Skip to main content

Review: Rocketman (2019)

Rocketman (2019)

This film really is what you would want from a musical biography. Not only is it the customary showcase of a vast plethora of Elton John's incredible catalogue of hit songs, but more than that, its retelling of John's story is one that is piercing, fascinating and important to behold - detailing the extreme hardships of his childhood that paved the way for the struggles and addictions he would consistently contend with through much of his adulthood and through the beginning of his uber successful career. The story is quite the dark one, but one that therefore deserves to be told - both as an important character study and also to help understand the human behind the superstar.
Rocketman shares more than a few similarities with last year's very-mediocre Bohemian Rhapsody and, by all accounts, Rocketman is what Bohemian should have been. (Interestingly, Rocketman's director, Dexter Fletcher, was a producer of Bohemian - perhaps he took more than a few lessons forward for this one...). In addition to the story it tells, where Rocketman succeeds over Bohemian is in its direction. Rocketman excels in its artistic ambition, most often during its musical numbers, which perfectly complement the flamboyant and creativity found throughout John's music. There are a lot of neat narrative and imaginative divergences the film takes in these numbers (a bit reminiscent of Across the Universe) that will help to maintain the longevity of this film and make it one to continue to go back to years from now.

Elton John's struggles with addiction and identity make up the running theme throughout the film. Though the film surely is also a celebration of his career and music, a number of the songs are presented in relation to these struggles giving the film a depth not often found in such musical biographies. Your Song, Rocketman, I'm Still Standing and Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting were personal standouts for me, and, again, the context some of these are presented in may not be what you were expecting going in. Lastly, this film would absolutely not be what it is without Taron Egerton's astounding performance. Already I can see him getting a potential Oscar nom during next year's awards. It is incredible to learn that he sang all of the songs himself making his performance all the more remarkable. Jamie Bell also is excellent in the film. For any Elton John fans out there or simply people in the mood for an excellent musical biography, this one's for you!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The New Mutants (2020)

The New Mutants (2020) TLDR: A sad, dismal final chapter in Fox's once-acclaimed X-Men saga. The New Mutants shows promise in fragments, but its poor script and plot and often awkward execution makes for a sickly overall package that is quite fitting for this equally-sickly year that it has finally been released in... The New Mutants were an alt-X-Men team created in the early 80's in an effort to revamp and re-contemporize a new team of teenage X-Men. The new series became a smash-hit with new star mutants like Magik, Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane and Mirage, all of whom continue to headline Marvel comics to this day. Josh Boone's The New Mutants, which was announced more than five years ago and shot in 2017, has finally seen the light of day in 2020... The film seeks to adapt the team's beloved 'Demon Bear' storyline, while introducing audiences to this fresh team of mutant superheroes. In doing so, Boone tries to create an omelet-homage from the likes of Ste...

Review: The Before Trilogy (1995, 2004, 2013)

The Before Trilogy TLDR: As a whole, and in each of its separate parts, Richard Linklater's 'Before Trilogy' is the cinematic experience in its absolute finest form. The story of Celine and Jesse speaks to the core of the human experience - surprising joys, inevitable obstacles and eventual pains, and, most importantly, the mystery and intrigue of love - and it does it in an affecting way that, almost unlike any other film, is simultaneously theatrical and also remarkably raw and realistic.  "It's just, people have these romantic projections they put on everything. That's not based on any kind of reality." - Jesse, Before Sunrise Even more than the multitudes of other incredible introspective bits of wisdom and philosophy that Celine and Jesse converse in across the three movies, this quote perhaps sums up the trilogy best of all. What are romance movies other than certain individuals' projections of what romance - often, idealized romance - is. Most o...

Review: Whiplash (2012)

Whiplash (2012) TLDR: On multiple levels Whiplash is a brilliant film. A dual character study. An ode to jazz music supremacy. And a cautionary (or inspiring?) tale of what it takes to become the world's greatest. In an instant, Whiplash cements Damien Chazelle as one of today's youngest and most talented filmmakers brimming with artistry, intensity and craftsmanship. This is not one to miss. It was surprising that the first time I saw Whiplash, I left the theatre with a slightly nauseous feeling in my gut. Not because of the film itself - its visuals or audio per se - there is nothing to criticize about its radiance. It was in its simple yet utterly-effective and haunting discussion of what it takes to become the greatest in one's field that left me feeling torn and conflicted. While most of the film seems to be a cautionary or reprimanding tale of jazz instructor Fletcher's (JK Simmons) brutal methods of 'mentorship', its ending posits perhaps an equally stron...