Rocketman
One of the worst music biopics to come around in quite a while, Rocketman charts the rise and fall (and rise) of Elton John (Taron Egerton) and the impact his success has on the various folks around him (including Bryce Dallas Howard’s Sheila and Richard Madden’s John). It’s clear immediately that filmmaker Dexter Fletcher and screenwriter Lee Hall aren’t looking to reinvent the wheel here, as Rocketman boasts (or suffers from) a cookie-cutter narrative that hits virtually every single beat that one has come to expect from the genre – with, for example, the story unfolding mostly in flashback as John thinks back over his life while attending a meeting for addicts. And although Fletcher peppers the proceedings with a series of musical numbers that all-too-briefly elevate one’s virtually non-existent interest, Rocketman progresses into an often astonishingly tedious midsection detailing the various problems and issues preventing John from wholeheartedly embracing his talent and fame – with the rock-bottom-like nature of this stretch, which should’ve occupied maybe 15 minutes of screentime, dominating the proceedings to an extent that becomes punishing and interminable. (It’s clear, too, that the almost total absence of sequences detailing the creation of iconic songs, generally the highlight in movies of this ilk, only exacerbates the dreary atmosphere.) Rocketman‘s failure is especially disappointing given the effectiveness of Egerton’s often magnetic turn, and it’s impossible, in the end, to label the picture as anything other than a missed opportunity of nigh epic proportions.
*1/2 out of ****
Rocket was excellent. The flashbacks work and obviously the critics just want to hear themselves pontificate and don’t know what the viewers want and like.
I actually really enjoyed the movie but I do understand what the writer is addressing I did feel coming out of the theater feeling a bit ripped off but looking back I enjoyed it
I am an Elton John Fan and I did not care for this I was wanting more of a docudrama like the critic said so I totally agree with him I gave it a C- because I thought the acting was excellent in it but I also thought that the premise of the movie was to bring in the millennials
What a moron. The movie was a masterpiece. I watched it twice. Taron did the impossible by making the tropes feel honest and fresh.
Non-musicians are always obsessed with the creative process because they imagine there’s a spark of an idea and a flurry of inspired work. If you could see how tedious it actually is, I very much doubt you would wish for a film full of it. I appreciated a movie that didn’t dwell on aspects that would need to be dumbed down or fabricated for the average film goer (or movie critic) to feel involved. If I want to see the tireless work that goes into creating art, I’ll watch Whiplash or Black Swan. If I want to enjoy a movie that celebrates Elton John in the most Elton John way possible, I’ll watch Rocketman.
Agree totally with the reviewer. Many baffling decisions in this one. Elton John has one of the most distinctive pop-rock voices ever — why have Taron Egerton sing these songs in his own weak, untrained voice rather than use Elton’s vocal tracks? Why no mention at all of Elton’s great band? Why screw around with the timeline of when songs were written & performed? It’s as if they did a Beatles biopic and had them auditioning for Decca using Hey Jude. Why the self-pitying take on his hugely successful career? Just an all around disaster.
I walked into this film with tepid expectations, and walked out thinking it was the best film I’d seen in quite some time. I thought I’d be alone in thinking that it was better than the obvious comparison, Bohemian Rhapsody, but all six of us felt the same way.
Not sure if the reviewer and I saw the same movie.