What a shy boy

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2019)

Hello ladies and gentlemen. We're doing a quick review of Rocketman. Elton John is played by Taron Egerton and this musical follows his childhood into adulthood. That's right. It's a musical. So if you don't fancy musicals then I suggest waiting to rent it from your local movie store. Also, I feel the need to get it out of the way that Bohemian Rhapsody and this movie are very different but if i had to choose one, I'd go with Rocketman. That's all i will mention on that topic. I normally would give spoilers on a biopic but i guess this kind of gives a couple if you're unfamiliar so just a heads up. Okay, so you know who Elton John (who will be referred to in this review simply as EJ) is and such so no need for the overview, right babe?
So the movie has a good starting point. EJ is in full costume and goes into an AA meeting where he gives all his flaws and how he's feeling stressed and such. Pretty quick right? The course of the movie does take a retrospective view on his life since he's in the meeting but it works. The build up from childhood through adulthood happens very very fast. He's a child prodigy pretty much and finds himself in a band before you know it. As a child he didn't have acceptance from his father and touch on the gay aspect right from the beginning which i thought was interesting. The comment is from his father when he was at least younger than 10 years old. So anyway, he's in this band and plays in the background. Before you even know what's going on he's already EJ. If you haven't picked up on it yet, this review is kind of like a check list, right? Yeah, so is the film.
Don't get me wrong though. The acting is pretty great and you buy Taron Egerton as EJ right away. He's got a great voice and looks damn near similar so what else could you ask for? Not much. Remember this is a musical and even the performances are spot on great with the choreography and how they were weaved into the film. However, the film doesn't give you enough to really connect with the characters for the long run. It's like going to Costco and getting a bunch of samples. You know, it's good but you're kind of like "meh" I'm not gonna buy it. That's kind of how i felt with this movie.
So getting into the performances. Unfortunately, it does have the same choppy feel as the other scenes but they are pretty amazing to say the least. The first show they play at the Troubadour is electrifying and exciting but it just doesn't last long. There's a big fantasy aspect to the film during the performances where it gives a euphoria feel where people are floating and all that stuff but it overtakes the actual performance if that makes sense. Ironically for a musical, the performances were very short in comparison to the other scenes. That's where I'm torn on this movie. It looks amazing and has the capacity to be an amazing movie, it just felt rushed. One huge example of this is when he gets married and divorced in, I kid you not, like 3 minutes. Who was the wife? Who knows and who cares because if you went to the bathroom you would have missed the whole thing. Kind of disappointing right?
His character development is shown pretty creatively however. For a lot of the film hes very self-pity negative Neil and gets a little old naturally because we all get down and it's annoying, but he moves forward and says all the right things in really touching way. I understand that timeline is something that people are gonna moan and groan about it and i get it but let's face it, there's no way a Hollywood Movie is gonna get it perfect. Anyway, one of the best scenes i thought was when he comes out to his mother and she says something very hurtful and that was the most i connected with the character. I'm not gonna tell you of course since you should see this in theatres, but Tarons emotions and the depth from this scene really makes you feel for the guy. It simply is a great performance. Overall I was torn on this movie, but looking at it objectively, it was a pretty great movie and would see it again, likely. Not for sure for sure, but likely. I'm giving this movie a 7.6/10.