“Rocketman”

“Rocketman” is this years music biopic about a celebrated and beloved British music icon. This film and last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody are almost like a mirror image as the similarities are plenty. Both Freddie Mercury and Elton John battled the same demons and much of the same issues in almost an identical time frame. I enjoyed the Queen movie very much but you take out the Live Aid stuff and it’s a very average film despite a killer performance by Rami Malek. Rocketman, I think is a better movie and what impressed me the most is Taron Edgerton who knocks it out of the park playing Elton John both musically and vocally. He’s great. I also very much liked the style how they incorporated various musical numbers into the story. It was done with a neat style to it. The movie also culminates with its own winning conclusion. As music biopics go, this is much better than most. At its core, the story is paint by numbers, but the outer layer creates a pretty entertaining film.

Rating: (***1/2)