Rocketman Review
R: For language throughout, some drug use and sexual content
Paramount Pictures, New Republic Pictures, Marv Films, Rocket Pictures
2 Hrs and 1 Minute
Director: Dexter Fletcher | Screenwriter: Lee Hall
Cast: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard, Stephen Graham, Gemma Jones, Tate Donovan, Charlie Rowe
Release Date: May 31st 2019
ROCKETMAN is an epic musical fantasy about the incredible human story of Elton John's breakthrough years. The film follows the fantastical journey of transformation from shy piano prodigy Reginald Dwight into international superstar Elton John. This inspirational story -- set to Elton John's most beloved songs and performed by star Taron Egerton -- tells the universally relatable story of how a small-town boy became one of the most iconic figures in pop culture.
I’m never the one to say how an actor was born to play a historical figure. Oftentimes when that statement is said, that movie ends up being utter crap. We all said Ashton Kutcher was born to play Steve Jobs and look what happened. Taron Egerton, on the other hand, was BORN to play Elton John. Hell, we should’ve seen this coming over the last several years anyway considering Egerton belted out, “I’m Still Standing” in the 2016 Illumination hit, Sing. The year after, Egerton worked with John himself in Kingsman 2. It was teased for some time and by God, I’m glad it happened. If Rami Malek could win an Oscar for lip syncing, wearing fake ass teeth, and doing an impersonation of Freddie Mercury for Bohemian Rhapsody, then Taron Egerton deserves to win 10 Oscars, a purple heart, a Nobel Peace Prize, and be knighted for delivering a remarkable PERFORMANCE as Elton John. In a role that requires him to use vocals and showcase another range of his talents by capturing the big bombastic showmanship and flamboyance of John, Egerton knocks it out of the park. You can tell he worked closely with the figure to capture all of his likeness, and he kills every single element that goes into the man’s characteristics and mannerisms. He channels Elton John and succeeds in all fronts for his performance.
I’m not going to spend this review comparing this film to the McDonald’s of music biopics that is Bohemian Rhapsody because, unlike that trainwreck, this is an actual meal of a movie. After a long losing streak of downright garbage music biopics, Rocketman makes you wanna go:
Taron Egerton and director Dexter Fletcher bring the absolute best out of each other as Egerton’s performance accompanies the fantastical direction Fletcher provides to bring this fantasy to life. The tagline of this movie is “based on a true fantasy,” and those fantastical elements are right in the forefront from the very first number. The film is a musical biopic and each musical sequence is full of its own flair and energy that is thoroughly infectus, highly imaginative, and most of all, visually stunning. Whether you are an Elton John fan or not, you will be swept by the wonders of Fletcher’s style. At times, it was a bit reminiscent of watching Gnomeo & Juliet when I was a kid, for that was my introduction to Elton John as an artist, and that high energy that was applied there is applied here - but for adults. Fuck Aladdin. This is how a musical blockbuster should be made.
The film’s musical sequences are well-balanced with John’s retelling of his career. The film starts off with Elton going to rehab in a big orange devil jumpsuit with wings and tells his story of his career, which bears a beautiful message. Unlike recent musical biopics that just glossed over things as it hit every expected and known moment of a figure’s career, Rocketman actually tells a meaningful story and provides a well-thought out arc for John’s story, which leaves nothing out about his identity. Another aspect I love about the film is how it plays with a non-linear structure with the musical sequences while giving life and dimension to the figure himself.
You know how offensively Bohemian Rhapsody criminalized Freddie Mercury’s queer identity by not going into depth with it, but mostly diverting itself away from its subject? Well, Rocketman does a great job bringing his homosexual identity to the forefront and making it John’s arc. Fletcher never shies away from capturing the known gayness of Elton John. I wasn’t even aware of this until researching it, but this is the first studio movie to show a gay sex scene. I know Paramount was ready to strip it away, but the producers weren’t backing down without a fight. Because of that, they broke new ground.
John’s sexuality is never criminalized by the film, but instead by the characters who are close to him. We’re talking people like his mom, who says “he will never find love” because of his sexuality, to his lover who manipulates him for business purposes. His sexuality is the major basis of John’s story and it delivers a wonderful message regarding it.
The screenplay by Lee Hall has to be one of the best in his career since Billy Elliot. What I’ve noticed about Hall’s writing that I love the most is how he establishes a troubled family relationship and how the conflicts between the protagonist and his family relates to the character. He genuinely engages the audience’s attachment to the protagonist while having them sympathize with him as you root for that figure to shine. Whether it’s Billy Elliot finding his joy of dance or Elton finding his passion through music, Hall makes sure you’re on board with the lead while capturing the raw and real notions of the character.
Once you’re set in Reginald’s childhood, you’re immediately attached to him, for you see him as a working-class kid with a self-righteous/self-centered alcoholic mom and a mannish-minded dad who disregard him as their son. This is a kind of family we don’t see too often in movies such as this. When it’s done, it’s usually over the top. But Hall’s script does a great job genuinely displaying the authenticity of Dwight’s background and upbringing within his toxic family life, which logically results in him not only putting up a barrier, but allowing that same kind of emotional abuse to affect his relationship with partners.
Another aspect that should not go unrecognized is the supporting cast who deliver great performances. Bryce Dallas Howard does wonders as John’s heartless mom who you just despise. Then, you have Richard Madden as his business boyfriend who you also grow to hate later on. I love the actors who portrayed the younger versions of Elton John as they channel both his shyness and innocence. But the person who blew me away was Jamie Bell as John’s lifelong best friend Bernie Toplin. The friendship that is displayed with this theme is beautiful and you get the sense of brotherhood between the two. Whenever you see Elton John and Bernie Toplin on a song credit, you know it's a labor of love because that’s what their friendship is rooted from. The chemistry between Egerton and Bell is great and most of the film’s strongest moments stem from the two. Bell is magnificent and gives a great performance, which is expected coming from the same actor who has worked with Hall since his very first feature.
Whether you’re an Elton John fan or not, there are plenty of areas that work tremendously for Rocketman. But the failures come from the latter half of the movie. First off, the movie is two hours long and, while it hits all the highs and lows of John’s life, there are some sequences that could’ve been cut in order to deliver more of a hefty story. At times the film feels too focused on capturing a significant image of the real moments in John’s career that it becomes a bit distracting. Because of that, the fast pace established early on starts to drag, even as the musical moments are spliced together quickly rather than leaving some breathing room.
The stream of creativity begins to run thin as the final number of the film results in something I feared this movie would do: recreating a music video. The film starts with a bombastic number with incredible choreography and it shows throughout how much the film never blows its own wad... until the end. And the music video they replicate is done with really bad effects to replicate a home video quality that I was going to forgive and forget, but a few days after I saw this, Lonely Island’s Netflix poem, The Bash Brothers dropped and that featured a home video-styled musical number that is visually perfect, so this kind of had no excuse.
For some reason, watching Rocketman personally proved to me that Dexter Fletcher had nooooo intention of “fixing up” Bohemian Rhapsody. That movie was riddled with glossiness and a lack of imagination and all he did was show up to yell “action!” or “cut!” while in the back of his mind he was thinking about completing his passion project that was Rocketman. Emphasis on passion, which shows with every frame.
Adding nuance to the conventional tropes through the direction, visual style, and most of all, performance provided by Egerton, Rocketman is an epic musical biopic unlike anything you’ve ever seen and it’s going to be a long, long time before you see anything as special as this again.
That beautiful Bohemian Rhapsody erasure… Mmmmm. It tastes good. Thanks, Dexter Fletcher.
Rating: 4/5 | 81%
