Rocketman

This is not a movie about a rock star with their music simply part of the facts of the story. It is a musical in the truest sense, that uses his own music to show his tribulations through the eyes of a man during the troubled years of his life. The movie is not always chronological and in some cases is more figurative than historical. In this way it can convey Sir Elton John's life and struggles in a way that the viewer may understand on a more personal level. The acting, writing and singing are superb. The star did not try to truly imitate Elton but instead preforned the pieces in his own style that he molded as closely as possible to the original. It sounds odd, but it works. As always you can never sum up any life, book or story in a 2 or so hour movie, but this comes close. You leave feeling like you really got to know the real, yet flawed, human Elton John. Overall a wonderful movie.

Taron Egerton's portrayal of Elton John is superb and only heightened by the producers allowing Taron to sing his own versions of many of Elton John's classic hits. It would be impossible to capture all aspects of Elton John's life in the 2 hours provided in this musical/biographical film, so instead the producer/writer/director concentrated on Elton's early childhood which helped shape his destiny when he first met his partner in song writing the great Bernie Taupin played by Jamie Bell.

There were far too many other excellent performances from the supporting cast members to mention them all but I have to mention two in particular who were top notch. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Elton's irresponsible (wife cheating) mother, and Richard Madden who plays John Reid one of Elton's early but serious lovers remained Elton's manager for decades after their sexual relationship ended. Both of these actors added a lot to the films depth in the one area that focused on Elton's tormented soul and led him to binge drinking and pill popping which is the area this film reflected.

I hope we don't have to wait for Elton John to pass away (God forbid) before some producer realizes that Elton John and Bernie Taupin whose lifestyles and personalities are so diametrically opposite that they deserve their life stories to be developed into a (minimum) ten (10) hour TV Mini-Series to cover a heck of a lot of both of these musical genius's personal lives as well as their successes with their musical portfolios.

Rocketman is well worth seeing and rates a perfect 10 out of 10 in my version of Elton John's quasi autobiography book.

He was AMAZING in the spirit of an fabulous Elton John biopic musical.... and Jamie Bell was awesome.. as usual!

Not really sure where I sit with this one. A gripping tale of one of music's biggest icons. While Egerton shines as the glorious John, all the surrounding characters seemed to be simple generic caricatures of staples from this kind of stories. And the story blazes by, many of the acts with little explanation of motives. It follows the basic by the numbers of the musical biopic, never really seeming to let the weight of one single action hit with the viewer before moving onto the next tragic act. While the characters and story seemed to ring a bit formulaic and hollow, Egerton's performance is able to carry the gravitas. And the music, oh the music. John's catalog is beautifully strewn throughout the film in all its glory, though Taron's vocals struggle in parts and he is outsung by his supporting cast at points. And in the end, the conclusion and resolution come, yet once again seemingly easily and out of nowhere as had the conflict earlier in the film. A great story of a great artist that just seemed to miss on a few points for me. Did I enjoy the movie? Yes. It just seemed like a cliff notes version of what could have been a deeper and more compelling story.

First things first, Elton John being one of the most famous artists in the world, with a career of about half a century and 300 million albums sold, a biopic was then more than legitimate and was even eagerly awaited. This film is conceived like a musical based on the songs and the life of Elton John, from the 50s to the early 80s, the selected songs being representative of the manifold events of his life, the ups (his life as an accomplished artist mainly) and the downs (his whole private life according to the movie), since his childhood during which he quickly turns out to be a natural born musician until his first sentimental disappointments and the first cures of detoxification (alcohol, drug, ... and tutti quanti). The movie ends with the punchy « I'm still standing », song written in 1983 after a bad patch and foreshadowing a frantic recovery of his life, the lyrics being written by his friend Bernie Taupin.

One of my favorite scenes among many others is the meeting at the Royal Academy of Music, with the third movement of the Sonata Piano No. 11 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played twice. I do not know if it's true but, if so, this child is ingeniously bluffing!

The costumes are superb and the actors are fabulous. The realization is ingenious especially with the appropriate and relevant insertion of the songs in the film, like in a musical. As a synthesis: 7/8 of 10.