A Musical Fantasy

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2019)

Rocketman Review:
Rocketman is a musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John's breakthrough years. We've seen many music biopics over the years. They're basically all the same and follow the same format. But not Rocketman. This film was much more than a biopic. It was a real life fantasy. I'm so glad this wasn't another Bohemian Rhapsody where it was the typical setup and very predictable. I will admit the film does have some hints of that throughout but there's not much you can do about it. What Rocketman does is tells a story, but how Elton John envisions it in a musical format. I thought that was creative and we haven't seen anything like that. The story was just done very well. Lee Hall has been nominated by the Academy before for Billy Elliot, a film also about the arts that was later turned into a musical. I think this is a very good screenplay and potentially Oscar worthy for its creativity. Speaking of Oscar worthy, Taron Egerton. I knew he could act and was a decent singer, but wow. This was an amazing performance. If Rami Malek can win the Oscar for Best Actor Egerton better be nominated at least. The Academy tends to forget films that are released earlier in the year so I'm hoping this film created an impact for at least the Acting category (also same with Lupita in Us). He's such a great actor and singer but what I really like is that he wasn't trying to copy Elton John. He made him his own version with his own styles and I thought that was good of him. I'm tired of portrayals and actors trying too hard to be exactly the same so we have to compare them. Yes, I did (and many other people) compared him to Elton John but it was given that this was his own style of him. The other surprise standout for me was Bryce Dallas Howard as Sheila, his mother. Every scene she was in I just really enjoyed. This is my favorite role of hers since The Help. I don't think many people are recognizing this but I think she was amazing too. I thought everybody was pretty good in this. I know this was his first film but Matthew Illesley who played young Elton just kind of annoyed me. That was the only actor I just didn't really like, though he had a touching scene towards the end which I liked. It's sad to see some of the stuff that happens in this because that's how Elton felt/feels. That scene I was just talking about brought some tears to my eyes honestly. I'm sure everybody will know it. The musical scenes in the film were wonderful. I loved the choreography but most of all the imagery. There was lots of fantastical imagery that I think helped the scenes with the fantasy feel to it. The Rocketman scene was most notably the best with imagery. The score was pretty good with tunes of Elton John's songs, especially Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Overall I think this is a unique film that's better than most musical bio pics. With only few flaws like some longer, slow scenes, one annoying actor, and similar style to other bio pics, I think this is a good movie. Go see Rocketman if you're a fan of his music, musicals, and want to see something unique.
My Grade: A-