First things first, the Elton John musical biopic Rocketman should not be compared to the Queen Oscar winning flick of last year, Bohemian Rhapsody. It’s apples and oranges, people. Whereas the latter was a straight biopic that chronicled the life and times of the rock icons and their enigmatic lead singer Freddie Mercury (played by Rami Malek in an Oscar winning turn), Rocketman is a musical fantasy that will have you dancing wherever you are witnessing its majesty. Yes, one will even find inspiration to achieve greatness and fight for ever inch of life.
Rocketman is out now on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download formats and it could not be more of a must-own for music fans, Elton John fanatics, movie aficionados and anyone who loves musical majesty in their movies.
John’s fantastical cinematic biography commences with him (played by a stunning Taron Egerton) walking into a drug and alcohol support group, in one of his outrageously devilish stage costumes. This is a man with severe problems. He needs help or he will die. The question is asked, “how did it all begin?” Back to post-war sprawling suburban England and we meet young Reggie Dwight, a pudgy boy with a piano penchant that is impossible to ignore—all to the rockin’ sounds of The Bitch is Back. He struggles at home with his mother who seems to be more interested in going out with her “friends” than maintaining her marriage to Reggie’s dad. Then again, Reggie’s dad is not there mentally in any capacity. John gets into the prestigious Royal Academy of Music at the age of 11 and well, the rest is … complicated.
In some ways, Rocketman works like a traditional biopic. It fills in the blanks with real life details from John’s life—from his prophetic (and subsequently prolific relationship) meeting with lyricist Bernie Taupin to how he came up with his stage name, to his challenges with staying in the closet or coming out—it is all chronicled. Yet it is done in a way that is not particularly linear and always told through the expansive catalogue of his songs (and thus Taupin’s lyrics). I know I said I wasn’t going to compare the film to Bohemian Rhapsody but one thing does come to mind. That film concluded with their “best performance of all-time” seismic set at Live Aid. How would John’s flick end? After watching it, you will see they could not have chosen a better way (and song) to collectively conclude a genius journey.
Director Dexter Fletcher handles the biopic storyline, the musical numbers (and the stunning choreography) with palpable flair. This is a cornucopia of visions for the eyes, as much as John and Taupin’s music is candy for the ears. The director has crafted a fantastical tribute to one of rock music’s greatest talents. With 300 million records sold, he is the fourth highest selling musician of all time and that greatness is certainly one major thing that is gleaned from the filmmaker’s work. The other, is that we all know how prolific Taupin and John are, but when hit after hit after hit after hit comes at the audience like a tsunami of toe-tapping brilliance, it truly hits home just how rich the musical legacy is of these master musicians.
Jamie Bell is Taupin and plays him so right on the edge, so as not to take any spotlight away from Egerton’s John. But that is also on purpose because the lyricist was always content being in the background and providing the prose for John’s sonic succulence. Bell does something truly incredible with his turn and that is emphatically capture the brotherhood that is John and Taupin’s relationship. In Rocketman, no one in his life has been there more for John than Taupin and that kinship is impeccably captured by Fletcher and all involved.
Richard Madden gets to play our antagonist, after all, every story must have one. John Reid was John’s first manager. As portrayed in Rocketman, he was also a longtime lover and held that over John’s head like an anvil at times. It is when John discovers his inner strength that he is able to get a grip on his life and how Reid would play a role in that existence is also delivered with dynamic power.
Then there’s the Kingsman himself, Egerton. If what Malek did with Freddie Mercury (sorry, went there again) deserved an Oscar, then so too does Egerton’s performance as the I’m Still Standing singer. He goes over and above and embraces this musical/song and dance telling of John’s life in the most commanding of manners. Egerton has always been an actor of deep and rich talent, but what he does with John’s life (particularly within this storytelling milieu) is simply extraordinary.
For more on the film itself, check out our theatrical Rocketman review!
‘The bonus features for Rocketman Blu-Ray contain 75 minutes of extra content, including four extended musical sequences and even a sing-along version with Taupin’s lyrics flying across the bottom for the screen so you can … well, sing-along!
Rocketman’s extended musical numbers, complete with intro by Fletcher, are The Bitch is Back, Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting), Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache and Honky Cat. Each is more awesome than the last.
It’s Going to Be a Wild Ride: Creative Vision shines a spotlight on the stylistic choices that Fletcher made and how he utilized what they called “Elton’s visual history” to tell this iconic tale of rags to riches. The musician himself adds his two cents in this featurette, as does Egerton and the pair together add up to a whole lot of amazing insight.
A fascinating look at how Egerton morphed into John occurs in Becoming Elton: Taron’s Transformation. Something you will notice from these bonus features when both Egerton and John appear comes through stunningly in this particular featurette. It is the true bond that was formed between singer and actor and how their mutual admiration society seems to know no bounds. What Egerton did to get into John’s head (and body) is nothing short of a movie miracle and comes through like a blazing fire in this bonus feature.
The look of this film is uncanny and Larger Than Life: Production Design and Costuming rightfully shines a light on those responsible for the visual palette of the film that includes how the background sets looked and how the actors came across with wardrobe. We all know that John is known for his flamboyant outfits, but this goes deeper into how one captures the fashion aesthetic of each era that is chronicled in Rocketman.
One of the more entertaining featurettes is Full Tilt: Staging the Musical Numbers—which we’re hoping gets its name from the hypnotic Pinball Wizard sequence. It’s a fun behind-the-scenes look at how the key to this entire effort came together—the musical numbers. It’s as informative as it is entertaining.
It’s hard to miss that Egerton used his own voice to sing John’s songs and it added authentic to the entire film—surprisingly so. How that was achieved is chronicled in Music Reimagined: The Studio Sessions as it takes us inside the recording studio and we get to see Egerton at work, making John’s songs all his own. It’s sublime.
Just like the movie itself.
Film Grade: A+
Bonus Features: A+