Rocketman

By: Ashlee Dell’Arciprete

Telling an honest cinematic portrayal of an icon who is still alive is a difficult achievement to begin with, even more-so if that icon is Elton John. Rocketman is an intimate look at the high highs and very low lows of Elton John’s career and, given that, does not shy away from the less-than-glamorous moments of his life. Without a doubt, Rocketman will be instantly compared to Bohemian Rhapsody, the Rami Malek-led 2018 Academy Award-winning biopic that Dexter Fletcher saved after the catastrophe that was Bryan Singer. Yes, both films explore two phenomenal legendary icons in music and history as a whole, but what Fletcher is able to do with Rocketman is completely different and a completely different film. And what Taron Egerton was able to emulate as Elton is as close to perfect as it could be. Rocketman encapsulates the being of Elton John from his perspective in a monumental film that deserves to be seen.

The film is told through the lenses of Elton John (Taron Egerton) and his outrageous, and quite fitting, sunglasses as he is in a group therapy session for the multiple addictions he has struggled with (listed within minutes of the opening credits). The film then takes viewers on a journey through early childhood and youth as a lonely Reginald “Reggie” Dwight wanting to be loved by anyone, especially by his mother and father (Bryce Dallas Howard and Steven Mackintosh). Reggie was obviously a musical prodigy and quickly stuns his instructor as he begins studying at the Royal Academy of Music. After taking exceptionally articulated advice, that “you got to kill the person you were born to be in order to become the person you want to be,” Elton John takes off.

Elton meets with Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell), who would become his songwriting partner for over 30 albums, after Dick James of DJM Records takes a chance on him – thanks to Ray Williams (Charlie Rowe) handing Elton a stack of lyrics written by Taupin. After a rocky start, Elton soon becomes a 23-year-old billionaire as he and Bernie’s arrangement succeeds with flying colors, with Bernie writing the lyrics and Elton writing the music and lending his vocals.

Elton soon meets his first love, John Reid (Richard Madden), which becomes a separate arc into the love Elton is longing for. As his success grows, he struggles with accepting his sexuality (even marrying a woman at one time) and begins a spiraling of drug and alcohol abuse as he tries to deal with his depression–all this while present-day Elton recounts his life and searches for forgiveness and acceptance with artfully choreographed musical numbers and all.

Rocketman is filled with musical numbers that, rather than act as a concert, attempt to get inside the head of Elton John and the myriad of issues he was attempting to deal with and escape. The way that the film transitions from young Kit Hoover’s version of Reggie to Taron Egerton in “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” is just one of the fantastic sequences of the film in a The Greatest Showman-esque musical number. The film used artistic license to be able to actually explore each song, like in “Saturday Night” and other notable songs like “Honky Cat,” “Sorry Seems to Be The Hardest Word” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”

Dexter Fletcher’s direction does not go unnoticed in the slightest. Fletcher and Taron Egerton also previously worked together for the heartwarming film Eddie the Eagle and it is spot-on for Rocketman. Screenwriter Lee Hall uses the rehab device with framing the film around Elton’s group therapy session to confront his younger self as a young Reggie Dwight into the career of Elton. The incredible cast of Egerton, Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jamie Bell and Charlie Rowe have collectively great performance to tell the life of Elton John. In case it’s not clear after watching, Taron also lends his own vocals to every song of the film and puts his own twist on his songs as opposed to imitation. And after Egerton sang John’s “I’m Still Standing” in in the illumination animated film Sing, it is absolutely fitting.

Rocketman captures the fantasy and reality of the Rated-R ups and downs of the life of Sir Elton Hercules John. Several studios denied distribution of the film, but Paramount agreed, which makes Rocketman the first major studio film with a gay sex scene. Some of the best scenes in the movie are the more personal moments, especially in his friendship with Bernie Taubin and more intimate and darker moments that peel back the onion of Elton John. Dexter Fletcher’s direction paired with Lee Hall’s screenplay, the cast, cinematography by George Richmond and costume design by Julian Day creates an impressive fantasy with crafted choreography that gets behind the lenses of Elton John. Although Dexter Fletcher is adamant that Rocketman is less a biopic and more of a musical fantasy film, it may have just perfected the mold.