“Rocketman” is at 71 on Metacritic and has a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes — that is more than respectable. Dexter Fletcher’s Elton John biopic is not close to being a landmark cinematic highlight but it does do the job and it does it well. Fletcher and the writers’ decision to make this more into a musical than, say, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is commendable and the artistry is truly more pronounced in Fletcher’s film than the aforementioned. I also happen to think that those MC and RT scores are higher that I thought they would be. It’s been an average year for mainstream filmmaker, so it seems like critics’ standards have been slightly lowered for “Rocketman,” which given the fact that it isn’t a sequel, reboot, superhero movie or animated movie, feels, to many, like some kind of “oasis in a sea of muck.” The film was released last night in theaters. Despite its R-rating, it will be making the big bucks this coming weekend. Just how much? We are not sure. it sure as hell won’t make as much as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which was rated PG-13 and is a more commercially friendly option— what with its conventionalist approach in telling the story of Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury’s life, it was a far easier sell to mainstream audiences than “Rocketman” will be, which is an over-the-top, glitzy affair ala Baz Lhurmann’s “Moulin Rouge.” In my B- graded review of the movie at the Cannes Film Festival, I wrote: “Like many rock biopics involving artists that lived excessively, the film’s trajectory can sometimes feel a little too familiar. No wonder then that “Rocketman” can’t sustain the frenetic energy of its first 90. Once John starts debilitating himself with substances you start to feel pummelled by the film’s bummerisms, the starts start to appear less often and the giddy joy Egerton brought on-screen is replaced by downerisms. After all, watching Egerton’s John flamboyantly dressed, with a different costume practically every scene, with wide eyed optimism for his music, is what grabs our attention in the first place, not Dexter Fletcher’s glitzy filmmaking or the purposely preposterous script by Lee Hall.” “Egerton, the 29-year-old British born actor best known for the ‘Kingsmen’ movies, delivers an energetic and dead-on performance. He doesn’t just nail Elton’s look, but the mannerisms as well, the flamboyant and raucous spirit of a man that seems to have been given more than a few chances to live in life. If Hall’s screenplay manages to pile in the cliches to the nth degree, it’s Egerton that deserves all the credit. Oh, and the songs of course, what glorious, timeless songs.” Contribute Hire me
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