Rocketman

Image credit: IMDb

After the success of Bo Rhap it seems that biopics about giants of music in the ‘70s and ‘80s have become a thing. Not at all a bad thing. The newest of these pics to take off has been Rocketman, the ‘musical fantasy’ about Elton John's ascent into rock ‘n’ roll orbit (and his sinking into a few black holes). 

Beginning (more or less) at the end, and told through a series of flashbacks, the film chronicles the troubled childhood of young Reginald Dwight, his discovery of a talent for music, and his journey to break into the industry. Staggering in to the spotlight all too quickly, Elton John’s (Taron Egerton) road to fame quickly becomes paved with emotional turmoil and narcotics addiction, and a tortured quest to find love becomes the only light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

While the two are completely different films, if I had to draw a comparison between Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, the latter is the winner. While (predictably) the central story of drug addiction and the quest to find love, identity, and self-respect is dramatised, some aspects being exaggerated and fictionalised for cinematic drama’s sake, I have to say that Rocketman is a better-made film than Bo Rhap (though the latter’s performances still take the cake).

More of a musical than a straight music biopic with the artist’s most iconic songs peppered throughout, the film is reminiscent of a number of Golden Hollywood musicals blended with the stadium-rocking scenes of Elton John’s legendary performances.

John’s most influential songs are used in the traditional way of the musical, during insightful or dramatic scenes and in the most normal of spaces. We’re talking Singin’ in the Rain-esque, with the occasional larger musical number thrown in a la Enchanted or Mamma Mia!. Funnily enough, these fantasy-musical scenes are blended beautifully with the rest of the film and its tone of straight-laced, dramatic biopic.

Image credit: Forbes

Taron Egerton delivers a charismatic and memorable performance as the bedazzled icon himself, resisting the urge to be flagrantly queen-like, and instead depicting a tortured character that is repressed, shy, angry, and unstable in their own identity. The emotional story is quite a complex one and Egerton depicts it very well indeed.

Rocketman is definitely a film worth seeing. Fans of biopics, musicals, Elton John, or who have a vague appreciation of cinema in general will come out of the theatre with a little something to make their day richer.

Director: Dexter Fletcher (2019)

Cast: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard, Gemma Arterton, Gemma Jones, Steven Mackintosh, Matthew Illesley, Charlie Rowe, Celinde Schoenmaker, Stephen Graham, and Rachel Muldoon