Cherry Bombs implode in this revealing biopic of teenage rockers on the edge in The Runaways.

Portrayed is the best and worst of rock ‘n’ roll, as great music is undercut by sex, drugs, and...well, you know the rest.

The Runaways were made up of five teen girls with equal amounts talent and ambition, yet this semi-fictional feature has opted to focus on the relationship between sexually provocative vocalist Cherie Curie (Dakota Fanning) and punk rocker Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart).

Together they stood defiant to the sexism which engulfed the rock landscape at that time: Rock was a man’s world, and chicks did not play electric guitar.

Yet behind every great band is a great manager, and The Runaways had a corker in infamous producer and songwriter Kim Fowley, who worked with the likes of Kiss and Alice Cooper.

Cast in that role is Michael Shannon, who eats alive  Fowley’s eccentricities and colossal ego, giving birth to a monstrous rock ‘n’ roll creation, manipulating, abusing, and “guiding” these young musicians into a seedy and dangerous environment, where even the hardest of hard rockers have survived within an inch of their lives, while many others have not been as fortunate.

But as another famous bloodsucker once said: “Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make.”

Cue a soundtrack of catchy rock compositions, impressively performed by its cast, who embody the spirit of rock in every smash of drum skin and wail of the guitar.

Top lining is Twilight star Kristen Stewart, who does a good job pulling off the leather clad punk swagger which is Joan Jett. On stage with a guitar in her hand and she is a star. Yet offstage her self-deflating dourness ultimately lets the part down, Stewart to often clamming up and mumbling her dialogue through clenched teeth.

Dakota Fanning, however, delivers a stunning turn as the blonde haired, white corset wearing, emotionally unstable bundle of youth gone wild, abused, and ultimately drained by rock ‘n’ roll excess.

It is a successful transition to adult territory which is met without compromise by the teen actor. No wonder the films opens with Fanning’s Currie getting her first period, a less than subtle symbolic gesture by writer/director Floria Sigismondi, whose work as a director of music videos is to the films advantage.

Not only does she bring a strong visual style, but she knows this world of rock ‘n’ roll, having filmed some of the world biggest musicians (David Bowie, Marilyn Manson).

With references like that, it is no wonder The Runaways succeeds as a warts and all biopic.