Rocketman follows the narrative arc we all know, but ineffectively tries to mix musical fantasy with exposition

Rating: 4/10 (29 September 2019)

Rocketman isn't a bad film, but it doesn't have anything particularly new or creative to say, and its biggest factor in uniqueness is Fletcher's attempt to blend the fantasy of regular musical numbers with the usual musical biopic narrative. Not only does it not fit well, in several cases it actually detracted from the emotional intensity and darkness of the scene. Edgerton is solid in the lead - certainly not the impeccable performance of Phoenix in Walk The Line, but he does a good job on the emotional scenes and his musical performance is decent. It does show flashes of creativity - a couple scene transitions that are really smooth, the cross cutting between the group therapy and scenes of his life, the contrast between his flamboyant Elton personality and shy Reggie personality, etc. The mixing of fantasy and reality is really the fatal flaw of the film, though. I've never been a fan of musicals in general because the musical numbers generally put the plot on pause and don't add much narratively. Here, in addition to that concern, they also contradict the spiral he goes through with addiction. In particular, the scene where he is carried to the hospital and then is lifted up to sing Rocketman was ridiculous and gave a light and uplifting feel to what should've been the most dark and devastating point in the movie. Breaking into a musical number meant for the audience with no separation from the narrative drama also makes the narrative drama all feel less real, which is a significant issue.
It has plenty of the usual biopic flaws too, but they're not as problematic as the fantasy elements. It didn't deal at all with why he struggled with addiction and really hardly showed it at all aside from one or two jarring scenes that are surprising because we haven't seen the extremity of drugs, sex, and other vices. It's extremely predictable, and while it felt like Bohemian Rhapsody in many ways, it was most reminiscent in its one-dimensional supporting characters who had no development and whose ultimate relevance to the main character was obvious from the start (especially the manager who seems like he's his friend and then clearly doesn't care about him, that felt literally identical). His talent and actual music making is taken for granted from the start and we never see him putting in the time that his success required, as biopic frequently ignore. The ending is abrupt as it felt like his character's internal resolution was just beginning, and saying that he's been sober for 28 years in real life highlighted how we really have no idea throughout the movie what his relationship with addiction is and how it changes. The script isn't utterly inept as it was in Bohemian Rhapsody, but in many other ways it feels like a carbon copy, and the one bold choice it made - the fantasy elements - were a complete failure to me.