Reimagined history

Rating: 5/10 (25 August 2019)

As a fan of Elton John and lover of musicals, this seemed right up my street. But the film falls flat from the start.
The songs are muddled in order and the facts drastically changed to suit the story - Elton's dad is made into the bad guy, the manager into a fool, and relationships are invented or ignored. Far from a candid look back on his past, Rocketman sees Elton reimagining his life.
The plot is thin, the dance routines over the top, and the songs sqeezed in an attempt to compliment the story.
Whilst Queen's recent biopic 'Bohemian Rapsody' packed a punch, this left me bored and unmoved. More like a long episode of Glee than a proper film.
The problem may be down to the lyrics, in that they're not Elton's, they're Bernie's. Elton plays the piano and sings, but the words aren't his. Therefore, using them to tell his story doesn't really work.
Recently I saw 'Blinded By The Light', the film based on Bruce Spingsteen songs; it is far superior because the songs matched the story, and the story itself was moving and character driven.
This film was pointless. A listen of Elton's greatest hits album would be a much better choice.