Rocketman Review: Blast Off
- naterichard98
- Jun 12, 2019
- 2 min read
DIRECTED BY: DEXTER FLETCHER STARRING: TARON EGERTON, JAMIE BELL, & BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD
RATED R FOR LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT, SOME DRUG USE AND SEXUAL CONTENT
LENGTH: 121 MINUTES
It seems that Hollywood is fully embracing classic rock. What started with the financial and awards success of last November's Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, continued this past March with Netflix's Motley Crüe film The Dirt , the upcoming Beatles-themed comedy Yesterday later this month, the Bruce Springsteen-centric coming-of-age film Blinded By The Light this August, and the George Michael-themed RomCom Last Christmas coming in November.
With the Elton John biopic Rocketman, we get a cross between a jukebox musical and a traditional biopic. We see how the young neglected child prodigy Reginald Dwight becomes the world-famous Elton John, but told through musical numbers set to his iconic discography. Kingsman star Taron Egerton plays Elton in a career-best performance that could even lead to a Best Actor nomination come next year's Oscars. Egerton never feels like he's doing a cheap imitation of Elton's voice and mannerisms, instead he really gets to sink his teeth into the role and makes it his own.
Unlike Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman rarely feels as if it's conforming to the traditional tropes and trappings of the modern music biopic, instead director Dexter Fletcher, makes the film feel simultaneously fantastical & stylish and grounded & deep. As entertaining as Bohemian Rhapsody was, it never felt like it really delved deep into the darker side of fame. Here, the film really tackles Elton's drug, alcohol, and sex addictions just as much as it goes into his stardom, it never once feels sugarcoated. It feels as if so many of these music biopics try to gloss over the flaws of the artists and try to make it more 'PG-13'; films like Get On Up touched on the issues but never fully dived in. It's almost rare for a biopic to do this, especially if it's subject matter is still alive and well, though in this film's case Elton John actually served as a producer and creative consultant on the film. Elton is not portrayed as a perfect man; in fact there are more than a couple scenes that make him seem like a bit of a jerk.
Despite its deeper looks into the issues of fame, Rocketman still can't fully beat out the beats of a rock biopic. There are some scenes that do feel familiar and a bit overly dramatized simply just to make the film feel more of a crowd-pleaser.
Rocketman is a must-see for any fan of Elton John, from the musical numbers, the direction, and the performances. The film feels like it could be a potential Oscar-player, which makes one wonder why the studio didn't give the film a release date later in the year.
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