Thursday, January 18, 2024

Metal Lords

Sugoi! Muy bien! Wunderbar, he exclaimed with great relish.




We got another banger ladies, gents, anon! The title alone caught my attention as I was perusing the Netflix and shock of all shocks I know, I absolutely loved this movie! For as basic a plot as two high school friends are in pursuit of a bass player for the upcoming Battle Of The Bands, you get a lot more out of it. Not only does it have a certain air of charm that makes it very entertaining to watch, but the writing in terms of character interaction and personalities is what absolutely sells it for me. Jaeden Martell as metal novice Kevin very much fits that normal nerdy kid before he gets fully swept up in the metal culture, even though each main character gets their emotional moments I consider him the heart of the film. Adrian Greensmith as hardcore metal enthusiast Hunter may be considered a to quote the movie massive dick, but when you really stop and look at that character he's not only the best one in my opinion but also the most complex. He's probably the most teenage teenager who ever teenagered, he's got a lot of emotional baggage and anger that he uses metal to relieve but he's still developing emotionally as kids do as they grow up and combine that with the passion and mentality of a metalhead and you get a flurry of emotions both good and bad, and he does have redeeming moments where he betters as a person. And last but certainly not least of our trio is Isis Hainsworth as Emily who also has anger issues of her own (and she's scottish so automatic win) and it's with her character that a quite adorable and incredibly sweet relationship blooms with Kevin, it might seem odd that we get this quaint little romance amidst all the buildup to this competition and indeed if you walked in at the right moment you would see it as a independent budget romance film. But she's integral to the plot and can quite frankly rock on, though I have to admit I thought she would upgrade from a cello to a full fledged bass guitar as the movie progressed but the cello actually works great! I've never heard much classical heavy metal but who woulda thunk that War Pigs sounds solid with a cello, and likewise at the end you hear an electric guitar play Aria da Capo and that sounded outstanding. And before moving on I just would like to shoutout Christopher M. Lopes as Robbie, that's our motherfucking king in this movie! The movie has a spectacular array of heavy metal tracks from Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold, and of course Black Sabbath so you bet your ass I was having a good old time thrashing to it. In fact if anybody wants to get into that scene the list of songs Hunter gives Kevin to learn is actually a solid checklist for beginners who want to listen to heavy metal music. And yeah I gotta admit the original song they perform at the competition is pretty awesome as well, awesome enough to give me goosebumps at the guitar solo. Plus you can tell these kids absolutely did know how to play their respected instruments so props to them. Music is one thing but I really did effortlessly get invested in the story and loved the characters, perfectly personified in the fact that you know how in movies you wonder why the hell do these people never actually talk about their problems with each other or try to explain themselves if some misunderstanding occurs? Well they do that here! They have discussions, they are not afraid to hash things out if they disagree over something, they support one another in times of need. Yeah sure they're hormonal charged teens so they do lash out or get bothered over next to nothing at times, but that's realistic. I feel the writing is incredibly spot on, and the comedy in it some people might just say oh it's profanity infused dialogue but I was practically roaring with laughter throughout at many if not all the gags so big gold sticky star for you movie. I can't explain it, this movie just hit me in every right spot to the point where can I say a bad thing about it? Well I've thought, and pondered, and puzzled, and have come to the conclusion no. No I cannot. Is it for everybody? No I wouldn't say that. Is it an underrated gem for some? Yeah I think so. Incredibly biased that I am, I refuse to give it anything less than 4 stars, 10/10!! Oh yeah, we're back! Well....kinda! For all intents and purposes I got nothing until February buuut that doesn't mean I can't work on some neat things for the future. So rock on my wildhaired maniacs until we meet once more.

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