Rock of Ages - Like High School Musical, but with more rock music

Let me start by saying that I probably shouldn't be reviewing this, as I'm biased against it from the start. You see... I have a daughter who has made me sit through the entire High School Musical trilogy about a hundred times. That sort of trauma taints anyone's perception of musicals.

Basically Rock of Ages (is based on a theatre musical, but I haven't seen that) tells the story of a small town American girl who moves to L.A. in pursuit of her dream of becoming a singer. When she gets there she falls in love with the first annoyingly handsome young man she meets and they sing a lot.

Every scene had me thinking of High School Musical. Granted, having `rock and roll' as the subject matter meant there are certain `adult themes' associated with rock and roll which were never included in HSM, but it is basically a love story with clichéd characters set around rock music.

Okay, so with me expecting Troy and Gabriella to pop up at any moment, I was never truly going to enjoy this film. But the rock music is certainly good (if you're a fan of rock music, which I am) and Tom Cruise puts in a surprisingly good performance as a rock superstar.

All in all this probably isn't for everyone. Musical lovers will enjoy it the most. Fans of rock might get something out of it. And anyone who grew up in the eighties will get a nice kick out of the detailed nostalgia they have for the time period. Personally, I'm so sick of musicals I was destined not to appreciate this as much as I should have done for the start. Damn you Ryan and Sharpay.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that