Rocketman is so close to being genuinely great, I can’t help but feel a bit frustrated. Granted, it’s most definitely better than Bohemian Rhapsody, which will draw the most comparisons among moviegoers. Not just because they’re both biopics about old rock stars, who also happen to be queer icons, but for the sheer fact that the director of Rocketman, Dexter Fletcher, took over Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer was fired, though his work ultimately went uncredited, which is honestly for the best.
Dexter Fletcher has long made a name for himself as an English character actor before going behind the camera with films like Wild Bill, Sunshine on Leith, and Eddie The Eagle, all great films worth checking out, by the way. With his new film, Rocketman, he reunites with Taron Egerton, who starred in Eddie The Eagle, and he’s returning to the jukebox musical style that he pulled off beautifully in Sunshine on Leith.
That brings me to one of the big positives of Rocketman, obviously the Elton John music, but it’s not the music in and of itself. It’s the way the music is often utilized to tell the story, and coming through in sequences of fantasy and Broadway-esque musical numbers. It’s an incredibly stylish film where Fletcher brings out the very best from his crew, especially his usual cinematographer, George Richmond. They bring so much energy, so much vibrance, so much color, and verve to the story. It’s easy to get swept up in it.
What also helps is that the performances are all top notch, but it is – of course – Taron Egerton who delivers some career best work playing Elton John. He brings his natural charisma, but there’s also a sense of timidness, awkwardness, and, naturally, the flamboyant stage presence that Elton John is known for. He handles the serious moments well, as Elton gets deeper into drug addiction, and you totally buy him as this megastar. The supporting cast is made up of some heavy hitters like Bryce Dallas Howard, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell, Stephen Graham, among others, and they’re all capable actors who can make a huge impression with the little material they get.
Unfortunately, despite these elements working wonderfully, the film is still pulling itself into the same formula that informs countless biopics. Lee Hall wrote the script, and while he definitely tries his best to inject as much personality and stylistic flourishes as he can, the film still follows the same rise-and-fall-and-rise-again template we’ve seen over and over again. The use of musical numbers, while adding a unique and fun viewing experience, ultimately don’t add much to the story. Playing an old Elton John hit for the cast to sing is fun, but it does little to inform anything else happening for the characters. Musical numbers are often ways to dive into the mind of a character, but since we’re dealing with a jukebox style, the use of music doesn’t go any deeper than “the lyrics are sad and contemplative, so let’s have this be the number for a sad and contemplative scene.”
Arguably the biggest issue I had was with the pacing. It’s a frantic film, that moves fast from scene to scene with little downtime for the characters to breathe. It makes the movie go by fast, but it also prevents certain emotional beats to land with the punch that they needed. It just keeps moving from one moment in Elton John’s life to another. One example that left me baffled was when Elton meets a woman in one scene, marries her in the next, followed by a scene of both of them regretting it, and that is followed by a scene with Elton meeting with his mother, who mentions a divorce that already happened. I’m sure there’s a reason this is here, perhaps to illustrate Elton’s alienation, maybe a conflict with his sexuality, or whatever, but because it comes and goes in what feels like less than a minute, it just feels like another thing that happens, and it doesn’t stick with you the way it should.
This comes across worse than it actually is, once it was all said and done, I did have a good time watching Rocketman, especially as someone who isn’t as well versed in the history and music of Elton John, aside from whatever I picked up through cultural osmosis. I admire the film embracing his sexuality, and diving headfirst into the struggles he faced. I like the style that Dexter Fletcher brought to the filmmaking. It is his weakest film to date, but it is also his most ambitious, and putting aside what he had to deal with on a script level, the work he does here visually and with his actors is rock solid. Taron Egerton continues to be a stellar movie star who throws everything into the role. Its reach may be far beyond its grasp, but that doesn’t mean it won’t put on a hell of a show, and considering the man at the center of the whole thing, that seems about right.