movie: The Runaways

Hey guys!

Wow, way to start off this blog, right? By posting something the day AFTER I said I would. I'm really sorry. Finals and everything are going on now, and my brain is SO scrambled. It's probably just luck that I put my clothes on right (and not inside out or backwards or anything else) today.

Yeah I know, get on to the movie review. So here goes. My review/write up on the movie "The Runaways". This is the first one I ever wrote, so don't be too harsh on me. haha. Oh, and it CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE. So if you don't like spoilers, stop reading right now. Still with me? Ok, let's do this now then.

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It was a bit weird seeing Dakota Fanning in this movie. I can't seem to think of her as 16 years old. I mean, I know she's about the same age as my sister, but I still think of her as the little kid from I Am Sam. So seeing her as Cherie Currie, and so into drugs and everything was just a bit too weird. She is an amazing actress though, and looked so much like Cherie did in The Runaways (the band).

Going into this movie, I was not a huge fan of Kristen Stewart. Granted, before this, I'd only ever seen her in the Twilight movies, so I had my doubts about her acting abilities. This movie completely changed my opinion of her as an actress though; she was... I hate to use the word amazing again (I've realized lately that I use that word far too often), but I don't know another word for it. She was amazing. She was so, so, so perfect as Joan Jett. I don't think they could have picked a more perfect actress to play Joan Jett - and this is coming from a big Joan Jett fan/not a big Kristen Stewart fan.

Dakota and Kristen worked really really well together on screen. I don't know if they're friends in real life or what, but the chemistry between them on the screen felt so real. They seemed like best friends, like Cherie and Joan were, and I loved every minute of it. The kiss between them didn't feel forced or overdone or anything. I liked the way it turned out on screen. It was something that just happened. Of course... both their characters were on drugs and everything when the kiss happened... but still, it was well done.

And oh my God, Michael Shannon was unbelievable as Kim Fowley. I have no idea who he (Michael Shannon) is - I've never heard of him before this movie, but he was phenomenal. Kristen and Dakota were both amazing, don't get me wrong, but Michael was by far the best actor in the movie. Every scene he was in, he completely stole the scene.

The way the actors all looked was PERFECT. The hair stylists, make up artists, and costume designers did such amazing jobs. Kristen especially looked absolutely perfect, there's no other way to describe her. And Michael... just wow. His looks matched his character so well. Just wow, seriously.

The negatives.... the movie felt kind of too rushed. They left out some scenes that I thought would have been important. The movie was based on Cherie's book (which I think is called "Neon Angel") and I know movies can't fit in everything books do... but in the movie when Cherie has a problem with singing the line "Have ya, grab ya, til you're sore!" in the song Cherry Bomb, the viewer has no idea why.

However while it was somewhat rushed, some parts were also really slow and almost boring. With most of the movie so fast paced, any slower scenes felt longer than they actually were. Very little of the movie is devoted to the other band members - it's pretty much all Cherie and Joan. It was easy to almost forget about all the others. When, towards the end of the movie, one of the other band members (I think Lita) freaked out on Cherie when she pretty much quit the band right in the middle of recording a CD, it was surprising because we (the viewers) really don't see any of her personality at any point before this - so it feels almost like "wait, what?"

All in all though, it was such an amazing movie and I recommend seeing it.
One note though, if you don't like swearing... don't see it. There's A LOT of swearing in this movie.

Overall rating: 9/10