A power chord of defiance against milksop pop trends is sounded in this good-natured documentary about metal superheroes Iron Maiden. The origin of the band name is not explained, perhaps to let viewers get freaked out by looking it up themselves.
This cheerful and watchable film is a relentlessly on-brand fan promo, corporately policed and controlled, using vintage archive photos and video rather than closeup talking-head footage of the band now. It avoids anything critical, featuring fervent, humorous testimonials from superfans including Javier Bardem, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, and Kiss’s Gene Simmons.
The film tells the story of Iron Maiden's massive rise, very slight fall, and then further massive rise, achieving colossal success without kowtowing to smirking media gatekeepers of cool. It walks through lineup changes, including the departure of lead singer Paul Di’Anno and the loss and rehiring of replacement Bruce Dickinson. The band carried on rocking while the cultural studies crowd looked the other way.
There was punk (and Maiden), disco (and Maiden), Bowie (and Maiden), Michael Jackson (and Maiden), grunge (and Maiden). They weren’t invited to play Live Aid but routinely played Live Aid-sized concerts worldwide throughout the 1980s; metal didn’t need patronising approval from nonbelievers. One clip features the unmistakable voice of Danny Baker narrating a very unpatronising report on the band.
This film is very different from Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004), which showed the band engaged in therapeutic self-scrutiny, or Bernard MacMahon’s Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025), which offered musical and historical context. However, it resembles the Zeppelin documentary in its reticence about certain aspects of touring that were exciting for five super-famous young guys away from home. One band member is quoted saying: “There were all these … new experiences.”
Apart from a brief reference to the divorce of Maiden guitarist and founder Steve Harris, nothing personal is revealed. But the film pays tribute to the honourable, apolitical role Iron Maiden played in breaking through to Iron Curtain countries like Poland in the 1980s. The band would reject a label as feeble as “soft power”. Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition is in cinemas from 7 May.
This review originally appeared on British Brief.
