4/5
Blaze Of Story.
4 Episodes. Starring: Jon Bon Jovi, Tico Torres, David Bryan, Hugh McDonald & Phil X. Director: Gotham Chopra. On: Hulu & Disney +.
"It's like Babe Ruth said", a young Los Angeles Laker and NBA great Kobe Bryant told an interviewer. "You swing big, and you miss big." Jon Bon Jovi, recovering from vocal surgery, is watching Tiger Woods play. The great golfer is attempting a comeback after his own trip from the brink and back surgery. Trying to master his game before hanging his hat with his clubs and green jackets. He doesn't quite make it to the cup. Like a ballplayer with an Achilles heel, or a rocker without a voice.
It's 40 years to 'Forever' and the 'Legendary' Bon Jovi is staring down the barrel of his career as he stands at the intersection of a black and white New York City street with his band's jacket on his back. Will they tour again, that's the Shakespeare. Living on more than a prayer. Well, we all know now, that hell for leather yes is the answer for Bon Jovi's forthcoming tour. But will it always be the same? Or will this be a farewell tour that goes out in a blaze of glory. Because that's the question in the new Hulu and Disney + four part miniseries documentary that feels like the Chicago Bulls' 'Last Dance' for Bon Jovi. Watching the 'Elvis' movie, wondering whether this is his Las Vegas residency. It's now or never, as they release their latest, and one of their greatest albums in the sweet sixteenth of 'Forever'. Will they be able to keep it together and keep the faith? Or will this be the swansong across the nation and watching world when Bon Jovi finally says, 'Thank You, Goodnight'?
This Bon Jovi documentary stars, of course, Jon Bon Jovi, Tico Torres, David Bryan, Hugh McDonald and Phil X. Not to mention some special guests we simply won't spoil in testimonial and tribute to this Hall of Fame act. Just like a fellow Jersey boy who came up from the Meadowlands to bloom across stadiums across the world like it was the boardwalk (too much...you got it already, didn't you?). These four...formidable and compelling chapters of 'The Bon Jovi' story are directed by Gotham Chopra, a director more known for movies like 'The Love Guru' and 'Bulletproof Monk'. But before you say, erm, just watch and rock. Besides, the coolest name ever in Gotham, executive produced top doc's like 'The Game That Changed Everything: Yankees vs. Red Sox '04 ALCS', 'Destination NBA: A G League Odyssey', 'Goliath' (a Showtime special about the big basketball great, Wilt Chamberlain), 'Searching For Shohei: An Interview Special', and Tom Brady's 'Man In The Arena'. The sport analogies are sound. And you best believe they translate from the play book to the song one in Jon's back pocket.
From the salad days when every strand of Jon Bon's hair demanded its own curling iron, to going grey, yet wise and weary now, this show documents it all. Behind the scenes personal photos, videos, archive footage and found demos and finished songs from the cutting room floor that will complete the next anthology for the record. Bon Jovi are facing off with their own impermanence, all as they look for the immortality that comes with writing the next great American song. It's their life (BWAH, BWAH), and they're still living it to the full. Without the excess of drink and drugs. Even if divorce came their way as Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora ended their Lennon and McCartney, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid like perfect partnership. The band still rides, dead or alive, on a steel horse. What more could you want? Jon is just glad he's still full of "piss and vinegar" at 60. The type that comes with a trusty old coat as a pillow. Even if that blonde that gave him nightmares is on a lost highway. Life isn't all a bed of roses, but when it gets bad, this is the medicine, band and story to lay your hands on. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Further Filming: 'The Last Dance', 'If These Walls Could Sing', 'McCartney 3,2,1'.
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