Review of Rocketman (2019) by Zeddicuszull — 14 Aug 2019

When I watched rocketman for the first time, I was disappointed, I almost left the theatre. That was because Bohemian Rhapsody was still in the back of my mind and, I expected something comparable. Bohemian Rhapsody felt like the perfect copy (I know there is fiction in the story, but hey its Hollywood) of the reality reinterpreted by the cast but with a strong influence from the band members which on the other hand unfortunately ruined a lot of the potential the story had by skipping over some of the more colourful bits of Freddies life AND (I still don’t get why) his fable for drugs. From Rocketman I actually expected more or less the same. I expected to see a rather straight forward part of Eltons life where he struggles in real life and how this influenced his music in studio and during concerts. But Rocketman is a biogrophy with a huge touch of fantasy. Or I would now say it’s a movie with the unmistakable touch of Elton John. Making it on the one side a colourful joy trip and on the other the unforgiving truth of sex, fame and drugs waiting to get you back to the unforgiving ground of reality. (Thank you Elton for insisting!).

My first thought was: oh no, not a musical! With this thought on my mind the movie has lost me before it even started. I thought, why the hell are they singing and dancing without any reason? Only Taron Egertons interpretation of Elton held me back from leaving. After I left the theatre it took me a whole day to understand the idea behind this film. When I realized where I was wrong, I had to watch this movie again. And again, the day after. I realized that what you see are bits of Eltons memory and his deranged drug mind as he is still "high as a kite" when he begins his story in which reality and Eltons music are mixed up. If you watch this movie from this perspective everything makes sense. And you will have such a wonderful trip. I enjoyed watching Taron Egertons acting. It is emotional, funny, fantastic. He is Elton Hercules John.