User reviews

Rocketman decides to focus on Elton John's character evolution more than anything else, chronicling his life from when he was a wee-little boy to his glory days as the colorfully decorated, piano-playing, musically blustering star. One detail I must address that really hoisted the exploration of John's life was, in reality, the "R" rating.

You get to see a respectful and psychological turn in his persona, you get to witness the heartbreaking "addictions" that he constantly forces himself into, you get to view the uncut collision of him dealing with his sexuality, and you even get to feel that loss of love that Elton had felt when he persistently questioned his relationship with peers. All of these affairs are dispensed without and blockades or any desires of censorship and I must commend the filmmakers for going about this risky decision.

And sure, Rocketman is arguably quite the corn-fest at times, but the movie is able to take these cheesy elements of the typical rockstar biopic and format it into a creative fashion that characterizes more charismatic and less repetitive exhibitions. Which brings me to my next point...

I am so pleased that Rocketman turned out to be a nearly full-on musical? I mean, it had to find some way to be different from Bohemian Rhapsody, right? Whenever a musical note comes on it's not just there for Elton John fan-a-holics. The songs always pertain to the presented events transpiring on screen. The methods they use to present the songs as well, offer some more than compulsive and devouring visuals. I also appreciated how they redid all the songs to fit the scenes in a more appropriate manner. It makes the film seem less like a compilation of Elton's original greatest-hits and more like a rendition of what each song means to the story.

Now, Taron Egerton's performance in this is...wow, wow, wow, wow, WOW. He is just bleeding with range and chaotic pizazz in this encapsulation of a contrasted human individual. If someone is worthy of an Oscar nomination this year, it's this guy.

Rocketman doesn't entirely rely on nostalgia like most of its kind does-that implying that sometimes it does, however-and most of its misfit adventures proved about in the story seem earned rather than glossed over at a maximum pace of negligence. Definitely check this one out, especially if you're an Elton John fan!

What a disappointment. Bad writing. Pitiful representation of EJ. I couldn't stand the musical portions and ended up FFW past them. And how do you screw up concert/show dates with when the actual song was created? Casting was great and Egerton nailed his role, but he should've lip-synced the music and had the actual EJ songs played. Not saying his voice was bad, but basically I just saw a 2 hour pity party played/sung by a cover band musical. This film would have been much better as an actual biopic. Compared to Bohemian Rhapsody, this film was a huge flop for me. It's a generous 6/10 mainly for Egerton's great performance.

Elton John is one of the greatest contemporary artists of the world, no doubt. However, this highlight of his life is a terrible overrated film, without any emotion and an exploitation of Elton John as a needy alcoholic and drug addicted gay. He is needy because of his one-dimension parents that are never developed and the viewer never knows why they treat the boy that way. His gay side is also poorly developed and more exploited. In the end, the film is lost between a shallow drama and a boring musical. The performance of Taron Egerton in the role of Elton John is the best this movie can offer. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Rocketman"

I love Elton John's songs and know a bit about his history having grown up with much of it but this film felt like a missed opportunity to tell his story with true pathos or make the most out of his friendship with Taupin. It's enoyable enough and Egerton puts on a good show but not stand out for me. Good DVD fodder for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

First of all this is a musical & reminded me very much of The Who's Tommy - it's not just a biop so if you like traditional musicals you will enjoy this. Second, Taron Egerton was fantastic. Jamie Bell aside the rest of the cast were bland and forgettable Problem is that I just couldn't warm to Elton. I know that as part of this vanity project, Elton wanted a warts and all portrayal, I think there was just a few too many warts. Whilst Bohemian Rhapsody was uplifting & celebrated the music of Freddie & the Queen boys this to me didn't celebrate Elton's music just showed what an almighty Pr*** he is. Disappointing

Following hot on the heels of Bohemian Rhapsody. Comparisons are inevitable especially as Dexter Fletcher, the director of Rocketman was brought in to finish Bo Rap. Both films also feature the character of John Reid as business manager for both Queen and Elton John.

The film is framed with a rock bottom Elton John (Taron Egerton) wearing a heavy costume going into rehab for his various addictions and talking about all the issues in his life.

Reg Dwight was a child prodigy on the piano. His life changed when he met Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell) and Elton put music to Bernie's lyrics.

In the 1970s came big success and battle with his demons. From 1975 Elton admits to being a twonk to his friends and family as he got addicted to booze and drugs. A year later his homosexuality became public.

The framing device works well. Elton felt a lack of love from his parents especially from his distant father. When Elton found success, he found his business manager and lover John Reid more interested in Elton's career than providing him with love and affection.

The songs weave around the film and sung by the cast. It seems the writer Lee Hall took the songs and built the structure of the film around the lyrics, you could easily guess what the final song was going to be.

Like Bo Rhap it is not chronologically accurate. Elton John married Renate in 1984 when the film reaches its natural end in 1983.

I did feel Rocketman was lightweight even when it goes into Elton's darkest aspects of his life, it just seemed too tinged with sweetness. A surprise because Elton John has never shied away from talking about his dark days so it could never had been a contractual thing.

Egerton does well as Elton but it is a performance that never blew me away. Bryce Dallas Howard surprised me with her English accent as Elton's mother.

Like a lot of other recent films based on true events. The film wants to blow its own trumpet by showing how much detailed they have gone to recreate the sets and costumes. Then you realise what was the point? Part of the story has been fictionalized for narrative purposes. I liked it much more with some nice humorous bits such as when John Reid strokes Elton's receding hair and some of it falls off on his hands.

I saw Elton John in concert some years ago. His core band have been with him for decades, half are from Britain and the other half are from the USA. I would liked to have seen how they reacted to Elton John when he was loaded on drugs, did they try to wean him off or just joined him. The film does not tell you.

Rocketman is no Tiny Dancer but isn't exactly Still Standing. And I think it's going to be a long, long time before these crowdpleasers fill my soul with pure enjoyment. Very similar to last year's 'Bohemian Rhapsody', I find myself in the internal battle for conforming to an opinion that readers will appreciate but understand, or give it that elusive perfect rating because it's "enjoyable" to the point that flaws are ignored. I mean, this is coming from an individual who isn't particularly enamoured by Elton John or musicals for that matter. Sorry to say, and it certainly is the hardest word to say, that this musical biopic packs sequins and extravagant costumes only to follow the most uninspired clichéd narrative structure that has been recycled time and time again. Elton attends an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and revisits the life that he has lived, leading him to the dangers that fame and fortunes bring.

As I mentioned, I'm not a massive fan of Elton John. Mainly because I didn't particularly grow up with his music, or was remotely interested in his personal life, however I will say the man has undeniable talent. This film depicts that wonderfully. From when he was a musical prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music to writing legendary songs with his musical partner Bernie Taupin. Hall's screenplay, with both John and his husband Furnish overseeing the end product, captures his life and condenses it down adequately where the pivotal moments are illustrated with emotion and pride. John seemingly did not want to shy away from his downfall with drugs, depression and sex addiction, which makes Rocketman that instantly more personable. Over half of the film's runtime tackles his succumbing to depression, and is more often that not heartbreaking to watch. Don't go breaking my heart, Elton!

Fortunately Fletcher keeps the tone light by integrating fantastical musical numbers that depict Taupin's lyrics and reflects them through John's life. "I'm Still Standing" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" being the most notable examples. Ridiculous show stopping costumes, packed with all of John's razzle dazzle, allow for these musical numbers to glow and illuminate the stage. These outlandish attires were effortlessly worn by Egerton, who simply gives his best performance to date. The perfect balance of emotion and character interpretation, without leading to a caricature performance. It's obvious that Egerton looks up to John as a role model, and he did a stunning job. Heck, even his singing voice is pretty decent! Bell and Madden gave solid supporting performances, although weren't given enough to make a lasting impression. Howard on the other hand, I felt, was miscast as John's mother. Her American accent creeped in on occasion, and she seemed out of place considering the predominantly British cast.

However, unfortunately I come to aspect of this review that I'm sure will garner some discussions. It's no surprise that the narrative structure for Rocketman offers the same clichés found in every other mainstream musical biopic. Start of a career, rise to fame, corruption of fame and money, near-death scenario and then the inevitable moment where the singer/songwriter turns their life around. Predictable to the very tip of the writer's pen. And with that, there was an overbearing sense of familiarity that prevented me personally from fully enjoying this. Despite John's melancholic depressive state, that may catch many off guard, it did feel occasionally boring. Surprisingly, with John and Furnish onboard as producers, the film wasn't as self-indulgent as I expected.

But John's views on his parents, accessible to us on most tabloid papers, unfortunately taint these characters. They are written with such animosity, to the point that they become almost inhuman, preventing us from understanding their perspective on the complex childhood that John had to endure. They were one-dimensional antagonists. I'm sure they weren't pleasant to John, but some dimensionality towards them would've made for understandable sympathy. The final criticism I have is with the ending. It just ends. It's no spoiler that John eventually turns his life around. Yet as soon as he does, we are presented with typical onscreen text depicting the rest of his life. Underwhelming, I must confess.

It may sound like I'm being overly critical, but that's only because these glaring issues are noticeable to me. You may enjoy the film better than I did, and I would not judge you for it. Elton John is undoubtedly a legend, and this subjective statement alone will attract several audiences into what is an enjoyable musical. Rocketman unfortunately failed to lift off for me, and seemed like an exercise in therapy for Sir Elton John.

I have to agree with an earlier review. I think the emotional effectiveness was lost with the sub par "musical numbers" in the film. The real emotions would have carried better had they simply done lip syncing to the ORIGINAL RECORDINGS. Don't get me wrong Taron Egerton CAN carry a tune, he has a really great voice and does an AMAZING job playing Elton. But everyime that the movie burst into music, the impetus was lost with these bland reworkings of Elton and Taupins great music. As for the story? Wasn't the worst I've ever seen, it just seemed rushed at certain points and it tended to be a bit maudlin overall. I wouldn't say it was a bad film, I would say watch it..and whenever you feel a musical number kick in? Pause the film and put on the original song. It may go down as a better viewing experience that way

The efforts to make this into a musical in the sense of West Side Story interferes with its effectiveness as a Biopic. It could have been much, much better.

I've been an Elton John fan "since the beginning". What made him so great is his musical genius. That should have been the focus, rather than the Ken Russell-like garish portrayal in the film. It is also very disconcerting for me to see the many instances where the songs are glaringly out of sequence, the most striking example was "Crocodile Rock" used as John's opening number at the Troubadour in 1970 when the song wasn't even written until two years later.

The storyline was all over the place. They had so much to work with, I mean cmon, it's Elton John! Bohemian Rhapsody completely takes the cake.

Ok I know people will hate comparing it to BR but compared to BR this was like a joke. This felt like a stage musical. I was expecting of course to hear the songs throughout but I thought we would delve more into his life and back stories into people around him. There was an annoying theme of switching between real and fantasy and it made him appear schizophrenic. This was a pretty big letdown. The main actor did great, but the writing and pacing were both off. Whereas BR told a story of rags to riches, this was like a cheap musical ad for Elton. It wasn't horrible, no, but the direction it took was disappointing.

This movie was both excruciatingly beautiful and irritatingly tedious. I love the music. Egerton was exceptional! I hated the melodramatic whining. Complex and yet simple. A Boy with crappy parents, daddy issues and a need for attention, grows up to become a Superstar! Reginald Kenneth Dwight transformed to Elton Hercules John!

I watched this for the music, although I did suspect it would be heavily biased towards poor Elton being one of life's victims, and I was right. He ridiculously over played how 'cruel and evil' his father was to him (facts don't bear this out at all) and hugely under played the real life arrogant and egotistical Elton we see on various chat shows. Also the movie suggests the songs were all about him and his life (ego) which is simply not true. That said, enjoyable none the less but not as good as it could have been had he not had such a say in its production.

A work of efficient legacy image-management by Sir Elton and his team. It's quite funny in places, visually impressive in others (the costumes are a real treat), harmlessly enjoyable on the whole. It's like watching an unusually raunchy school pageant, basically innocent but with a lot of knowing references to that naughty world of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll beyond -- or maybe on -- the sports fields.

Taron Egerton is a good, perhaps very good, character actor in the making. He has a certain hidden quality that makes him intriguing. He doesn't have the charisma of a Brad Pitt or a Leonardo de Caprio, or the young Johhny Depp. Using his acting chops, he successfully recreates Elton the performer. He doesn't communicate the depths of despair that we're shown the great man going through, though. I'm not sure why. Perhaps the problem is the glib psychobabble of these scenes that are the weak points of Lee Hall's otherwise nicely-wrought script. Acting support varies from the excellent (Jamie Bell, Gemma Jones) to the inexplicable (Bryce Dallas Howard).

The film is a juke-box musical, drawing on Sir Elton's extensive back catalogue to slot in to appropriate on-screen situations. Mostly these are easy fits (Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, for example), some more oblique. The most successful is the title number, which is realised in an entirely unexpected, totally effective way. Kudos to all concerned.

I have no doubt this movie, like Bohemian Rhapsody before it, will make a several mountains of money. It's not a bad film. On the whole it's an entertaining film. Credit to director Dexter Fletcher and his team for that. For me, this attempt to be mega-popular is always going to mean punches are pulled, that the unhappiness is never going to be particularly intense, while the highs are only tolerably high. On the other hand, the movie embraces Elton's gayness, working it through from a secret to a point of pride. That's excellent.

The movie starts with a promising note but at one time, you start feeling that story is being dragged. The performance by the lead actor was amazing. He dived deep into the character and you can totally connect with him. Rest of the actors also nicely played their parts. The songs are nice and perfectly match the scenario shown in the movie. The editing and direction was also good. The problem I faced was with the pacing and the runtime. Pacing was uneven and the runtime could have been short.

Overall, the movie was a good watch and will be mainly loved by Elton John fans who admire him the most.

Inspiring. Your a kid, and you have dislikable parents, you have dreams of becoming a musician.

But when you cannot forgive and continue your life having resentment. It will make you pretty miserable. But at least he took action and changed from drug angry homosexual to a homosexual becoming a family man and doing something right. Story was great. Taron Egerton played Elton John perfectly.

The presentation and love making scene made me feel very uncomfortable. Certain scenes were excessive, messy, and cartoonish. I like his songs but it's takes away the seriousness of the movie. I felt like watching Grease.

Overall this movie is for the Elton John fans. For me it's a mixed bag.

Imagine the near-impossible task of creating an epic biopic that fully captures the over-the-top eccentricity and energy that is Elton John. And Taron Egerton did a dang good job.

Disclaimer: I'm a big fan of Elton John. Yet, I'll do my best to keep my admiration of his music separate from this movie.

Rocketman tells a half-fantastical, half-true story of the life of Elton John. It's more of a surrealist fantastical musical than a to-the-point accurate portrayal of his life. But, maybe it's better that way.

The music numbers hit all the right spots. Performed out-of-order from the times Elton John is alive, Rocketman aims more for style than accuracy.

Sound design and costume design are true to Elton John's nature and the entire team deserves praise for their hard work.

And did I mention Taron Egerton's amazing vocal performance?

Yet, my admiration for this movie stops there. The portrayal of this movie is told from a flashback perspective while Elton John is in rehab. We start the film from the present (rehab) and hop back and forth between the past & present. Though a fan of everything else about this movie, I found this method of storytelling is lazy, overdone, and uninteresting.

Time is not fluid in this film as years and months are blended in this film and everything seems handed down to John. It's confusing and a disservice.

Shame, as this movie was missing that one special "pow" that takes it to the next level.

3/5. Seems that the film was more interested in capturing the magic from Bohemian Rhapsody than capturing the magic of Elton John's life. If more thought was done on the script and plot, this movie could have flown as high as a Rocketman.

If you are an Elton John fan and wanted to see a movie about the rise of Reginald Dwight to superstar - This is not the movie for you. The biggest problem begins with twisting the chronology of musical compositions putting popular hits in to the days when he was a struggling musician. If you wanted to put all of the chronology and music and costumes and origin story into a blender and then have somebody write a musical filled with actor singer dancers about the goo that came out of the blender... This is the movie. It's not unwatchable, and does have some entertainment value but it's just kind of strange and leaves me wishing there were an actual movie that told Reginald's story - about the evolution of the music and his career as it actually happened. Overall it ended up leaving me frustrated and disappointed.

After the critical success of Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), it felt like the market was ripe for another movie about a homosexual piano-playing musician. Enter Rocketman (2019), a biopic about Elton John (Taron Egerton) that didn't quite know what to do with itself. Was it supposed to be the greatest hits of Elton John songs, like Mamma Mia! (2008) was for ABBA? If it was intended as a straight biography of Elton's life, it falls into all the tropes that seem to be requirements for the genre. There didn't seem to be anything original here other than sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

One aspect of Elton John's rise to stardom that I found interesting was his ability to pick up and play any song after hearing it once. This skill is quite a rare trait, and I almost wished this film played up that aspect a little more. I also was intrigued to learn that, while Elton was great at playing the piano, he needed someone to come up with the lyrics for him. Again, it is a great talent to be able to put words to music, which felt like a missed opportunity that was set aside in favor of focusing on Elton's homosexuality and drug abuse.

I understand that these issues doesn't help tell the "tortured artist" narrative. Still, when the songs themselves don't integrate well into the story, I felt that Rocketman was too disjointed to make any sense. If you took the songs as well-choreographed music videos, then they'd be great to watch individually. However, they usually stray from the main point of the story when they start, and they don't seamlessly work themselves back into the plot without some sort of clunky transition. Still, like how Yesterday (2019) was a bland realization of a great idea, at least it and Rocketman contain some excellent musical scores.

A disjointed biography that checks off all the tired tropes, I give Rocketman 3.0 stars out of 5.