Movie Review: Metal Lords (2022)
“Metal is commitment, speaking truth to power, sticking it to the man and speed. Metal is taking the wheel.”
Credit: Netflix US LLC
Synopsis (Spoiler Free)
Metal Lords is a coming of age story of two teenage buddies and outcasts, Kevin (Jaeden Martell - IT (2017)) and Hunter (Adrian Greensmith), who form a metal band called “Skullf*cker”. After being made aware of an upcoming Battle of the Bands, the pair begin their search for a bass player to legitimize their sound and start their ascension towards becoming their school’s next gods of metal.
Kevin, the shy and more awkward of the two, meets Emily (Isis Hainsworth - Emma (2020)) during marching band practice and watches in awe as the young Scot explodes in fury towards their band teacher, launching her clarinet across the football field in fiery rage. Kevin later finds Emily in the band room skillfully practicing her cello, and Kevin believes their bassist search is over. But this suggestion does not go over well with Hunter, who doesn’t believe Emily is “metal” enough for Skullf*cker due to her female genitalia and cello.
As Kevin and Emily begin to develop a relationship, Hunter and Kevin’s friendship will be put to the test as Kevin’s attention is diverted away from his bandmate, the ever looming Battle of the Bands grows closer, and their efforts to land a bassist continues to evade them.
Review (Spoilers)
Metal Lords is the brainchild of D.B. Weiss (co-creator of Game of Thrones) and legendary guitarist Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine). The film is directed by Peter Sollet (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008)) with music provided by fellow Game of Thrones alum Ramin Djawadi.
I can only imagine that this movie came together around Joe Manganiello’s gaming table one night after a long fought session of Dungeons & Dragons. It’s no secret that Manganiello (Archenemy (2020)) serves as dungeon master in a D&D group that contains the likes of Tom Morello, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, Vince Vaughn, The Big Show (Paul Wright) and even James Gunn on occasion.
What were we talking about again? Oh right, the movie!
This movie definitely struck a chord with me (pun intended). I’ve always been a fan of metal. Metal Lords brings back nostalgic memories of my buddies and I attempting to put a band together, play Deftones covers, and go to local shows telling ourselves we’ll be up on that stage soon enough. Metal and rock music in general have always served as the counter to the mainstream. Black shirts, long hair, tattoos, piercings, leather, and angry indecipherable lyrics bring together those people from the fringes of society for a moment of communion.
The energy from the crowd when seeing bands like Every Time I Die (“F” in the Chat), the Black Dahlia Murder, Dir En Grey, Slipknot, or even Rob Zombie is a wild experience that not many can relate to. All of this is to provide foundation for my metal roots. I go to shows, I love heavy music, and I love films. Needless to say, when Netflix announced a movie about two bros forming a metal band to compete in their high school’s Battle of the Bands in present day America, I was definitely excited to see what Weiss and Morello were able to cook up.
Credit: Netflix US LLC
The film kicks off with Kevin and Hunter “jamming” as Kevin is attempt to bridge his marching snare skills over to a full kit. Hunter shreds on guitar, but can’t seem to nail down his solo. The pair have been best friends since 3rd grade, but since Hunter’s mom left the family, Hunter’s life has been dedicated to metal.
For better or worse, Hunter’s obsession with metal means that Kevin is along for the ride. As the film progresses, it quickly becomes evident that Kevin isn’t really interested in metal, but rather would prefer to fit in with the rest of the 15 to 17 year-olds that hangout, date, and party. Hunter’s abrasive attitude which he attributes to his metal obsession, makes him an outcast amongst all the preps and jocks at his school and a target of bullies. Kevin gets to be an outcast by association, and due to his apparent fear of social interaction.
After our protagonists are introduced, the pair attend a party thrown by one of the film’s side characters, Clay (Noah Urrea), who is performing in his own band (“Mollycoddle”). Mollycoddle only cover mainstream pop songs (Ed Sheeran), and not well. But the crowd, particularly the ladies, appear to eat it up. While Kevin loads himself up with enough liquid courage to actually flirt with a girl, Hunter continues to get bullied by the film’s antagonist, Skip (Phelan Davis - American Vandal (2018).) Skip shoving Hunter into a speaker that interrupts Mollycoddle’s cover of “We Dem Boyz”, and Clay (a genuinely nice guy) offers to help Hunter up. Hunter balks at the offer and lashes out at Clay, delivering a tirade about how Clay’s band is just, “a bunch of f*cktards.” Clay then sets the movie in motion by indicating that he’ll see Hunter and Kevin at the Battle of the Bands.
The film sets up the legend of Troy Nix (Joe Manganiello) and his band, “Kiloton” who previously won the Battle of the Bands back in the 90’s and were poised for metal glory, but ultimately broke up. Hunter believes if they can win the Battle of the Bands, it would be a huge step towards one day landing a record deal. With the boys’ focus now squarely set on performing and winning at Battle of the Bands, they start their search for a bass player.
Credit: Netflix US LLC
Hunter’s father in the movie is portrayed by Brett Gelman (The Other Guys (2010)), as Dr. Sylvester, a plastic surgeon with a highly tenuous relationship with his son. Despite father and son not seeing eye to eye throughout the film, it’s clear that Dr. Sylvester has somewhat attempted to buy Hunter’s love, or at least obedience with purchases like guitars, amps, and a Dodge Challenger to drive around in. But when Hunter decides Kevin needs a massive drum kit with dual bass drums, Hunter swipes his father’s credit card to cover the tab. With no room at his house to his new drums, Kevin finds a practice space at the school. He notices Emily playing cello, and introduces the young Scottish woman to metal through Hunter’s song, “Machine of Torment”. Despite being classically trained, she easily sight reads the notes and plays a version of the song highly reminiscent of the Vitamin String Quartet whenever they would cover metal songs. This interaction sets Emily and Kevin’s relationship in motion. The upcoming conflict is pretty obvious at this point. Skullf*cker needs a bassist, Emily could fill the role with her cello, but Hunter doesn’t want chicks or cellos in his band, and this is going to generate a rift between Hunter and Kevin if they have any hope of winning Battle of the Bands.
With the stage set, let’s move away from the shot for shot narrative and dig into the characters a bit before I provide my final verdict on this film.
Hunter
Credit: Netflix US LLC
One scene of this film that I felt was too short was a scene where the boys are playing D&D with a couple of guys from school, one of whom they intend to ask to join their band. I feel like this is a not so subtle nod to Morello, Manganiello, and Weiss’s personal love for the game. Unfortunately, the session is cut short by Hunter’s abrasive behavior, when he kills their would-be bassist’s character, prompting the bass player to leave. This scene shows us two things: (1) that despite the palpable need for a bassist in the band, Hunter allows his anger to take center stage as opposed to band’s needs for a bassist; and (2) this is our first glimpse at the dissonant, but believable, relationship between Hunter and his dad. Hunter clearly doesn’t respect the work that his dad does as a plastic surgeon, and Dr. Sylvester doesn’t respect the fantasy roleplaying or his son’s obsession with metal. The scene allows the viewer to see that ever since mom left the picture, these two are stuck with each other.
But like I said, this scene was too short, it doesn’t even really address what caused the conflict between Hunter and the bassist. Furthermore, this scene shows us that the film would have benefited overall from a deeper dive into the issues between Hunter and his dad. The photo of Hunter’s family shows a young Hunter between his father and who we can assume would be his mother, but the face is ripped out. The issue I have with the film is that just like the D&D scene is clearly cut up, it appears as though the filmmakers wanted to address further issues regarding alcohol abuse. First, Hunter takes issue with Kevin’s drinking in the beginning of the movie following the party, mentioning pointedly that Troy Nix’s band likely folded due to issues relating to alcohol. Second, during the D&D scene, the camera cuts back and forth between Dr. Sylvester pouring more and more vodka into his screwdriver several times as the tension rises with the scene as Hunter tantrums from being screwed over in D&D. Yet the alcohol thread never resolves. In fact, I don’t believe Hunter’s arc ever really resolves at all.
The film is broken up into three pieces with the beginning setting up the overall plot of finding a bassist so that the boys can play and win Battle of the Bands, the middle creates tension between the boys as Kevin develops a relationship with Emily and grows to want to different things, and the film ends like any good metal film should, in rehab. The rehab portion is where Manganiello’s portrayal of Dr. Troy Nix (Hunter’s metal idol) who has moved on from music to serving their city’s youth as a psychiatrist.
The boys inevitably get into a fight regarding Kevin wanting Emily in the band. Hunter’s repeated dismissals ultimately push Kevin into the accepting arms of Clay and Mollycoddle, to fill-in as their drummer for Clay’s sister’s wedding. Hunter is not happy about Kevin’s blossoming relationship with Emily, and not happy to be hearing that Kevin is likely jumping ship to play pop covers with Clay. Kevin going to play the wedding leads to another one of my favorite scenes in the film.
We get a scene of Hunter (finally) listening to some heavy black metal from Zeal & Ardor, while he adorns his face with corpse paint, paying homage to black metal acts such as Behemoth and Gorgoroth. This scene feels very dark and brooding thanks to the background song, but caused me to laugh out loud as Hunter pauses his ritual to check that he is properly following the YouTube video demonstrating how to apply the makeup. As Hunter leaves to get Kevin back from Mollycoddle, Dr. Slyvester tells “Krusty the Clown” to hold up because he has found the bill for the $13,000 drums that the boys bought on his credit card. But Hunter tells his dad to, “go f*ck a nurse!” and storms off into the night ready to battle.
This scene works for me because it feels so metal. It’s dark, it’s angry, and with Hunter having shaved the side of head after being attacked by Skip, just looks #MetalAF. And the notes of levity from the YouTube video and “Krusty the Clown” comment fit very well. This is undoubtedly why this scene makes into the Metal Lords trailer. But this all goes wrong when Hunter is stopped by the wedding venue’s security guard who simply flicks Hunter in the balls with his flashlight and has him arrested for trespassing. I feel like we really wanted to see Hunter wreck havoc on the wedding, which would have lodged a deeper wedge between the boys and serve as the rising tension before the finale. Instead, Dr. Sylvester bails Hunter out of jail and immediately sends him to … rehab?
My issue with this portion of Hunter’s arc is that it's clear Hunter isn’t addicted to alcohol or drugs. He’s just addicted to metal. Although the father and son relationship is extremely strained, it doesn’t make sense to me that Dr. Sylvester would send Hunter to rehab as opposed to some sort of “home for wayward boys.” And at rehab, I feel like the filmmakers missed their opportunity to let Hunter vent his issues with his dad, or even his only once mentioned mom. Instead Dr. Troy Nix shares the reason for the breakup of Kiloton. Alcohol was involved but only because Dr. Nix hated his self-absorbed bandmates.
“If you’re going to record with people, you’re going to tour with people, you’re going to spend all day, everyday with them for years, you sure as shit better like hanging out with them.”
And this clicks with Hunter, he essentially meets his ghost of Christmas future who tells him, quit being a dick or you’ll end up being a child psychiatrist. Dr. Nix asks Hunter about drugs, alcohol, depression, and Hunter denies having an issue. So what is Hunter’s response when asked what the problem is? “Just fucking metal, man.” To wit Dr. Nix responds, “I don’t have time for this.” (I couldn’t agree more.)
But what does Hunter’s response mean? I would have been okay with this answer if metal hadn’t been defined throughout the film as, “commitment, sticking it to the man, speaking truth to power, and speed.” Kevin uses metal as taking control of his own life, and not letting people push you around, even if it is your best friend. Hunter on the other hand does the same thing as he never takes no for an answer and never backs down from his bully. But he himself becomes a bully to Kevin in a lot of ways and even Emily when he drives her into a rage episode during a speech. He has zero respect for his dad throughout the film, but after the finale there seems to be some modicum of understanding between the two. Maybe the film hints at Dr. Sylvester’s sending Hunter to rehab as a wake up call that he’s now truly alone. But how does that change his father’s feelings towards him? It’s unclear. That’s why I believe a slightly deeper diver into their relationship and why mom left would have helped (at least me) appreciate the resolution at the end. It felt undeserved.
But I love Hunter’s character. The filmmakers cast the right dude for the role and he carried that metalhead mentality of “fuck the system” proudly throughout. But what is missing is some more depth to his character. Why be a metalhead? Why do you want to make it so bad? What does the music mean to you? All of these questions are missing answers, and if you answer these throughout the film you’re building a stronger character. In fact, I think it would’ve been very interesting to see Dr. Nix ask Hunter, “so, why metal?” And watch Hunter not be able to answer that question without delving into something deeper.
Kevin
Credit: Netflix US LLC
Kevin’s character is a very recognizable character in the film. A weak little nerd who eventually learns to stand up for himself and branch out because he finds strength from (fill-in the blank). I like this character because it’s clear in several scenes throughout the film that Kevin doesn’t even really like metal. He’s not a drummer, he’s a member of the drumline (i.e., only plays one drum). He longs to no longer be an outcast, which he’s destined to be so long as he continues his relationship with Hunter. We see this in spades during the party scene as he asks how is it so easy for everyone to just hangout, party, and dance. He’s terrified but attracted to such interaction, which is in stark contrast to Hunter who only notices how bad Mollycoddle are at playing simple pop songs.
But metal takes a hold of Kevin about half-way through the movie. Following the bass player walking out of the D&D game, Hunter is driving Kevin home and Kevin attempts to insert Emily as a good candidate to serve as their bassist. But per Hunter’s idealized vision of Skullf*cker does not include a female cellist, and shoots down Kevin’s suggestion. In response, Kevin states that maybe he isn’t right for Skullf*cker. This causes Hunter to pull over the car to flick-off and flick the bully Skip in mouth. The resultant car chase with Kevin behind the wheel gives him a new understanding of what it is to be metal. “Metal is taking the wheel.” With their visions realigned, Hunter provides Kevin with a list of heavy metal songs for him to practice as homework.
As mentioned before, the film doesn’t shy away from showing that Kevin doesn’t (initially) have a keen interest in playing or listening to metal. This really isn’t that big of a deal because the real story here isn’t about kids exploring the metal scene, it’s more about kids learning about themselves and there’s some metal playing in the background. (I’ll explore this point a bit later.) But the core of the conflict and its resolution has to do with two friends burying the hatchet to come together as best friends do to win the Battle of the Bands. This is a fairly generic arc, but when it’s used in Metal Lords, I feel like we’re missing the depth needed to believe that these two are friends at all.
Kevin states that the pair have been friends since 3rd grade when Hunter protected him from some girl pulling his hair. But other than that anecdote, there aren’t enough scenes in the films that show a pair of friends trying to work together towards a common goal. In fact, Clay is nicer to Kevin and seems to genuinely want to hang out with him. This is in contrast to Hunter’s interactions with Kevin, where Kevin is a means to an end for his metal dreams. Even the nameless bassist during the D&D scene says, “see you in class, Kevin.” I think a short montage of the boys growing up, or rocking out, or just smiling and laughing together would have made the audience feel more invested in the boys’ friendship.
But for Kevin, the real spark for him comes from his relationship with Emily, the mentally unstable Scot. Besides Kevin and Emily developing a relationship which seems to make them both happy, there’s not much else to Kevin’s character. It’s been apparent since the beginning of the film that Kevin wants more from his relationship with Hunter, which is why he’s willing to join Mollycoddle despite the rift it creates between the boys. It is funny to see Ed Sheeran being covered with a metal drummer adding in sick fills that don’t necessarily fit the song. Kevin is leagues above the rest of Mollycoddle when it comes to musical ability. After the show, Clay genuinely thanks Kevin for filling-in for their drummer and says they’d love to have him for battle of the bands. He also makes it clear that even if the answer is “no”, Kevin is welcome to hangout with Mollycoddle anytime.
One of the highlights of the film is Kevin getting into a hot tub with the girl he flirted with in the beginning of the film, both once again intoxicated. Kevin joins her and things heat up with the girl kissing on his neck. Suddenly, we’re treated to a cameo from Scott Ian (Anthrax), Kirk Hammet (Metallica), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), and Rob Halford (Juda Priest) weighing the pros and cons of Kevin potentially cheating on Emily. Ultimately, Rob talks sense into Kevin telling him if he loves the girl, don’t be an asshole. With that Kevin takes off.
My issues with Kevin throughout the film are much the same as the other characters here, there’s not enough depth. Fortunately or not, the Netflix era of media has given filmmakers the opportunity to flesh out stories in mini-series when movies just won’t cut it. I would love to see Metal Lords allow more time to dive into Kevin and Hunter’s relationship a bit more because the motivation between the two is not clear and comes off as feeling very much co-dependent as opposed to true friendship. Kevin and Emily have a more healthy relationship, but it evolved so quickly I could’ve sworn this was a Disney movie from the 90’s.
Emily
Credit: Netflix US LLC
Not much to say about Emily. There’s no issues between Emily and Kevin because Kevin takes the place of her medication for her unidentified psychological issues. In fact, the cast has said as much in interviews that they made sure to keep Emily’s diagnosis “unidentified” on purpose. Which is fine, but since that’s one of the few things the audience is privy to about her character aside from her Scotch accent, it would be nice to deal with her psychological issues throughout the film in some form to flesh her character out a bit further.
When the boys’ search for a bassist (that isn’t Emily) continues to flounder Kevin again attempts to approach Hunter to add Emily to Skullf*cker, but is once again wholly shot down when Hunter states, “having a cello player instead of a bass player would be completely gay.” This culminates in likely my favorite scene from the movie where the camera pivots to several of Hunter’s metal posters featuring bulging packages, back leather and studs, and shirtless dudes. Kevin follows this up with a comment on the band name stating, “you named it that to impress girls? We’re going to die virgins in a band called Skullf*cker.”
Kevin, calling Emily to apologize about Hunter’s comments, is completely caught off guard when Emily asks if Kevin wants to no longer be a virgin. They meet in a parking lot and go into Emily’s parents’ work van to become not-virgins. This scene is funny due to how awkward it is but is also completely unbelievable due to both characters being so seemingly socially inept. But now Emily and Kevin are a thing.
And that’s about it for Emily’s character. The pair’s relationship blossoms to the chagrin of Hunter who goes as far to deliver a very impassioned and #MetalAF speech in class about exploration and metal. His speech coupled with several different badass metal riffs from Pantera, Metallica, and Motorhead, ultimately staring Emily down in class telling her to leave Kevin alone so he can achieve his potential. Emily has a breakdown, throwing her chair at Hunter. After this, not much characterization for Emily. She has one moment where she describes her feelings relating to her illness to Kevin, but the film drops that thread since Kevin makes her feel better and there’s nothing else to explore.
The Third Act
Credit: Netflix US LLC
After Kevin plays with Mollycoddle, he’s unaware that Krusty the Clown has been thrown in rehab. A brief trip to a Guitar Center, and a scene of two boys fighting over a guitar pedal, somehow leads Kevin to miss Hunter. He calls Hunter a few times but can’t get through because his phone is confiscated in rehab. At this point Kevin is nearly ready to join Mollycoddle for Battle of the Bands since Hunter isn’t returning his calls. But Kevin decides to call Hunter’s landline and reaches his dad who reveals that Hunter is in rehab, and now Kevin knows he must save Hunter because if it wasn’t him he wouldn’t have discovered metal, and without metal he wouldn’t have found Emily. “He’s my best friend.” (Slippery slope fallacy.)
Kevin busts Hunter out with a well pulled fire alarm and the boys (plus Mollycoddle’s drummer who is rehab for substance abuse issues) reach the parking lot only to be stopped by Dr. Nix. Dr. Nix gives Hunter a pick and lets the boys escape. Hunter tells Kevin that he deserves a better best friend and that he’s sorry. They meet up with Emily, and Hunter explains that her rage incident busted his skull, dented his guitar, and was, “Metal beyond reproach.” Emily says she’s not ready and runs inside. Bummer…
Battle of the Bands
Mollycoddle is set to perform before Skullf*cker. Kevin brings them their old drummer who’s currently sober, and for whatever reason Hunter apologizes to Clay for the “wedding thing” which the audience didn’t really get to see. Hunter displays some good sportsmanship wishing Mollycoddle the best of luck, and then Emily walks up all decked out in black, to the sound of Pantera’s, “I’m Broken”, and the trio is ready to f*ck shit up.
Credit: Netflix US LLC
“Machinery of Torment” is a badass metal song. Not sure that it’s technically “post-death metal” like Hunter had described themselves as, but it's a solid jam nevertheless, even garnering many in the crowd to start headbanging. Hunter finally nails his face-melting guitar solo and fantasizes that he is floating above the crowd, looking towards the ceiling as though finally truly happy. But Skip (the bully) ruins the moment by bumping into Hunter’s monitor, causing him slip backwards into his stack of amps which fall on his leg causing a compound fracture. (This wouldn’t be a metal movie without some blood on the dance floor.)
Skullf*cker (now known as Skullflower due to the school administrator’s objection to the other name) took second place. Hunter is in a cast and Dr. Sylvester comes down to congratulate the trio. And in this final moment between the two, Hunter and his dad seem to have somehow mended their bridges. And that’s the problem with this film. Everything seemingly and expectedly ties together in at the end, but its not earned.
Credit: Netflix US LLC
Final Verdict
The premise of the film is simple, but the characters feel empty. Two boys want to be rock stars, a girl gets in the way, conflict ensues, and they all come together to play a great show with everyone now having learned a valuable life lesson, the end. And this issue isn’t with the actors, they were great! In fact, they each learned to play their instruments during production, although their performance of “Machinery of Torment” was dubbed. The issue is that we were setup with some characters who had potential, we needed more background on their home life to make them believable. I was left asking, are Kevin and Hunter really friends, and if so, why? What really sets off Emily’s psychological issues, and did she reconcile feeling like she uprooted her family? How are Hunter and Dr. Sylvester cool now? Hunter literally just escaped from rehab by having his friend pull a fire alarm! Hunter’s just okay with Clay now, despite all the shitty music they play? That’s not metal!
What I’m saying is, I wanted more. The film felt like it left a lot on the cutting room floor. We know there’s more to the D&D scene based on dialogue, and we know there’s more to the wedding crasher scene with Hunter’s conversation with Clay. We never explore the alcohol issue with Hunter, we never explore Hunter’s mom leaving the family, we don’t see how Hunter and the special kid become buddies, we never see more of Kevin’s home life aside from driving around his little brother, and finally we never see Hunter and Kevin as friends. A lot of issues I have with the film would be resolved with ONE scene from the boys’ past where they appear genuinely as friends. The film could cut out the bully character completely, show us why the kids are the way they are, and you have a much more satisfying film. This felt like the director painted by numbers, but only used primary colors. There was no heart.
And THAT is what metal is. Metal is heart, and this film did capture that from time to time. When Kevin starts getting into the drums and starts enjoying the music, that’s what metal is about. When Hunter puts on his war paint to get Kevin back from Mollycoddle, that’s metal. And when they get on stage and play their asses off, that’s metal. But those scenes are only a few minutes out of the movie, and one of those scenes in particular wasn’t capitalized on.
While I enjoyed the film overall, due in large part to metal being featured so prominently in the title, this isn’t a film about metal. This is a film about two outcasts dealing with personal issues, and finding personal growth through expressing themselves with metal music. Hunter is only truly happy when he gets to be the rock star he thinks he is. And Kevin is at his peak when he’s on drums as the music gave him confidence and made him a badass. The same could likely be said for Emily, but there wasn’t enough in the film for us to really figure out what she took from the music. I hope this doesn’t spell the end for these characters. I’d love to see a sequel in the same vein as The Rocker (2008), where in Metal Lords II, the kids go on tour and live the rock star life, get into hijinks, and kick some ass. But before any of that, we need to know the most important question that doesn’t seem to be answered at any point throughout the movie, why metal? Kevin adopted metal to appease Hunter, and Emily adopted metal to appease Kevin. But why did Hunter turn to metal? Why not grunge or emo? You answer that question in the film, and a lot of the pieces that are missing will fall into place.
Final Verdict: 7/10
