Rocketman

Biopics are always difficult because there is always going to be an element of them that is bullshit. Facts are going to be extrapolated on and liberties are going to be taken in order to make a good story. I think the thing that Rocketman does well is that it almost leans into that understanding and creates a biopic that is half truth and half fantasy musical that highlights the exact thing that made someone like Elton John famous.

The TL;DR of this review is that Rocketman did a rock star biopic better than Bohemian Rhapsody last year and I don't know if we're all ready to admit it.

The framing of the film centers around Elton John (played by Taron Edgerton) going to rehab and telling his story and how he ended up at his lowest point from his childhood.

The movie follows typical musician biopic that he had a rough-ish childhood, got into music, got his break, rose in popularity but also started delving into a world of fame, alcohol, drugs, and sex.

At the end of it there's a reconciliation and the end credits give an update on what's happened with the main character's life.

The difference with Rocketman is obviously the details of Elton John's life; his partnership with Bernie Taupin (played by Jamie Bell) the lyricist he pairs up with early in his career, his overbearing and abusive manager John Reid (played by Richard Madden), but the main difference is the musical format in which the movie builds itself up in.

The movie shows the important moments in his life, but often these moments and the passage of time in between them are filled in with musical numbers from Elton John's repertoire of music.

The nice thing is, Elton John's music has and will probably continue to play pretty well with musical narratives, so a song can pop up and depending on the scenario its being used in, whether in a song and dance number, or a moment where he's actually performing or writing the song, and both moments feel diagetic and are well done. There are some scenes where he's legitimately writing a song, or he or other members of the cast in a fantastical musical number and it's a lot of fun.

I think this is a really intriguing way to tell a biopic because if you've watched enough biopics, you know that most of the time, they're BS. For example, there's a character in this movie played by Richard Madden (funny story he's played by Aiden Gillen in Bohemian Rhapsody) and he is painted as the worst kind of person when in reality, it's probably a little less black and white. While there are probably some half truths in the relationship between Elton John and John Reid, the truth behind that relationship was that it probably wasn't super abusive and they ended the romantic relationship amicably. But they paint him as a monster in this film. And while you can bring up how you might have an issue with that portrayal, the movie can say, it's a fantasy musical that is not claiming to be based in hard reality. They needed a bad guy, Richard Madden does a bang up job, the movie (a little sketchily) gets away with it.

While everyone does an awesome job, by far the shining star of this film is Taron Edgerton as Elton John. I really have only seen him in Kingsmen which I thought he was fine. But this movie stretches him a lot and he becomes Elton John. He's an awesome singer, and its an emotional performance of a complicated person.

While he's the hero and you root for him, it's pretty obvious that he's flawed. But you see the causes of those flaws and you see the journey he goes through.

I will say that on face value, the movie follows the same formula of a musican biopic that I mentioned above. So if you're looking for a new take on the musician biopic, as far as the plotline goes, you're not going to find it here. But, you will find a unique execution with the fantasy musical format and the performances.

The funny thing is, I watched this movie on a plane and I didn't realize until about half way through the film that they were editing out a lot of the swearing and the more mature parts of the story.

This brings up the obvious commentary that is going to come out of this movie, is it better than Bohemian Rhapsody and honestly, it's not even a competition. Rocketman is heads and tails better than Bohemian Rhapsody on so many levels.

First off, the film is rated R and its allowed to go deep into the drugs, sex, and alcohol lifestyle of Elton John far more than Bohemian Rhapsody could.

But the truth is, I feel like I watched the PG-13 version of this film and its still better. It's more honest, it's got better execution of the music, and it just feels more genuine than Bohemian Rhapsody did.

I am not a Bohemian Rhapsody hater either. I liked it when it first came out. I think the criticism of it, while fair, lose sight of the fact that that film is fun and tells a story of Freddie Mercury's life. Rocketman improves upon that by just taking more chances and doing something different. I have no doubt its going to do well come award season, and while time will tell which one is better remembered, I think Rocketman is just going to go down as the better film in this weird musician biopic cinematic universe they seem to be building up.

Overall, I recommend Rocketman a lot.

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