Rocketman (2019) - Elton John Biopic

[AlbertV]

Taron Egerson, the Welsh actor best known for playing Gary "Eggsy" Unwin in the Kingsman films, is reuniting with Eddie the Eagle director Dexter Fletcher to star as legendary music icon Elton John in a biopic about the legend's early years. The first look at Egerton as John was revealed today.

[Koravec]

Seems that the gay or flamboyant 70s/80s musicians are all the hype. Prince, Bowie, Micheal Jackson, and the Freddie Mercury movie thats coming out. 

Nothing against them! Theyre all great of course, cant wait to see the Queen one at least. And wanting to go through more of Prince's catalogue soon. 

Heres a couple of really weird Rocketman rap covers Ive come across lately for good measure (or bad lol, subjective):

Young Thug- High https://youtu.be/qqIyH_9uaOQ

Horus The Astroneer- Rocketman https://m.soundcloud.com/horustheastroneer/rocketman

[AlbertV]

Taron Egerton seems a good fit, considering he sang John's "I'm Still Standing" in Sing!

 

[AlbertV]

Egerton and Elton himself did a duet of Tiny Dancer as part of Elton's AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party...damn!

And here's the official Rocketman trailer

 

[Koravec]

Super fun theater experience. Movie felt as if it was thrown together quickly as it lacks any serious plot and much content of his life. 

Some of the musical numbers were spectacular to watch, namely Saturday Night's Alright (the highlight of the film imo). The camera following Elton at a pleasantly lit up party for Tiny Dancer was also displayed very nicely albeit the song lyrics not really matching the lonely protagonist. "I want love" is performed beautifully by the child Elton and father. 

I was dissapointed with Bennie and The Jets being my favorite Elton John song, felt short and altered a bit much, with what I found to be an uninspired visual accompaniment. 

 Overall not an uplifting story in the slightest, recalls Elton's family struggles (of which I didnt even find significant), recording label conflicts, as well as drug and depression problems. His romantic loneliness and relationship problems are not even resolved in the film, but rather in the after credits by showing a picture of Elton and his husband. The Queen movie covered a much broader spectum of the musician's career. This one deals with recollections during an AA meeting, which does add a dreamlike, almost psychedelic feel to the movie.

Not great, but lots of fun.

[Secret Executioner]

3 hours ago, Koravec said:

Overall not an uplifting story in the slightest, recalls Elton's family struggles (of which I didnt even find significant), recording label conflicts, as well as drug and depression problems.

Ain't that an issue in a lot of biopics ? I recall Walk the Line did something similar on Johnny Cash and the biographical parts of Wired summed up Belushi as a junkie.

[chazgower01]

Rocketman (USA, 2019) theater 4.5/5

The long overdue biopic of Elton John is a musical... an over the top, colorful, pridefully gay musical... and... that’s not really surprising. 

What’s surprising is that it mostly works, on all levels, as entertainment, story, art, and as a film. It doesn't work as a specific biopic, in fact, they claim it's NOT, so if you're looking for a detailed biography, you'll be disappointed.

The last half of it you start to realize it’s a bit self-indulgent, like eating your third piece of Birthday Cake in one sitting, but the sentimentality of it in the end wins you over. Or it did me anyway.

Taron Egerton is amazing (actually singing the songs), with an award worthy performance in a cast of outstanding performances. (Though I especially liked Stephan Graham in a minor role as gruff UK label boss Dick James). 

I liked it better than Bohemian Rhapsody, though I agree 'Bennie and the Jets' got shortchanged.

[chazgower01]

• On 6/4/2019 at 11:35 AM, Koravec said:

  His romantic loneliness and relationship problems are not even resolved in the film, but rather in the after credits by showing a picture of Elton and his husband.

  I had understood it as his realization at the end in therapy - i.e. you have to love yourself before you're able to love anyone else' - was the resolution to his relationship problems.

[Koravec]

6 hours ago, chazgower01 said:

• I had understood it as his realization at the end in therapy - i.e. you have to love yourself before you're able to love anyone else' - was the resolution to his relationship problems.

yep, I nearly forgot to include the term "romantic relationship" in writing that, because that was what the movie was all about arguebly. Him coming to terms with accepting his relationships for what they were and being the one to reassure himself rather than looking for acceptance in those that were poor at showing it to him.

[chazgower01]

6 hours ago, Koravec said:

yep, I nearly forgot to include the term "romantic relationship" in writing that, because that was what the movie was all about arguebly. Him coming to terms with accepting his relationships for what they were and being the one to reassure himself rather than looking for acceptance in those that were poor at showing it to him.

Yep, and also from the love he didn’t receive from either of his parents...they’re also there at that final group therapy session...It’s somewhat unique in showing it that way...usually movies just show, here’s the new person and it all worked out, but in Elton’s case, I thought it was all about him accepting himself and THEN finally being able to have healthy relationships...

[Secret Executioner]

Not enough flying action... Zero stars. New Republic can't do what Republic did 70 years ago.

 

Ahem, more seriously now.

 

Saw it last night, and it's a really cool film. Some of the musical numbers' insertion into the film feel a bit awkward (especially early in the movie), but they are great performances. I especially loved the live "Crocodile Rock" performance and the song sung by a teenage Elton and his family after a meal feels very touching - sorry I can't name it, but I'm not that familiar with Elton John's music, save for the biggest hits like "Saturday Night's alright (for fighting)", "Crocodile Rock", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (that one was perfectly used in the movie BTW) or "Rocketman". Funny story, the first song by him I recall hearing was "Can you feel the Love tonight" from The Lion King, which I guess must have been just a few years after where the movie ended - speaking of the end, the recreation of the "I'm still standing" video was so brilliant that I sometimes wondered whether it was original footage or a recreation.

Character-wise, the substance abuse that I criticized earlier for being an overused kind of trope in this type of films is explored better than just a character trait and you somewhat understand what would drive Elton to go this far, his loveless parents (especially the dad, what a prick - I mean his biological dad, not the guy his mom gets with later, this guy seems kinda nice) and his abusive manager (what a cynical asshole - somehow I felt from the get-go he was trouble, not sure if it's his smug expression, the fact he always wears black or something... But you can feel his "villainy" just by looking at him) are characters you wanna punch at times and Elton becoming some kind of freak (as he says at a point "for my next trick, I'm gonna kill myself") amusing (and being used for his wealth) everyone make you feel sorry for the guy, even if he is a billionaire and such a talented guy. Kudos on the psychological part. Actually, it seems like the only genuinely nice persons in the movie were his grandma and Bernie Taupin (I liked the owner of the Troubadour too, he seemed quite excentric but very likeable). I loved the performance concerning Bernie, he is portrayed as charming and funny, and he seems to have a character arc going from loser writer to party animal to down-to-Earth, an evolution paralleling that of Elton in the sense that Bernie became more reasonable and less excentric while Elton seemed to become more egocentric and kind of megalo because of his success.

 

Overall, definitely a must-see. The performances are great (both the acting and the musical numbers), the visuals are spectacular (the costume budget must have gone through the roof to recreate all these costumes) and the end credits telling us of Elton's current life and putting footage from the movie side-by-side with actual photos of Elton in the outfits showcased were pretty cool - I also liked the montage with the articles and some vintage posters and tickets that was shown after Elton became a star in America, always a sucker for this kind of things. Wasn't fond of the song used in them though, just like I wasn't fond of what happened with "Beanie and the Jets". The song deserved a longer showcase, as it seems most of the other songs were full performances. 

[Koravec]

2 hours ago, Secret Executioner said:

just like I wasn't fond of what happened with "Beanie and the Jets". The song deserved a longer showcase, as it seems most of the other songs were full performances. 

Completely agree with Bennie being my favorite Elton song. I think of it as somewhat of an epic song too, dont feel like the length or context (even rendition perhaps) did the tune justice. Felt as if they were required to include it so haphazardly tossed it in.

Growing up listening to the classic rock station that was one of the few songs that would play once in a blue moon that sounded like nothing else on the station, the other track being Bohemian Rhapsody. And back then I had a real wtf reaction to it, we thought it sounded super cheesy and funny, now I think its great.