‘Rock Of Ages’ Trailer: Hairpieces, Histrionics And Hysteria
For me, the best part of the trailer forAdam Shankman’sRock of Agesis the prominent display of the Motorhead logo in the first few seconds. After that it’s all downhill. The film adapts the stage ‘jukebox musical’ withDiego BonetaandJulianne Houghplaying wide-eyed kids caught up in the mid-’80s LA rock scene. Well, they’re caught up in a vision of that scene, at least, as filtered through comedy, nostalgia and the parameters of the movie musical. Check out the trailer below, which holds the reveal ofTom Cruise’s rocker Stacee Jaxx until the very end.
There are some fun things here:Alec Baldwin’s wig,Paul Giamatti’s snarl, andCatherine Zeta-Jonesperfectly channeling the screeching silliness of ’80s right-wing power moms opposed to rock and metal. She comes across just as I always perceived Tipper Gore, even if that’s not how some of those moral crusaders actually behaved.
AndTom Cruiselooks pretty perfect as the aloof rock star with whom everyone is obsessed. But the trailer as a whole did more to make me want to re-watchStreets of Firethan it did to sell me on this movie. I love the movie musical, and while the conversion of the LA rock scene into manufactured landscape is entertaining — probably not quite in the way intended — the reworked soundtrack songs already seem like more than I can take. In fact, watching a second time, this really looks unbearable.
Related to that I have one plea: can ‘We Built This City’ be buried, forever? There’s a reason it was once voted as the worst song ever written. No one actually likes that tune, right? (Its presence here makes a certain sense, but inThe Muppetsit was painful.)
Applehas the trailer in HD.Rock of Ageswill hit theaters on July 11, 2025.
