It is inevitable that when one views Rocketman, the desire to compare it with Bohemian Rhapsody will arise. After all, the former was released less than a year after the latter and both tackle the lives of iconic British rock stars. Also, Dexter Fletcher took over as director of Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer was fired, and he served as director for the entirety of Rocketman. Whereas Bohemian Rhapsody took a biographical look back at mostly the life of Freddie Mercury all the way to his forming Queen, generating their hits, and the ultimate triumph that was their performance at Live Aid, Rocketman does so with a twist. It’s actually a musical disguised as a biopic, complete with characters suddenly bursting into song, to chronicle the life of Sir Elton John.
Rocketman’s premise revolves around a group therapy session that John (Taron Egerton) attends after suffering an anxiety attack due to his worsening drug problem. In the session, he begins to look back at his life as Reginald Dwight, his unhappy home particularly the father who never showed him affection, and how discovering he had a talent in music offered him an escape. So good was “Reggie” at the piano that it earns him a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music.
From there, Reggie joins a band called Bluesology and serves as pianist for a Motown soul revue around London. Eventually, Reggie decides to adopt the pseudonym “Elton John” and write music but he has difficulty with writing lyrics. Making his way to Dick James’ record label, Elton is partnered with Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell) and discovers that he loves writing melodies to Bernie’s lyrics while also establishing one of the most successful partnerships in modern rock history.
As he begins to achieve fame outside the UK, Elton starts experimenting with drugs as well as becoming more aware of his homosexuality through his new music manager, John Reid (Richard Madden). The hits keep coming for Elton and Bernie even as his stage costumes become more and more outrageous, but he remains in the closet as far as the public knows. When Elton does reveal to his mom Sheila (Bryce Dallas Howard) that he is gay, she says she already knew, but warns that he will never be really loved, breaking his heart. Yet the celebrity life keeps calling to Elton and the touring and music reach millions globally, all while his drug abuse and self-hate keep getting worse and worse.
The first thing that surprised me about Rocketman is that, as mentioned earlier, it is a musical first and foremost. People burst into song, and as the real Sir Elton John himself has proudly declared, all of the actors do the real singing in this motion picture. Much has already been said about Egerton’s voice and his commitment to embodying the essence of the young Elton and all the praise is much deserved. In fact, if Rami Malek could win Best Actor from several award-giving bodies including the Oscars for lip-syncing for Freddie Mercury, it would not surprise me at all if Egerton at least gets nominated for performing with his own voice for Elton’s songs.
The film, as John and Egerton have stated in previous interviews, is a fantasy so don’t expect any chronological accuracy in terms of songs appearing during different parts of Elton’s life. Some hits that had yet to be released in the early part of his career were used because the themes were appropriate for the mood of the scene. John and Taupin’s discography is very impressive, of course, and were often overlooked due to John’s gregarious costumes and his clashes with the press. Practically all of the classics are used, including “Your Song,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Crocodile Rock,” “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” “Bennie and the Jets,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” and many more.
There is a persistent feeling of pain and loneliness in the film because from childhood, Elton didn’t feel love from his parents, while in adulthood, he kept looking for love in the wrong people. But the heart of Fletcher’s film is the one place where John always found solace, and that’s in the musical collaborations he had with Taupin. It is a friendship and brotherhood that is almost 50 years old and, though they have stepped away from each other at different points, both say they have never argued in that span of time. Egerton and Bell capture the magic that was their first meeting, the music that they spawned, the awkwardness of discovering they were meant to be friends not lovers, and the support that Taupin provided during John’s near-death overdose. That is the film’s biggest success story.
About the Author:
Jason Inocencio was once the Digital Editor of adobo magazine who still loves seeing great campaigns from all over the world. He proudly shows off his love for all kinds of geeky things, whether it be movies, TV shows, comics, sports, or trivia.
