Thank the heavens for Dexter Fletcher, who is not afraid to unabashedly show what a legendary, gay rockstar's life was actually like without watering down his story for the sake of narrative. Rocketman is a fantastic musical biopic about the flamboyant and surprisingly troubled Elton John and how his lifestyle and personal life shaped his career for decades. Even though this film hits on every single beat that the tired genre of biopics usually does, the charm and flashy style paired with Taron Egerton's performance certainly cement this movie as something different and fresh. While the comparisons to last year's Bohemian Rhapsody are unavoidable (given that Fletcher had to step in to "save" that production after Bryan Singer's firing), this film seems to be an amazing step in the right direction in regards to telling these celebrities' authentic stories.
Reginald Dwight (Taron Egerton) was a young boy growing up in England who had *somewhat* of a knack for singing and playing the piano. After getting a scholarship to an exclusive music program, Dwight begins to fully embrace himself and his style as he grows up and transforms into the renowned rock musician Elton John; all the while battling with drugs, his parents, and his sexuality to become the icon that he is today. This film's colorful marketing campaign has pushed it as being "based on a true fantasy" and that description honestly sums up everything one needs to know about this film's style. Fletcher's direction and filmmaking style throughout this film were its absolutely greatest aspects. Despite coming off as a generic music biopic, this movie brought out a fantastical style that probably would not have worked if this film were about any other musician. Due to the dazzling fantasy sequences and entrancing choreography, this film actually felt more like a movie adaptation of the Elton John Broadway musical that has never existed. While this may be a bit offputting for some, I adored this style that Fletcher stuck with. Instead of simply telling the stories of how a multitude of songs was written, the music of Elton was cleverly incorporated into telling the story of his life and how he rose to fame. The entire casts' performances were incredible, with Egerton's being the expected standout. Unlike Rami Malek, Taron Egerton actually sang every song throughout the course of this movie without the aid of lip-syncing and his voice gave way to some new takes on Elton's music that thankfully did not ever harm the legacy of the sheer queerness of John's discography.
Egerton also brought a much more emotional performance to this role than Malek ever could with Freddie Mercury, as Egerton completely embodied the struggles and hardships of Elton's early life. This script, written by Lee Hall, was incredible and worked so fluidly with Fletcher's direction to tell this magnificent story. This movie definitely packed a great emotional impact when it told the story of John's childhood and coming out. With some great supporting performances from Bryce Dallas Howard and Steven Mackintosh, who played John's parents, they were definitely catalysts when it came to creating the man that Elton turned out to be. I loved seeing the story of how Elton came to discover his sexuality and how his parents were so bloody frustrating in how they treated their son. The most emotional piece of this film came from Elton's relationship with his parents and their refusal to accept him for who he was. Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell), Elton's best friend and songwriting partner and John Reid (Richard Madden), Elton's first true love, were also so influential in creating Elton's life and I definitely couldn't help but feel the empowerment that gay people must feel and their struggles with getting people to accept them. This script was just written so authentically and I'm glad that Elton's story was told so unabashedly, also thanks to the fact that he was an executive producer on the film.
Elton's battle with his drug addiction was a major theme throughout this film that added to the fantastical qualities of its style. The many drug sequences, especially in the climax of the film before Elton realizes he desperately needs rehab, were shot very well and made me actually feel the doozy effects of how John must have also felt. However, the rehab aspect of this movie seemed very overused and generic for this genre of film. This film immediately starts off as Elton is walking down a hallway in a gaudy, orange costume and stumbles into rehab. This kicks off the framing narrative of the film, as he beings to recount his childhood and everything that happened to lead him to where he was that day. I just feel like this kind of framing is wildly overused and lazy. Much of this film's dialogue seemed very lazy as well, leading the way to some very cliché themes and messages. Audiences have heard "just be yourself" and "it doesn't matter what others think" countless times and as powerful as Elton's story may have been, it just felt dull in that specific area of its storytelling. I also had no clue as to when any of this film took place. Besides the general knowledge of the '70s and '80s, Fletcher seemed to not have any sense of time throughout this story and I often found myself lost in when and where Elton was at those points in his life.
Rocketman is an absolutely worthy musical biopic about the iconic Elton John; released just in time for his farewell tour as well. Taron Egerton shines incredibly bright in this film: not just because of his spunky costumes but because of his career-defining performance. Even though he is a relatively known face, I'm sure that his career will blast off thanks to this movie and its amazingly emotional story. Rocketman proves itself miles better than the lackluster Queen mess of last year and a joyful step in the right direction for genuine gay representation.
My Rating: ★★★★
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