Aaron Egerton doing his best to drag Rocketman out from mediocrity

Rating: 5/10 (11 June 2019)

It's a shame that Bohemian Rhapsody came out only a year ago - a highly-acclaimed biopic of an openly gay music icon struggling against personal demons and the people around himself. Rocketman's story is a carbon copy, carving out the same niche that Rami Malek had already filled, to the detriment of this production. Bad luck is not the only culprit for this movie falling flat, however: a lack of cohesion really damages the flow of the film, and musical numbers aren't enough to bring it back from the edge of averageness.
Rocket man can't seem to quite decide whether it is a biopic of one man's life, or is truly a "musical" in the true sense of the word. Launching into song doesn't quite work in this format, as it tries to maintain historical accuracy whilst conversely using songs that didn't exist during the time period of a particular scene. Another issue arises with the diluting of the quality of some songs: for example, the titular musical number (and arguably the most well-known song featured) is, in part, sung by both a child and in an A cappella style. Some may find this endearing and more emotive, but I feel these genres of films should try to stick closely to the originals to enhance the nostalgia the target audience will feel.
Credit where credit's due, Taron Egerton (Elton John) does a quality job delivering his role's highs and lows, always walking the line of sanity; Richard Madden (John Reid) is also strong as Elton's suave future manager. The rest of the cast are unfortunately stuck with misguided scriptwriting, making any other performances far more difficult. The one that I found most irksome was the dynamic between Elton and his family - Rocketman couldn't seem to decide how to portray his relationship with his mother (Dallas Bryce Howard), as their feelings seemed to swing from mutual resentment to being one another's only comforts. By the end of the film, nothing is really worth remembering but Egerton's performance and Elton's songs.