Tom Cruise scores as a metal god in Rock of Ages

AP photoAlec Baldwin plays the owner of the Bourbon Room, Dennis Dupree (left) and Tom Cruise plays rock god Stacee Jaxx in New Line Cinemas rock musical Rock of Ages.

Just when you thought youd never hear Def Leppards Pour Some Sugar on Me again outside of a strip club comes Rock of Ages, a shiny, splashy homage to the decadence of 1980s rock n roll.

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• This film image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx in New Line Cinemas rock musical Rock of Ages, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures, David James)

Specifically, were talking about 1987 on the Sunset Strip, the birthplace of bands like Guns N Roses and Poison, and all the big-haired, eye-linered debauchery that defined that scene. Your enjoyment of this musical, based on the Tony-nominated Broadway show, will depend greatly on your enjoyment of this music because director Adam Shankman (Hairspray) crams in a lot of it.

Did you make out in a car with! your hi gh school honey past curfew to Skid Rows I Remember You? If your answer is yes, youll probably have a good time, even though the movie lasts an awfully long time. Theres way too much Foreigner on the soundtrack for my personal liking, and no one ever needs to hear Starships We Built This City played in public (or in private for that matter), even ironically. Journeys Dont Stop Believin, the films climactic final number, has the misfortune of having grown tiresome in recent years between its inclusion on Glee and The Sopranos finale. And if were really being nitpicky, some of the songs featured here, like the Extreme ballad More Than Words, didnt even exist yet.

Still, if this era was a formative time in your life and youre feeling a yearning for kitschy nostalgia, Rock of Ages provides a sufficiently fun little escape. Aqua Net! Wine coolers! Men with ponytails! We were so lame.

Sure, the characters are all broad types, from fresh-faced newcomers with dreams of stardom to grizzled, cynical veterans whove seen it all. And sure, their antics are glossed-up and watered-down compared to reality to ensure a PG-13 accessibility. But the movie has enough energy to keep you suitably entertained, as well as a knowing, cheeky streak that prevents it from turning too reverent and self-serious.

The impossibly adorable Julianne Hough stars as Sherrie, a wholesome blonde fresh off the bus from Oklahoma who hopes to make it as a singer in Los Angeles. Instead, she ends up working as a waitress at the venerable (and fictional) Bourbon Room, where she quickly falls for aspiring rocker Drew (Diego Boneta).

But the club has lost some of its cache, to the distress of its owner (Alec Baldwin in long hair and a leather vest) and his right-hand man (Russell Brand, being Russell Brand), so theyre hoping a performance from rock god Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise, easily the best part of the film) will keep them alive. Stacees sleazy manager (a well-cast Paul Giamatti, whos also game enough to sing) merely wants ! to conti nue milking his notoriously unreliable client.

With a bandana tied around his long, wild tresses, aviator sunglasses and fur coat over his bare, tatted chest, Cruise is clearly aping Guns N Roses lead singer Axl Rose. (And speaking of apes, everywhere the character goes, hes accompanied by his pet baboon named Hey Man). But the swagger is reminiscent of his supporting role in Magnolia, still his best work yet. Cruise gives a performance thats intensely weird and weirdly intense; its sexy and funny and a great fit for his own status as a rock star among actors.

Unfortunately, this film version (with a script from Chris DArienzo, who created the stage show, Allan Loeb and Justin Theroux) also feels the need to cram in a subplot about the self-righteous, uptight wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) of L.A.s mayor (Bryan Cranston), whos on a crusade to clean up the Strip. Even though the Chicago stars intentionally rigid performance of Pat Benatars Hit Me With Your Best Shot is good for a laugh, the whole story thread seems like a feeble attempt at injecting tension.

Far more effective is the presence of Mary J. Blige as the strip club owner with a heart of gold who takes Sherrie under her wing when life in Los Angeles gets too tough. The second she struts into a room and opens her mouth, she just blows everyone else away a powerful reminder of how a superstar can truly rock.

ROCK OF AGES

Starring Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones. Directed by Adam Shankman. PG-13. Opens Thursday night at midnight at Cinemark Movies and Premiere Cinema.