Bland

Rating: 5/10 (6 March 2020)

The life of music legend Elton John.
Underwhelming. I did not set my expectations very high and even then was disappointed. When this was released I figured it was an attempt to cash in on the success of Bohemian Rhapsody and make a biopic about a 1970s rock star. This despite growing up in the 70s and liking the music of Elton John. I thought Bohemian Rhapsody was excellent but just from the trailers Rocketman didn't seem to have anywhere near the same energy, profundity and solid storytelling.
And the trailer was pretty much spot-on. Rocketman is a linear telling of Elton John's life...and that's it. Director Dexter Fletcher turns it into a semi-musical but that just makes it worse. Like most musicals, song-and-dance numbers being jammed into the middle of a scene makes for jarring, clumsy storytelling and this is no different. It might have been okay if they had used the original music but instead we have actor Taron Edgerton singing the songs, and he just doesn't sound right.
There's never any spark that makes the movie interesting, Some scenes are downright clumsy: the scene that runs through the movie of John at an AA meeting seems pretty implausible and contrived and merely there as a means for John to tell his life story.
On the positive side, performances are very good. Despite his singing, Edgerton is great as Elton John and Jamie Bell puts in a solid performance as Bernie Taupin.