Surprisingly dark

Rating: 7/10 (13 June 2019)

There was never any way that 'Rocketman' was going to avoid being compared to 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Which is a little unfortunate because 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was a masterpiece. 'Rocketman' is an excellent film, however it couldn't live up to what that film managed to achieve. They're similar films, although rather different in a number of ways too. 'Rocketman' has a lot of spontaneous singing with back-up dancers appearing out of nowhere, making it feel more like a musical. I didn't mind that to be honest. It was what it was and didn't pretend to be anything differently.
This is also a much darker film than the other one was. Both deal with a couple of very depressed artists in their prime, but this film really rams it home. There are a tremendous amount of unlikeable characters in this film. Apart from Elton himself, there is really only one likeable one that I can think of. It's almost a relief when he is on screen because otherwise the film is just too bleak.
I was thoroughly impressed by Taron Egerton's performance. He maybe didn't "become" Elton to the extent that Rami Malek became Freddie Mercury, however his singing was excellent and his acting in the emotional scenes was of a very high standard. Elton John fans will have a particularly good time with this film, but even if you're not his biggest fan I think there is enough here to keep you satisfied and interested.