“Metal Lords” is about to be your new favorite coming-of-age film. It made its debut on Netflix on April 8, and while it has some fresh faces you may not know, it is sure to win you over with its dorky charm. The screenplay was written by D.B. Weiss (“Game of Thrones”), who based the movie on his own experiences of playing in a band in highschool according to review website Polygon. Peter Sollett (“Raising Victor Vargas”) directed the film, bringing life to Weiss’s teenage music drama. You do not have to be a heavy metal snob to enjoy this flick, but it is a lot more fun if you are. Do not worry, the producers did their homework on who is who in the metal world. The music chosen for the movie was exactly on point.
Posters of Black Sabbath (“Paranoid”), Judas Priest, Dio (“Holy Diver”) and more can be seen plastered around the studio of the film’s protagonist, Hunter. He is a metalhead jerk played by Adrian Greensmith, making his film debut. Rocking long hair and a spiky black wardrobe, Greensmith delivers an incredibly convincing performance being so hateable, yet lovable. Like many of the real greats of metal he is misunderstood, kind of sexist and deep down, afraid. Hunter’s flaws are what make his character believable throughout the film. The best part is that Greensmith is in fact shredding on the guitar for real the whole time, according to online news outlet Decider. Hunter’s dad is a plastic surgeon played by Brett Gelman (“Stranger Things”). Gelman flexes his range muscles frequently. Even though this role did not require much, his expertise still shines through.
While on the subject of the cast, it absolutely must be mentioned that everybody looks like a teenager rather believably except for Blonde Girl, whose name is eventually revealed three-quarters of the way through the movie as Kendall (Analesa Fisher, “Chad”). “Metal Lords” remarkably does not slip up too badly with making sure the high school setting is close to the real thing. The angst is one hundred percent real.
The other protagonist in this teen-buddy extravaganza is the mild-mannered drummer boy Kevin, played by Jaeden Martell (“IT”). Kevin, like so many of us, begins to understand the true meaning of metal through Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” as he sharpens his drum skills listening to a playlist made by Hunter. Oh, and the car chase with the school bully also taught Kevin a lesson in metal: never stop. Chaos ensues leading up to the “Battle of the Bands” as the film tackles themes of jealousy, dependency, and what it means to be a team. Martell gives a very convincing performance as the classic dork in the dork-lovable jerk duo.
Flat-out, the girl characters are poorly written and poorly handled. It is clear that not as much attention was given to writing them as was to their male counterparts. That does not mean they are poorly acted though, because Isis Hainsworth (“Misbehaviour”) portrays Emily, the love interest, very well. Emily is unfortunately a form of the manic pixie girl trope. She has a mental illness that she takes “happy pills” for, but it is not explicitly stated what she has. The introduction of her character on screen was beyond rough and borderline ridiculous. She is hardly two-dimensional, but Hainsworth takes up that space masterfully with her soft beauty and facial expressions. It is a shame that more thought was not given to making her a full and complete person- what does she want, besides Kevin? Who is she besides a British cello student with a temper? It could be argued that the answer lies in her quieter moments on screen, but quite honestly, it was a bit of a miss.
If that all is not enough for you, maybe the cameos might pull you in. Rage Against the Machine’s (“Testify”)Tom Morello, Anthrax’s (“Madhouse”) Scott Ian, Metallica’s (“One”) Kirk Hammett, and Judas Priest’s Rob Halford make appearances as well. Give it a watch, if you are really that hardcore.
Image from Netflix via YouTube
