…

It had some of the best glam rock songs of the late 80’s and early 90’s…okay, honestly, this was my favorite part of the movie. I am easily swayed by a great soundtrack, and this movie was 75% soundtrack.

And everyone sang so well – they did every song justice, so much so that I was disappointed that we didn’t receive the soundtracks that our invitations led us to believe that we were going to receive through giveaways. There were no giveaways, only the costume contest. Just one more reason why I will probably never go to another GiltCity.com event.

Rock of Ages also had tiny cameos by some of my personal glam rock favorites, like Sebastian Bach of Skid Row, Mary J Blige, and I am pretty sure Debbie Gibson and Lita Ford had a cameo in there too, but the scene went so quickly that I am not 100% sure…there was even a cameo by Constantine Maroulis from a long ago season of American Idol!

I can’t wait for Rock of Ages to come out in theaters June 15 – I’ll be marking the days off on my calendar until I can see Tom Cruise in those skin tight leather pants again!

If you love glam rock, Rock of Ages is a must see.

It’s also a must see if you just want to see Tom Cruise covered in tattoos, shirtless, and wearing skintight leather pants.

Did I mention the leather pants?