Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny: review-licious

Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (15)
Dir. Liam Lynch

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Do you hear that scream of anguish echoing from the everlasting fires of hell itself…? Is it Beelzebub himself crying over his lost tooth that rockers on earth are using as a pick for their guitars? Oddly enough, yes, that’s exactly the case and Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny tells this unlikely tale in a full-on profane road trip comedy that is quite unlike anything else ever made. It’s a story of hard rock, of mind bending drugs and of how the unholy tooth / pick (of destiny) became a grail like quest for Tenacious D, self-described "Greatest Band on Earth", whose members are JB (Jack Black) and KG (Kyle Gass).
If you thought Jack Black rocked in School of Rock, or have ever bought a Tenacious D record then Pick of Destiny might be your kind of film. It’s totally crass, completely stupid and only just holds together as the plot lurches from one Tenacious D mock metal song to the next. But thanks to Black’s comic genius and Gass’s mild natured straight guy performance it ends up delivering a reasonably fun slice of power sliding heaven anyway. Helped no end by quality cameos from the likes of Ben Stiller, Tim Robbins and genuine metal heads including Meatloaf, Dave Grohl and Ronnie James Dio (yes he of Black Sabbath fame).
So step this way for a film that is a wilfully dim hour and a half of jokes about guitar chords, demons and living the ‘rock dream’ topped off by a climatic rock battle against the devil himself. If on the other hand, the thought of Jack Black using his manhood to disable a security laser network doesn’t bring a smile to you face, then perhaps it’s best to move along and find something with a more meaningful plotline.
And whilst you don’t have to be a Tenacious D fan to enjoy cinematic references such as when JB is attacked by a quartet of droogs straight out of A Clockwork Orange, there isn’t quite enough on offer here to make this more than a fun oddity for most people.
A final word of caution, watching this movie may cause you to dig out old Van Halen albums or similar and burst into frenzied bouts of air guitar and /or power sliding – much to the bemusement of your family, you have been warned.

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):

Action öö - song based trippy action
Laughs ööö – stoner laughs but some genuine amusement
Horror ööö – fear the lord of metal hell
Babes öö – Brittany Eldridge anyone?

Overall ööö (MF'g Rock Gods Man)

Darkmatters: H O M E