. Much the same can be said about Malcolm Venville’s new documentary Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition.
As far as rock documentaries go, this is definitely one of them. The regular ingredients do their job: a parade of talking heads and oodles of archival footage tell a story we already know. The band is good. People love them. They have some troubles, but ultimately prevail.
The film is at its best when it looks at what Iron Maiden did differently. Its 1984 trip to Poland, at a time when communist rule had outlawed outside media as radical as heavy metal, is a fascinating chapter in the band’s storied career.
Iron Maiden
JOHN McMURTRIE
So too is the story of Ed Force One, the customised Iron Maiden jet piloted by lead singer Bruce Dickinson, who flew his band and crew from gig to gig all around the world and allowed them to visit places (Puerto Rico, Mumbai, Costa Rica) they couldn’t have otherwise.
Powerslaves: to metal, to themselves, to their fans
But the Iron Maiden documentary is as much about their fans as it is about the members of the band.
Community is the bedrock of heavy metal, stronger than any blast beat or brutal breakdown. So, centring fan experiences in this story is smart.
Some of the fans interviewed here are famous: Chuck D, Gene Simmons, Scott Ian, Tom Morello and Lars Ulrich. Most of them aren’t. But every one of them lights up when talking about their favourite band.
Keeping fans at the forefront demonstrates how intense the love for Maiden is, while also showing what was apparently the true driving factor for the famously hardworking band.
There’s no talk of money, sex or drugs. The way this film tells it, the band’s members were interested in connection and camaraderie, with each other and with those who loved their work.
While it doesn’t completely dodge the less pleasant parts of Iron Maiden’s story, the band’s hardships don’t get enough airtime.
The departure of band members, most notably Dickinson in 1993, is covered, but there’s little insight into what truly drove such key decisions during the hard times.
While they’re proud enough of their ambition to put it on the poster for the film, there’s not sufficient consideration of how much of that ambition is useful and how much is toxic.
They hint at the double-edged sword of a strong work ethic, how sickness and fatigue plagued the band in the mid-80s, but they wouldn’t escape the “golden cage” they’d found themselves in.
This burnout, caused by half a decade of relentless touring, writing and recording, was no doubt devastating for the band. Interrogating the tension that comes when the weight of your own expectations is in direct conflict with your physical and mental health may have better shown the true trials of being a world-famous rock band.
Run to the cinema?
The film is a largely surface-level telling of the ins and outs of one of the world’s most ostentatious rock bands.
Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition is a victory lap for one of heavy metal’s biggest and most impactful bands as it celebrates 50 years of existence.
Curious newcomers will get the most out of this, but that doesn’t mean the Iron Maiden faithful and broader metal community won’t have a hell of a good time watching it.
