Rocketman Review

Article Written by: Griffin Spencer

SPOILER FREE

Staring: Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot), Richard Madden (Game of Thrones)

Directed by: Dexter Fletcher (Eddie the Eagle)

Written by: Lee Hall (Billy Elliot)

SPOILER FREE

Taron Egerton is Elton John

Quick Summary, Rocketman is a movie about Elton John (Taron Egerton) told by Elton John. It all starts with Elton walking himself into a rehab center. He sits himself down and recalls his childhood to the group. He grew up as Reginald Dwight with a passion for piano and could play any song just by listening to it. He wanted to show his father, Stanley, this gift, but he just does not care about this talent. Reggie’s mother, Shelia, only cared about herself so that just left his grandmother, Ivy, to help grow Reggie’s gift. Once older, Reggie starts playing at local pubs. Once he becomes an adult, Reggie joins a band playing the piano. Reggie talks to one of the singers asking him how one becomes a famous singer. He is then told to write some songs, change your name, and forget the life you had to live the life you want. This sets Reggie on a course to stardom, but along the way he encounters a few road bumps.

I’ll just come out and say it, I thought this movie was an absolute joy to watch. Taron Egerton practically transformed himself into Elton John from his look to the voice. As I was watching I sometimes forgot I was indeed watching a film and not a documentary on Sir Elton John. The way it flowed through Elton’s childhood to stardom was executed nicely. Since this movie is based on real life, some events are exaggerated to play out better on screen, but I did not think anything in the film was too over the top or unbelievable. The other actors also had spectacular performances. Jamie Bell did a nice job as Elton’s friend/song writer, Richard Maddon as Elton’s lover/manager was a very enthralling performance, and Bryce Dallas Howard really transformed herself into bitter old woman known as Elton’s mother. Rocketman is very grounded in reality with the help of the performances making you believe the story that is being told.

The music in Rocketman was over the moon, ha. I did not expect it to be somewhat of a musical, but the way they did it was very entertaining. Taron Egerton sounded absolutely top notch and really made this movie into something great. If they just had Taron lip syncing Elton’s music it would not have had the same effect. You can see the emotion in Egerton’s performances of Elton John’s most notable songs and adds his own sort of flavor to it to make it somewhat his own style. Comparing Elton’s original songs to the ones in Rocketman you can tell the difference, but both are great in their own way.

Overall, I thought the movie flowed well and told a good story. You probably thought I was too busy sucking Taron Egerton off this whole review, but he really made this film something special. If Rami Malek won an Oscar for his performance of Freddie Mercury, Tarron Egerton should win all the Oscar’s for his. I recommend you see this movie as soon as you can. Its probably falling out of theaters now, but if there are any showings near you I urge you to see it. If the theater is not your jazz then I recommend adding this to your Blu-ray collection as soon as possible. Rocketman is one of the greatest music biopics known to man, in my opinion.

That is all from me and The Blam Bros for now but not forever. If you enjoyed this written review check out some of our others on our website. If you enjoy movies but don’t like to read well then we got ya covered with our podcast discussions. In those we discuss films in depth and what we thought of it and if you should see it our not. Anyways, stay tuned to The Blam Bros for more blammin’ content.