Movie/DVD Review

As the founders of the mightiest rock band in the world, wealthy beyond compare, and still musically relevant after twenty plus years, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich leave it to their gigantic egos to shake the Metallica ship into tumultuous waters. Who would have imagined back in the day when you popped in your Ride The Lightning tape and head banged to the band’s kamikaze attack of guitar riffs and growling vocals, that this "metal up your ass" band would be starring in a psychodrama. So much for the Metallica version of The Song Remains The Same.

Lets not take anything away from their revealing documentary Some Kind Of Monster, directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. On the heels of the shaky relationship blossoming between Ulrich and Hetfield, Metalllica hires a $40,000 a month therapist/performance enhancement coach to help the band through their artistic and interpersonal struggles. The two are seen as cranky divas, fighting for their own control and personal gratification from the band, rather than two eye to eye visionaries who built Metallica into metal legends. Meanwhile founding guitarist Kirk Hammett contains his feelings in less volatile fashion, with his sporadic whining of "come on guys, can’t we all just get along?"

Beginning with bassist Jason Newstead’s departure in 2001, Metallica realized their greatest weakness was themselves and begin group therapy. As the band settles into a bunker in the Presidio of San Francisco to begin recording a two-year project on the album that would become St. Anger, their creative endeavors never catch fire. Things intensify when Hetfield takes a sudden six month hiatus to conquer his demons – going from a man of excess to family man. When you watch him at peace with himself at his daughter's ballet recital, you wonder just how this man was writing songs for the new album like "Shoot Me Again" and "Some Kind Of Monster."

There are some great moments in the movie that Metallica fans will eat up. These include Ulrich’s first meeting with Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine since his abrupt firing from Metallica in the early eighties. Clearly the therapy session did Mustaine some good, rekindling how his life has been full of "what could have beens." Ulrich’s father, who resembles a Star Wars character, makes a comic relief cameo as a sort of aging medicine man, sporadically nodding off while providing his insight into the band’s newest batch of songs.

We get to see Ulrich auctioning off his entire art collection, stating how it somehow resembles a bygone period of his life. Meanwhile he can't help himself but to get smashed at the biddings. Former bass player Newstead, never regretting his decision to quit Metallica, debuts his new project Echobrain at a bay area night club. The band's giddy reception drops a bucket of jealousy upon Ulrich who was in attendance, claiming Echobrain to be the future and Metallica the past. Perhaps the most amusing of the viewing is witnessing the fly-by auditions for a new bass player. These auditions featured many metal heavy weights, until resident bad-ass Robert Trujillo gets offered a cool million to fill the shoes, leaving him speechless.

Some Kind Of Monster, is a damn good documentary that allows us to peak in and see the band as real people rather than the macho characters we're familiar with from MTV. Although 139 minutes in length, the film absorbs the important drama that only those within the organization have had the opportunity to witness. Better yet, after viewning the film, the hit or miss St. Anger sounds even more dramatic and urgent. Here's to the mighty Metallica.