Rating: A
Musical biopics are all the rage these days following the rage of the wildly popular Bohemian Rhapsody film. So it only seems natural that the next artist to take their life story to the stage would be Elton John in the new film Rocketman. Taron Egerton dons the shades in the title role of Elton John and paints us with a fantastically fun, over the top look at this musical icon. The real question is how does this film hold up overall and, because people are going to do it anyways, how does it compare to Bohemian Rhapsody? Lets break it down!
The one thing I have to say about this film that I loved is the commitment from Egerton. Unlike Rami Malik, Taron does all his own singing in the film and the boy just kills it. He sounds so much like the actual Elton John that I had to immediately add this soundtrack to my Spotify playlist. He is fantastic in this role. singing aside he walks the walk and talks the talk with this film. I truly was with his rendition of Elton every step of the way. You felt his desire to fit in and his desire to be successful . You also felt his cocky over the top attitude and his animosity towards his his parents. This guy shows he has some serious acting chops in this film and it is a blast to see.
The story itself takes on a much more fantastical approach to the telling of Elton's story. From seeing a room full of people floating across the screen after being moved by the music to people busting into song Glee-style it definitely has more of a musical feel to it. The crazy thing about it is that it totally works! I was completely moved by this movie. It was not hard to find yourself singing along to some of the over-the-top numbers and unlike films like Bohemian Rhapsody I felt like the pacing of the film worked a lot better. It just flowed so much more smoothly. The focus of the film also felt more appropriate. I need to say that I liked Bohemian Rhapsody, but the best parts of the film centered more around the band and less around Freddie's relationship with his wife/not wife, which the film focused so much on. Rocketman may focus on Elton's love life, but we see a lot more of the musical side of his story and how he got where he did more than anything. Jamie Bell is pretty great as Bernie Taupin, Elton's man behind the music aka the songwriter. Even though Elton didn't write the words to many of these songs, his story is told cleverly through their lyrics with singing from the entire cast. Jamie's role isn't huge, but when he is on the screen his parts are definitely memorable. Richard Madden as John Reid, Elton's manager and lover for a time is pretty fantastic as well. When we are so used to seeing him playing the role of Rob Stark in Game Of Thrones it is nice to see him slap on a suit and command a room with him musical knowledge.
Overall, this film is a solid A. I would highly recommend checking it out. So many people who were in the theater with me walked out talking about how much they can't wait to see it again and I am right there with them. This was a fun and engaging musical film about a larger than life artist and it just works. So do yourself a favor and let yourself suspend from reality for a couple hours and check out Rocketman!
Rocketman hits theaters everywhere May 31, 2019.