Review: Rocketman

Watching Rocketman is akin to watching three movies at the same time. There's Rocketman itself, Bohemian Rhapsody as it was made, and Bohemian Rhapsody as it might have been. The comparison between the two films are inevitable, given that Bohemian Rhapsody is still relatively fresh in the public consciousness, both films revolve around celebrated musical icons, and that both were handled by Dexter Fletcher. Fletcher, as it's well-known, stepped in for Bryan Singer after Singer was fired from the project, but Rocketman is entirely a work of his own making.

Though both films are jukebox musicals that hit all the familiar beats of a biopic, Rocketman feels the more liberated of the two and that's very much due to working within the less constricting confines of an R-rating. Certainly no one can accuse Rocketman of whitewashing or glossing over Elton John's homosexuality or debauched lifestyle. Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll are very much on display, the excesses even more heightened by the surrealistic fantasia that garbs it. Though it delves deeper into the darkness and is more inventive in its musical numbers than Bohemian Rhapsody, this is not to say that Rocketman is an unvarnished and merciless look at its central figure on par with Bob Fosse's All That Jazz. Rocketman is ultimately a joyous celebration of a man who went through hell and came out still standing better than he'd ever been.

As Bohemian Rhapsody hinged on Rami Malek's Academy Award-winning embodiment of Freddie Mercury, so too does Rocketman heavily depend on Taron Egerton's portrayal of John. Egerton delivers in spades, seizing control from second one as John, bedecked in feathered wings, sequinned devil horns and platform shoes, bursts into an Alcoholics Anonymous-style meeting and ticks off his various addictions. It isn't too long before we step through the looking glass and bear witness to John at various stages of his life: from the young piano prodigy barely tended to by his parents (Steven Mackintosh and a somewhat miscast Bryce Dallas Howard), to the teenager playing at the local pubs, to the young man who would find his artistic partner in songwriter Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell), to the global superstar known for his sartorial flamboyance and outrageous showmanship.

Fletcher stages the musical numbers with impressive dexterity, resulting in memorable sequences such as John performing "Pinball Wizard" in an ever-changing array of costumes as the camera swirls around him. Equally dynamic is the depiction of John's suicide attempt, beginning at the bottom of a pool as he and his younger self sing "Rocket Man," then transitioning into John at the hospital emergency room and then seamlessly segueing into him taking the stage at Dodger Stadium in his glittertastic baseball uniform. Yet the quieter moments also resonate. John feeling his way through "Your Song" on his living room piano is as plaintive and piercing as the song itself.

Dazzling as the film is, it's not without its failings. One wishes for a closer look at the creative process as well as the friendship between John and Taupin or even the toxic relationship between John and his self-serving manager and lover, John Reid (Richard Madden). Yet there's no denying Egerton's truly excellent portrayal and commitment to the role or Fletcher's spectacular talent for musical storytelling.

Rocketman

Directed by: Dexter Fletcher

Written by: Lee Hall

Starring: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard, Stephen Graham, Jason Pennycooke, Charlie Rowe, Gemma Jones, Steven Mackinstosh, Tate Donovan