domtaylor Review of Rocketman

Rocketman (I) (2019)

An entertaining musical that's let down by following the music-biopic formula too closely.

[7/10 · 7 September 2019]

'Rocketman' is a pretty entertaining Elton John biopic, but unfortunately it's just that: a musical biopic. While it does differ from the majority of them as it's a straight-up musical as opposed to just featuring on-stage performances, every beat of the narrative is very generic and therefore predictable. This means that for all its different qualities, its generic traits actually overcome them leading to a film that's unfortunately much more forgettable than it should be. Like I said though, it is definitely entertaining in the moment and the musical sequences are well-realised and enjoyable. Egerton is great in the leading role, too, and holds his own in the singing. Actually knowing that he is performing the songs himself really adds to the believability of the whole thing and doesn't just make it seem like an old album is playing over a mime act. In the end, this is probably one of the best examples of the music-biopic thanks to the fact that it's trying to be something different. Unfortunately, though, that's not enough to overcome the traditional trappings of the genre, leading to a picture that's enjoyable in the moment but ultimately rather forgettable. 7/10