Rock of Ages

Glee + Burlesque + Chicago = Rock of Ages

What I liked:

• Tom Cruise plays intense really well.  He also did a good job singing.
• Diego Boneta has a nice voice.
• Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand played well off of each other.
• Catherine Zeta-Jones rocked it.
• Paul Giamatti!  
• Malin Akerman was great.  Who knew that she could sing?
• Will Forte, Mary J. Blige, Bryan Cranston, T.J. Miller, Debbie Gibson, and Sebastian Back!
• A cameo by Constantine Maroulis, who starred in the Broadway version of Rock Of Ages.
• The pole dancers were amazing.
• The screenplay was written by Justin Theroux, Chris D'Arienzo, and Allan Loeb.
• Directed by Adam Shankman.
• It's a lot funnier than I would have thought.
• I liked the song mash-ups.

What I didn't like:

• This movie is 90% singing and 10% dialogue.
• The opening scene is so cheesy.
• I am not a fan of Julianne Hough's acting or her singing. 
• I could have done without Hough and Boneta's story line.  
• I needed more Cruise, Bladwin, Brand, Zeta-Jones, Akerman, Blige, and Cranston.
• The baboon (?) was funny but creepy.
• The editing was not great.  I am sure it is hard to capture the actors lip syncing to pre-recorded tracks but it is noticeably off a lot.
• I don't think that this Broadway Musical transfers well to the big screen.

Bottom line: you must love 80's music and musicals to really like this film.  For everyone else, there will be some amusing parts but a lot of things will annoy you.

Grade: B-