Rocketman - Fizzling Out or Shooting For The Stars

Let's start by saying I enjoy Elton John's music, but I'm far from a fanatic. I knew I would recognize some of the music in the film, and I was always interested in the life of the man Elton John, so I went in with expectations, but small ones.

This movie delivered so well. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie as a whole. As I stated, I'm not a gigantic fan, so the film impressed me that as a casual fan, I was able to know most of the songs still, and still maintain the emotional responses that go with them. The lead actor/singer Taron Egerton is simply spectacular in this role. I came out of that movie believing he was Elton John, Obviously knowing otherwise. He sang the songs himself, which is also a rarity in these kinds of films. I easily found the intensity, creativity and value that he emphasized throughout all of the presented material moving.

This movie was different from most of these kinds of biopics in that the filmmakers integrated real fantasy elements into the narrative several times. Fantasy dreamscapes that might make you believe you're watching some kind of adventure or magical movie rather than a movie about a singer. Those scenes fit so, so well with the story as a whole. Only once might I have been pulled out of a scene because of these additions.

The music is the real focus of the movie, which again separates it from most others out there. Yes, you discover a lot of things about Elton, but the music is really front and centre of the film.

I think I enjoyed it so much because of how unique it really was. It was like watching a mixture of Big Fish or Across The Universe meets Bohemian Rapsity.

If you haven't seen this yet, I urge you to do so as it is easily worth the price of admission.

Overall score: 8 out of 10 stars

Pros:
- The music is exquisite
- Taron Egerton is completely believable as Elton John
- The additions of traditional fantasy elements help to alleviate slowdowns in the script.

Cons:
- I found the pacing was a bit jittery throughout the movie. Slow, slow, fast, fast, fast, slow, fast. slow etc.
- Much of Eltron John's life is not covered in any way after a certain point

Comments

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