From Dazzling to Disappointing

Rating: 3/10 (1 June 2019)

I love good movies, in general, even if I am not a real fan of the subject matter. Although I wasn't a real fan of Queen's music, I disagreed with those critics that disliked Bohemian Rhapsody and thought the film and especially the lead performance set the bar high for rock bio-pics to come. The recent award season confirmed my opinion. Rocketman was a film that had a few brilliant dazzling theatrical moments that held out hope for the rest of the movie, but they pretty much fizzled and died. There was some wonderful choreography. Taron Egerton was wonderful as Elton John in the performance scenes, where he did his own singing, but somehow seemed less than believable as the singer in most of the other scenes. I went back and watched a number of news clips and just did not see any of John's individual mannerisms that mark each individual so clearly. This was something Remi Malek mastered spectacularly as Freddie Mercury. It was missing from Edgerton's performance, Elton John certainly has some distinct mannerisms.
The movie itself was problematic for me. It seemed like a form of self adulation since Elton John himself was an Executive Producer. Too much of of the movie was spent dwelling his problems and his therapy in rehab which quite frankly was boring because it's a story we hear repeatedly in the media. Millionaire celebrities with drug, alcohol or depression going into rehab, trying to kill themselves because they were unloved as children. It wasn't worked out or acted well enough to dwell on. The movie at best was uneven. It was however really good that John's brilliant lyricist Bernie Taupin finally had an opportunity to shine in the limelight. Although the Elton Johns music has always been very good, in all his top songs its always been Taupin 's poignant lyrics that raised that music from very good to great.