Blows Bohemian Rhapsody Out of the Water

Rating: 8/10 (29 May 2019)

The second Dexter Fletcher-directed biopic about huge British rock stars from the 70s and 80s. Bohemian Rhapsody is an award winning movie plagued by some big problems thanks to backstage drama, but still managed to maintain an interesting and entertaining story of one of the most tragic figures in modern music. Comparisons to that film are going to be hard to avoid, but in short Rocketman is by far the better of the two, and it's unfortunate that it'll likely get overlooked by its predecessor.
Rocketman is less a run-of-the-mill biopic, and toes the line very closely to fantastical musical. Now anyone who knows me knows that I hate musicals with a passion. Disney gets a pass because they're animated and the cheesy nature of musicals fit right in with upbeat cartoons, but live-action musicals are just an exercise in cringe for me. Why have these people suddenly burst out into song and dance? Why is the story being told through lyrics and melodies? There's no feelings or emotions there other than happiness so they all come off as one-note and uncomfortable. But Rocketman is different. In Rocketman it works, suiting Elton John's eccentric personality and lifestyle. He dresses up in the craziest costumes, so why not go all the way with the eccentricities?
This approach also ties the works of Elton John into the movie. Where Bohemian Rhapsody was as much about the creation of Queen's music as it was about Mercury's lifestyle, in Rocketman the music is what tells the story of Elton John and his lifestyle. His drug-fuelled binges are portrayed with the soulless highs of musical numbers with scene transitions you'd find on Broadway. There's one point in particular that has become one of my favourite scene transitions in cinema. Elton decides to drown himself in his pool at a party. At the bottom he sees his childhood self who starts to sing Rocketman. When people dive in to get him, they hover in the water above like dancers. He's pulled out of the pool, put on a stretcher, and taken to hospital, where's he gets a stomach pump and IV, is stripped of his clothes, and then redressed in a sparkling baseball uniform, doused in make-up, and pushed out onto a stage full of lights and instantly continues the song. It's not quite a one-take scene, but the transition from ambulance to stage is all done in one go without skipping a beat, showing how quickly he was pushed back into touring, and how little his self-destructive behaviour was addressed because of it. In some ways it frustrated me how this serious dramatic moment was glossed over and forgotten about, but that was the point. Elton was left in this state for too long, coasting from one show to the next, country to country, album to album, and he drowned out the days with drugs and alcohol, until he had no idea where he was or what he was doing. And this isn't the only moment seamless scene transitions are used to portray this lapse in memory.
I'm not a particularly big fan of Elton John. I'm definitely more interested in him the character than his music, especially when compared to Bohemian Rhapsody and my over-familiarity with some of Queen's biggest hits. So I admit I didn't even know if half the songs were Elton John songs or not (I mean, why wouldn't they be?), but it was great hearing those I was familiar with. Rocketman, Your Song, I'm Still Standing, Saturday Nights Alright, and they were all integrated into the movie fantastically. Furthermore they were all performed by Taron Egerton himself who simultaneously doesn't try too hard to emulate Elton, and yet often sounds just like him. Dude's got a surprisingly killer voice! Matthew Illesley and Kit Connor also show real musical promise as younger versions of Elton as well.
And while we're here I want to sing Egerton's praises even more, because goddamn this was the best performance of his life, and I would be disappointed (albeit unsurprised) if he didn't get award nominations at the end of the year. The movie's main focus on Elton's struggle with alcohol and drugs is sold almost purely on Egerton's performance. He manages to bring a humanity to Elton's trademark extravagance and iconic temper, and his emotional breakdowns are so real and relatable. The movie opens with him angrily strutting into rehab and starting his story with pursed lips and a deep resentment boiling under the surface. But it gives way to tears and a look of pure sadness and hopelessness on Egerton's face as he reflects on his loveless childhood, before holding back his vulnerability and bringing the rage back to the surface. In the first 5 minutes of the movie's runtime I was already sold, purely on Egerton's spectacular performance. He shows so much depth and emotional complexity without any signs of struggling whatsoever, and I found it hugely moving and powerful.
But that's not to say the rest of the cast lag behind at all. Richard Madden is infuriatingly easy to hate as the manipulative a**hole of John Reid. He slips into that villainous role so easily that it's easy to forget he was ever Robb Stark. Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton's no-nonsense mother was also great in her vapidity and lack of affection for her own son, and her accent was so accurate that I almost didn't recognise it was her at all. Finally, an American who can do a decent British accent! Jamie Bell keeps a cool and calm demeanour throughout as Elton's best friend of fifty years, and co-writer of many of his songs; Bernie. Stephen Graham is great as the eventually won-over Dick James who started Elton on his career trajectory, edging so close to asshole without going all the way and actually being oddly likeable despite his limited screen time.
And yet despite all these paragraphs I still haven't managed to talk about what I really want to, and that's how heartbreaking Rocketman's story actually is. This is another way in which it marks its own identity against Bohemian Rhapsody, as it shows Elton's descent into drugs and alcohol brilliantly, and ascribes it to a hopeless and loveless life. He got no love from his father, his mother was distant affectionately, and every love interest he had spurned and betrayed him. He had success, fame, and money, and yet it took decades for him to get what he needed all along; love. By the end of the movie he eventually finds it in the form of self-love, accepting who he is for who he is and not for who those around him want him to be. He gives his childhood self the hug he always needed in one of the film's most heartwarming and powerful moments. The comeback of the film's final moments are more powerful than the admittedly fantastic LiveAid scene because it feels more well-earned. We saw Elton go almost as low as a human can, so to see him stand back up, confront the ghosts of his past, and accept himself felt cathartic and inspirational.
If I had a criticism it would be the glossing over his marriage to Renate, something that wasn't particularly well-developed, felt like it came out of nowhere, and was over and forgotten about five minutes later. It felt like a fairly important and crucial part of Elton's story, but like it was only included to tick the box off rather than to actually add anything to movie's story. Personally I thought it could've really added something, and was definitely an aspect I'd have liked to have seen. The only other criticism that springs to mind was the claim of Elton and Bernie not having had an argument in twenty years, which if accurate means either the drama between them in the movie was fabricated, or that it was a liberal use of what an argument is. But that last criticism is super nitpicky, and by no means has any impact on how good or bad the movie was.
Rocketman is nothing short of a triumphant success. The writing is really good, effortlessly blending Elton's songs into his life as if they were written specifically for the purpose of the movie. The score and soundtrack become indistinguishable. Egerton's performance was simply spectacular in every way and he is quickly rising up to being one of my favourite actors. The story is heartbreaking and difficult, but important and inspirational all in the same beat. I give Rocketman a really good 8/10. Honestly I want to give it more, and a rewatch would probably earn that, but my personal conflicts with musicals still gets in the way a little bit. But take my word for it, Rocketman is worth every minute and every penny.