Sex, Drugs and Elton John

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2019)

When watching Rocketman I couldn't help but compare the film to last years Bohemian Rhapsody, especially since director Dexter Fletcher ended up taking up the reigns to finish the chaotic production of Bohemian Rhapsody following Singers departure. Whereas Bohemian Rhapsody shied away from showing some of the more controversial moments in Mercury's life and seemed unable to live up to the larger than life presence of the band, Rocketman doesn't try to back away from Elton's R rated life and is infused with the kind of energy which an Elton John movie deserves.
The story is the same kind of music bopic you've probably seen before in something like Ray, Walk the Line or Hard Walk: The Dewey Cox Story. Following a difficult childhood, an artist becomes one of the biggest stars in the world. However the stresses of fame mixed with their own personal problems leads them in to a life of addiction and push away all those they care about. This forces them to fight their own demons to overcome their struggles and find happiness in their life. I don't know whether I should criticise Hollywood for not greenlighting more original biopics or music prodigies for living such similar lives.
Though what differentiates this story from a standard music biopic is Elton as a character. Whilst there's always a slight concern when the subject of a biopic plays a role as the producer of his own movie, since they may attempt to force a romanticised version of themselves to the screen, it's clear that Elton doesn't have a problem in showing the painful moments of his life or the darker side of his personality. Instead he embraces his pasts mistakes and own them as part of how he became who he is today.
Another major part of bringing Elton's personality to life on screen is that Edgerton may have been the best choice they could have made for playing him. Beyond nailing his look, he seemed able to switch between the emotional wreck that he was in his personal life in to the hypnotic on stage charisma so naturally. In one of the films best moments we see him broken down and exhausted about to step on stage, before breaking in to a smile and a happy march the moment that spotlight hits him. With this and the comedic skills he shows off in the Kingsman series, he's definitely an actor who I'm curious to see where their career is going to go.
But you couldn't have an Elton John movie without an Elton John Wardrobe and the movie does not disappoint. From the moment he steps on screen dressed as a sparkling devil, with wings so large you'll wonder how made it through doors, to the hundred other costumes we see Edgerton wearing throughout, the film this ends up being a greatest hits compilation of both Elton's music and his outfits.
Unlike some other music biopics, this movie doesn't try to just copy Elton's musical performances. The filmmakers are smart enough to know that no matter how good Edgerton is, there's no way they could just use Elton's songs as it would never live up to just watching a concert film of Elton performing. Instead they claim their own versions of these songs, blending Edgerton's great voice with a style more similar to a stage musical to give them a separate identity to Elton's. Combine this with the impressively executed dance sequences, which similar to La La Land feel like modern day versions of a classic Hollywood musical, these sequences stand apart from Elton's as their own entertaining versions.
The film mixes these great sequences with a constant kinetic energy which flows through every scene, moving song to song and blending scenes together seamlessly. Especially later on in the film, where Elton's drugged out state leads scenes to transition into one another at times like a dream and at other times like a nightmare. Though at times the film carries this momentum to a fault, with scenes moving so quickly that we hardly get a chance to breath before the films already moved on to the next song.
We do also get a slightly rushed ending, with all the loose emotional plot threads in his life being tied together in a single scene and leaving us with a brief Animal House style of cliff notes for how the rest of Elton's life went instead of something more creative like a montage showing us the rest of Elton's life. But even with this, Rocketman is both one of the best music biopics and a thoughtful look on the self-destructive effects of addiction. I just hope that every future music biopic is given the same amount of care and thought as this film has been given.