Thankfully, during the movie’s back half, director Peter Sollett (“Raising Victor Vargas,” “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist”) often slows down long enough to sell this very Gen X fantasy about the enduring appeal (and character-developing side benefits) of being a teenage metalhead.
In “Metal Lords,” Kevin and Hunter’s friendship is tested by Emily (Isis Hainsworth), a Scottish-American cellist that Kevin likes, but Hunter does not, because, ew, girls. This sort of feel-good/formulaic progress narrative already seemed quaint by the time that “Wayne’s World” director Penelope Spheeris revived the He-Man Woman Hater’s Club for her Amblin-produced “Little Rascals” revival. Still, Hunter does inadvertently school autodidact Kevin on the true meaning of metal.
“Metal Lords” eventually focuses on all three lead protagonists instead of their limited roles in pushing the plot towards its foregone conclusion. The film may be cinematic comfort food, but its creators do earn our trust and nail all the essential beats they need to along the way.
That said: Hunter’s loud personality dominates the movie’s uninspired first half. He eventually becomes more interesting as a foil for other characters, but Hunter initially (and repeatedly) steamrolls over Kevin, his best friend, to overcompensate for his own (relatively mild) daddy issues. Because while Hunter gets almost everything he wants in life, he just can’t relate to Dr. Sylvester (Brett Gelman), his bougie divorcee father. Thankfully, Hunter’s relationship with Dr. Sylvester develops a lived-in tenderness that makes even their most shrill disagreements seem convincing.
For a while, Hunter is defined by the proliferation of band posters that line his basement walls, including formative metal bands like Judas Priest and Anthrax, and newer acts like Amon Amarth and Opeth. It soon becomes clear that Hunter has an outdated view of what’s cool about metal. Fortunately, he’s neither shamed nor indulged as a result of his callow behavior. And Emily and Kevin’s awkward courtship does eventually become a major part of the movie’s story and not just a plot device.
A definitive turning point comes about 43 minutes into “Metal Lords,” after Emily and Kevin have sex in the back of her family’s van. Kevin joins her in her bedroom where Emily gets to take the lead a little: they have a staring contest and, at her suggestion, he lies down on top of her. Emily’s still essentially a stock character, but the sincere and convincing expression of her puppy love crush on Kevin proves that the movie’s creators know when to slow down long enough to ease into some familiar plot contrivances. Even Dr. Sylvester and Hunter’s dysfunctional relationship develops nicely thanks to the movie’s strong ensemble cast and the comic timing in a few key scenes that are affectionate, funny, and well-paced enough to sell the movie’s otherwise canned drama. In this way, Sollett and Weiss do a fair job of representing teenagers as we (or really, some of us) would like to imagine them instead of how they actually are.