They paid to see ELTON JOHN! - Rocketman review
WARNING: THIS REVIEW IS CERTIFIED 12 (PG-13). THE MOVIE IS CERTIFIED 15 (R)
WARNING: SPOILERS APLENTY FEATURE IN THIS REVIEW
Rocketman features a lot of adult content (drug misuse, sex, very strong language) and received an R rating in the USA and a 15 certificate in the UK. I will try to keep this review as clean as possible, but please bear this in mind if you want to see the movie yourself.
The movie describes itself as 'an epic musical fantasy' and I think it delivers.
This movie is about Elton John, so his name will feature a lot in the review. Most reviews seem to drop the Elton and call him John throughout the rest of the review. However, this can be confusing with mentions of John Lennon, so I shall just call him Elton.
The movie opens with Elton, played by Taron Egerton (pronounced Edge-er-tun, I checked), dressed in a flamboyant devil costume. He walks down a corridor towards the camera to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road as the title flashes up on the screen, walking into... Rehab.
Odd choice. Given his getup, I was expecting more of a concert/rehearsal type vibe. Instead, he just sits down on a chair and starts talking about his life, starting with his childhood.
Weird though this seems, it's actually a very clever storytelling device. Elton Starts the movie dressed in ridiculous paraphernalia, and talking about his childhood, although his words, especially regarding his relationship with his father, do not match the action being played out onscreen.
As the movie progresses, Elton removes more and more of the outfit, starting with the wings, then the horns, the skullcap and eventually ending up in a dressing gown. As his clothing gets more stripped back, so does he, being more and more honest about his life.
The rehab meeting is only a framing device though; the rest of the movie is set over a large period of Elton's life, from about 1956-1992-ish (my estimates, 0 sources, so don't bother looking it up)
The movie does not work like Bohemian Rhapsody, which a lot of people have been comparing it to. This movie is much more of a musical, incorporating Elton's songs into the biopic of his life, meaning that the concept is more similar to The Jersey Boys.
Jukebox musicals (musicals based on the music of a particular artist or group) are nothing new (ABBA have THREE!), but surprisingly, there is still no Elton John musical. Jukebox musicals tend to work best if the artist or group has roughly 15-20 well-known hits, and although that isn't the case for all artists, Elton John is definitely not one of those.
Other artists with Jukebox musicals (shortlist) are:
ABBA (x3)
Madness
Queen
Elvis Presley
Buddy Holly
Britney Spears
Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons
Up till now, Elton has contributed and written songs for numerous movies, but Until now there hasn't been a proper jukebox musical of his work. Until Rocketman came out, the closest we had was Gnomeo and Juliet, which of course fully embraced the dark and gritty side of all of Elton's songs. Kidding, of course, but it's still a good movie, and you can watch it on Netflix or Amazon Prime (Prime requires additional payment).
The songs appear out of order of release, but that's because they have been adjusted to fit with the relevant beats of Elton's life. The first song appears in a flashback starting with Elton's rehab meeting. While he is talking, his younger self appears on a chair on the other side of the room. The entire group follows him into the street, and the group, especially Elton in his Devil costume, stand out as being colourful, as opposed to the more pastel-y colours of the street and the people in it.
At this point, we're treated to our first big dance number. There aren't many of these in the movie, but they certainly make an impact. Complex choreography combined with large numbers of dancers makes this a beautiful scene.
Now we've set up the scene, these are some of my favourite bits:
Elton's start in music school: This scene is very simple and also very short. He comes into an empty hall where a teacher is playing Mozart’s Turkish March. She sees him and stops playing, then asks him what he has brought as an audition piece. He says he wasn't told to bring one. This problem has never occurred before in any movie ever.
She says he should play something he already knows instead. he sits at the piano and proceeds to play the Mozart piece, but then stops abruptly. When she asks him why he just says: "That's where you stopped."
Side note: In reality, Elton can play by ear, which is why he completed the audition. If he hears a tune, he can play it on a piano and, in his case, can even transpose it to different keys. This should NOT be confused with perfect pitch (the musical skill, not the 2012 movie), which is when someone can hear a note played on an instrument and can instantly identify what note it is. Elton does not have this skill, in the movie or in real life.
This scene is clever because it tells us
1. Elton can play by ear, like, REALLY well.
2. He is a timid person but has a blunt personality.
3. He is often prematurely judged by his appearance.
All this in only about 2 minutes of screentime!
Elton playing in a bar: A little later, Elton is shown to have a part-time job playing the piano in a local bar. A man places his beer glass on the piano. Elton tells him to move it.
(Me, in my head: Oh, he's just irritated that he's not being shown any respect. This has also never occurred in a single other movie)
Movie: "You can't put that there, it'll get broken"
(Me: OK, strange way to say it, but I'll go with it)
Movie: (Elton starts playing, fairly violently. The glass instantly gets knocked over and smashed)
(Me: OK. Did NOT see that coming.)
(Other, internal me: Why not? They TOLD you that was going to happen)
Movie: (Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting)
I love this scene because it's done in what's known in filmmaking as a long take. This means that it is supposed to be shot in one single uninterrupted camera take, which in theory sounds easy, but in practice is incredibly difficult, because every single person/object in frame has to be doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing, and if anyone messes up just a bit, the entire shot has to be reset and filmed again from scratch.
Long takes often like to remind the audience that they are long takes, by doing something impressive like moving through a window, still without cutting. In Rocketman, this is when the camera follows Elton out of the bar, through dozens of people all engaged in separate, individual fights, down a narrow alley and through a hole in a fence.
(How this is achieved: In the bar, all the fighters are choreographed to avoid the camera when it is moving backwards through the bar, and only fight when they are in frame. The camera is able to go backwards because it is handheld and one person is operating the camera while another guides them through the throng, facing forwards.
Outside the bar, the handheld camera just follows Elton and some other people down the alley, which is well lit but adjusted to be darker in post-production.
Passing through the fence is also simple enough, a third camera operator is the other side of the fence, out of shot and the camera is passed through and picked up by the third camera operator, who can then follow the action.
However, my cynical mind doesn't trust such impressive filmmaking, and my filmmaking knowledge knows how this can be faked. Therefore, I know that one of the ways a cut can be hidden is by obscuring the camera, usually with someone's back.
Movie: (Zooms in on Elton's back)
(Me: Ha! Gotcha!)
Movie: (Elton's jacket lightens slightly)
(Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv4eTE0aUiQ)
Movie: (Elton's jacket is now brown, not black)
(Me: Oh come on movie, you're not even trying now)
Movie: (Zooms out, the camera is now on a crane)
(Me: Well I suppose it might still have SOME people fooled. Nice wide shot though)
Movie: (Elton turns around, is now played by Taron Egerton instead of Kit Connor)
(Me: Right, so it was just a time transition. OK. I'll stand down now and start to enjoy the movie again)
Elton's first performance: The movie implies that Elton's first live performance was at the Troubador in America. This isn't exactly true, but it's not exactly false either. The Troubador was Elton's AMERICAN live performance debut, and it wasn't as big as the movie pretends it was. It wasn't even actually his concert, He was the opening act for David Ackles, of whom Elton was a fan. He also wouldn't have played Crocodile Rock, because it wasn't written until 2 years later. He also didn't fly, but you knew that.
Elton's attempted suicide: In one particularly poignant scene, Elton takes a load of pills before standing on the end of his diving board and exclaiming:
"For my next trick, I will kill myself"
He then falls face down into the pool, and sinks to the bottom, where the child version of him is seen wearing a spacesuit and singing the titular song, and modern (1975) Elton is dragged out by his friends, strapped onto an ambulance trolley and taken away, while having an epileptic fit (side note: Some people might see this as offensive, but as an epilepsy sufferer myself, given the circumstances it is definitely something that might happen, and Taron makes it look extremely realistic).
The song continues playing as he is taken out of the ambulance in a very wide shot, so the actors are almost in silhouette. at this point, they take the role of dancers swinging the trolley around and changing Elton's costume as it transitions to him performing at Dodger's Stadium.
If you or anyone you know has suicidal thoughts, please contact:
(UK)
116 123 (line is free to call)
or email: jo@samaritans.org
(USA)
1-800-273-8255
Or online chat
For other countries, here is a list of the numbers which can help.
Elton and Bernie's falling out: A throwaway line in the movie and something which is mentioned in the epilogue is that Elton and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin have never had an argument. First of all, that is not an indicator of a perfect friendship, that is just odd. Second of all, I don't believe it, because no one could know someone that long and not argue occasionally. My best guess is that it means they have never argued about songwriting which makes sense because they each have their own area. Bernie writes lyrics but can't write music; Elton writes music but can't write lyrics (and so between them both, they licked the platter clean).
The two did indeed split up for a while, although this was not because of an argument, or even creative differences. The two just wanted to try working with other artists, to see what they could produce. The two did eventually go back to working together aside from a few projects (such as a small indie movie about a lion in 1994 that Elton collaborated with Tim Rice on. King of the Lions, or something like that?), they still work together amicably.
I probably had more opinions on this movie, but tbh it's been so long since I saw it that I can't remember what they were. Lesson learned: Write notes.
UPDATE: I just remembered pretty much the only thing I wanted to include in the review!
The ending: At the end, Elton meets Bernie at his mansion and Elton apologises for his behaviour. Bernie replies that brothers forgive each other and he has more lyrics for Elton to put to music. Elton sits down at his piano, plays an A chord (I don't have perfect pitch, but I looked it up) and starts singing
You could never know what it's like
He looks up and is dressed in a completely different outfit, but we're used to that now.
Your blood like winter freezes just like ice
And there's a cold lonely light that shines from you
You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use...
He then appears in the rehab centre and leaves the room, walking into the corridor
And did you think this fool could never win
Well look at me, I'm coming back again
I got a taste of love in a simple way
Your average casual fan such as myself hasn't cottoned on yet. Diehard fans are getting excited.
And if you need to know while I'm still standing you just fade away
Oh. Right.
Elton uses the Force to pick up a cane and starts singing into it.
Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
I'm still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind
Then the movie does something very clever. Elton walks out of a door and suddenly he's at the beach(that bit's not very clever, that's something Hollywood has been able to do for years).
The clever bit is the next bit, in which the movie shows some clips from the original video. Again, still not clever. Then it starts showing the parts featuring Elton and- he's not there! Or rather, real Elton isn't there. he's been substituted by Taron's Elton.
If you examine the footage carefully, you can see that the filmmakers have chosen the best way to hide the effects - by repeatedly switching techniques quickly enough for the illusion not to be broken.
This is how the T Rex in Jurrasic Park was created; sometimes it's a CGI creation, and sometimes it's an animatronic model. but it's never one method for long enough for the audience to figure out which is being used.
In Rocketman, it's 100% visual effects, but they change the method frequently. Some of the effects used are:
Up next: Aladdin review
Trivia Questions:
What is Elton John's real name (I purposefully didn't mention it in the review, did you notice)?
Whose (as yet unreleased) Jukebox musical is called Once Upon a One More Time?
Answers in the next review.
WARNING: SPOILERS APLENTY FEATURE IN THIS REVIEW
Rocketman features a lot of adult content (drug misuse, sex, very strong language) and received an R rating in the USA and a 15 certificate in the UK. I will try to keep this review as clean as possible, but please bear this in mind if you want to see the movie yourself.
The movie describes itself as 'an epic musical fantasy' and I think it delivers.
This movie is about Elton John, so his name will feature a lot in the review. Most reviews seem to drop the Elton and call him John throughout the rest of the review. However, this can be confusing with mentions of John Lennon, so I shall just call him Elton.
The movie opens with Elton, played by Taron Egerton (pronounced Edge-er-tun, I checked), dressed in a flamboyant devil costume. He walks down a corridor towards the camera to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road as the title flashes up on the screen, walking into... Rehab.
Odd choice. Given his getup, I was expecting more of a concert/rehearsal type vibe. Instead, he just sits down on a chair and starts talking about his life, starting with his childhood.
Weird though this seems, it's actually a very clever storytelling device. Elton Starts the movie dressed in ridiculous paraphernalia, and talking about his childhood, although his words, especially regarding his relationship with his father, do not match the action being played out onscreen.
As the movie progresses, Elton removes more and more of the outfit, starting with the wings, then the horns, the skullcap and eventually ending up in a dressing gown. As his clothing gets more stripped back, so does he, being more and more honest about his life.
The rehab meeting is only a framing device though; the rest of the movie is set over a large period of Elton's life, from about 1956-1992-ish (my estimates, 0 sources, so don't bother looking it up)
The movie does not work like Bohemian Rhapsody, which a lot of people have been comparing it to. This movie is much more of a musical, incorporating Elton's songs into the biopic of his life, meaning that the concept is more similar to The Jersey Boys.
Jukebox musicals (musicals based on the music of a particular artist or group) are nothing new (ABBA have THREE!), but surprisingly, there is still no Elton John musical. Jukebox musicals tend to work best if the artist or group has roughly 15-20 well-known hits, and although that isn't the case for all artists, Elton John is definitely not one of those.
Other artists with Jukebox musicals (shortlist) are:
ABBA (x3)
Madness
Queen
Elvis Presley
Buddy Holly
Britney Spears
Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons
Up till now, Elton has contributed and written songs for numerous movies, but Until now there hasn't been a proper jukebox musical of his work. Until Rocketman came out, the closest we had was Gnomeo and Juliet, which of course fully embraced the dark and gritty side of all of Elton's songs. Kidding, of course, but it's still a good movie, and you can watch it on Netflix or Amazon Prime (Prime requires additional payment).
The songs appear out of order of release, but that's because they have been adjusted to fit with the relevant beats of Elton's life. The first song appears in a flashback starting with Elton's rehab meeting. While he is talking, his younger self appears on a chair on the other side of the room. The entire group follows him into the street, and the group, especially Elton in his Devil costume, stand out as being colourful, as opposed to the more pastel-y colours of the street and the people in it.
At this point, we're treated to our first big dance number. There aren't many of these in the movie, but they certainly make an impact. Complex choreography combined with large numbers of dancers makes this a beautiful scene.
Now we've set up the scene, these are some of my favourite bits:
Elton's start in music school: This scene is very simple and also very short. He comes into an empty hall where a teacher is playing Mozart’s Turkish March. She sees him and stops playing, then asks him what he has brought as an audition piece. He says he wasn't told to bring one. This problem has never occurred before in any movie ever.
She says he should play something he already knows instead. he sits at the piano and proceeds to play the Mozart piece, but then stops abruptly. When she asks him why he just says: "That's where you stopped."
Side note: In reality, Elton can play by ear, which is why he completed the audition. If he hears a tune, he can play it on a piano and, in his case, can even transpose it to different keys. This should NOT be confused with perfect pitch (the musical skill, not the 2012 movie), which is when someone can hear a note played on an instrument and can instantly identify what note it is. Elton does not have this skill, in the movie or in real life.
This scene is clever because it tells us
1. Elton can play by ear, like, REALLY well.
2. He is a timid person but has a blunt personality.
3. He is often prematurely judged by his appearance.
All this in only about 2 minutes of screentime!
Elton playing in a bar: A little later, Elton is shown to have a part-time job playing the piano in a local bar. A man places his beer glass on the piano. Elton tells him to move it.
(Me, in my head: Oh, he's just irritated that he's not being shown any respect. This has also never occurred in a single other movie)
Movie: "You can't put that there, it'll get broken"
(Me: OK, strange way to say it, but I'll go with it)
Movie: (Elton starts playing, fairly violently. The glass instantly gets knocked over and smashed)
(Me: OK. Did NOT see that coming.)
(Other, internal me: Why not? They TOLD you that was going to happen)
Movie: (Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting)
I love this scene because it's done in what's known in filmmaking as a long take. This means that it is supposed to be shot in one single uninterrupted camera take, which in theory sounds easy, but in practice is incredibly difficult, because every single person/object in frame has to be doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing, and if anyone messes up just a bit, the entire shot has to be reset and filmed again from scratch.
Long takes often like to remind the audience that they are long takes, by doing something impressive like moving through a window, still without cutting. In Rocketman, this is when the camera follows Elton out of the bar, through dozens of people all engaged in separate, individual fights, down a narrow alley and through a hole in a fence.
(How this is achieved: In the bar, all the fighters are choreographed to avoid the camera when it is moving backwards through the bar, and only fight when they are in frame. The camera is able to go backwards because it is handheld and one person is operating the camera while another guides them through the throng, facing forwards.
Outside the bar, the handheld camera just follows Elton and some other people down the alley, which is well lit but adjusted to be darker in post-production.
Passing through the fence is also simple enough, a third camera operator is the other side of the fence, out of shot and the camera is passed through and picked up by the third camera operator, who can then follow the action.
However, my cynical mind doesn't trust such impressive filmmaking, and my filmmaking knowledge knows how this can be faked. Therefore, I know that one of the ways a cut can be hidden is by obscuring the camera, usually with someone's back.
Movie: (Zooms in on Elton's back)
(Me: Ha! Gotcha!)
Movie: (Elton's jacket lightens slightly)
(Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv4eTE0aUiQ)
Movie: (Elton's jacket is now brown, not black)
(Me: Oh come on movie, you're not even trying now)
Movie: (Zooms out, the camera is now on a crane)
(Me: Well I suppose it might still have SOME people fooled. Nice wide shot though)
Movie: (Elton turns around, is now played by Taron Egerton instead of Kit Connor)
(Me: Right, so it was just a time transition. OK. I'll stand down now and start to enjoy the movie again)
Elton's first performance: The movie implies that Elton's first live performance was at the Troubador in America. This isn't exactly true, but it's not exactly false either. The Troubador was Elton's AMERICAN live performance debut, and it wasn't as big as the movie pretends it was. It wasn't even actually his concert, He was the opening act for David Ackles, of whom Elton was a fan. He also wouldn't have played Crocodile Rock, because it wasn't written until 2 years later. He also didn't fly, but you knew that.
Elton's attempted suicide: In one particularly poignant scene, Elton takes a load of pills before standing on the end of his diving board and exclaiming:
"For my next trick, I will kill myself"
He then falls face down into the pool, and sinks to the bottom, where the child version of him is seen wearing a spacesuit and singing the titular song, and modern (1975) Elton is dragged out by his friends, strapped onto an ambulance trolley and taken away, while having an epileptic fit (side note: Some people might see this as offensive, but as an epilepsy sufferer myself, given the circumstances it is definitely something that might happen, and Taron makes it look extremely realistic).
The song continues playing as he is taken out of the ambulance in a very wide shot, so the actors are almost in silhouette. at this point, they take the role of dancers swinging the trolley around and changing Elton's costume as it transitions to him performing at Dodger's Stadium.
If you or anyone you know has suicidal thoughts, please contact:
(UK)
116 123 (line is free to call)
or email: jo@samaritans.org
(USA)
1-800-273-8255
Or online chat
For other countries, here is a list of the numbers which can help.
Elton and Bernie's falling out: A throwaway line in the movie and something which is mentioned in the epilogue is that Elton and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin have never had an argument. First of all, that is not an indicator of a perfect friendship, that is just odd. Second of all, I don't believe it, because no one could know someone that long and not argue occasionally. My best guess is that it means they have never argued about songwriting which makes sense because they each have their own area. Bernie writes lyrics but can't write music; Elton writes music but can't write lyrics (and so between them both, they licked the platter clean).
The two did indeed split up for a while, although this was not because of an argument, or even creative differences. The two just wanted to try working with other artists, to see what they could produce. The two did eventually go back to working together aside from a few projects (such as a small indie movie about a lion in 1994 that Elton collaborated with Tim Rice on. King of the Lions, or something like that?), they still work together amicably.
I probably had more opinions on this movie, but tbh it's been so long since I saw it that I can't remember what they were. Lesson learned: Write notes.
UPDATE: I just remembered pretty much the only thing I wanted to include in the review!
The ending: At the end, Elton meets Bernie at his mansion and Elton apologises for his behaviour. Bernie replies that brothers forgive each other and he has more lyrics for Elton to put to music. Elton sits down at his piano, plays an A chord (I don't have perfect pitch, but I looked it up) and starts singing
You could never know what it's like
He looks up and is dressed in a completely different outfit, but we're used to that now.
Your blood like winter freezes just like ice
And there's a cold lonely light that shines from you
You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use...
He then appears in the rehab centre and leaves the room, walking into the corridor
And did you think this fool could never win
Well look at me, I'm coming back again
I got a taste of love in a simple way
Your average casual fan such as myself hasn't cottoned on yet. Diehard fans are getting excited.
And if you need to know while I'm still standing you just fade away
Oh. Right.
Elton uses the Force to pick up a cane and starts singing into it.
Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
I'm still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind
Then the movie does something very clever. Elton walks out of a door and suddenly he's at the beach(that bit's not very clever, that's something Hollywood has been able to do for years).
The clever bit is the next bit, in which the movie shows some clips from the original video. Again, still not clever. Then it starts showing the parts featuring Elton and- he's not there! Or rather, real Elton isn't there. he's been substituted by Taron's Elton.
If you examine the footage carefully, you can see that the filmmakers have chosen the best way to hide the effects - by repeatedly switching techniques quickly enough for the illusion not to be broken.
This is how the T Rex in Jurrasic Park was created; sometimes it's a CGI creation, and sometimes it's an animatronic model. but it's never one method for long enough for the audience to figure out which is being used.
In Rocketman, it's 100% visual effects, but they change the method frequently. Some of the effects used are:
- Facial mapping (Real Elton's face is removed and Taron's face is superimposed onto his body)
- Simple greenscreen (Taron is filmed in front of a greenscreen and matches Elton's moves perfectly and the 2 images are combined. This effect is very difficult to achieve so it is used sparingly)
- Complete replacement (If Elton is the only person in shot, the movie can just use original footage only featuring Taron)
- Extended screen (The original footage only reaches a certain width. Taron is filmed in an area that would have originally been out of shot and the 2 shots are digitally stitched together (it helps that the movie is in widescreen and the original video was in standard))
- Partial replacement (Same as above, but the part of the screen where real Elton was is erased first)
The movie ends with some exposition about how Elton has been sober for 28 years and will soon be retiring to spend more time with husband David Furnish and their 2 children.
It is a brilliant clip and it is available online, but I believe that it may be pirated and I cannot support that enterprise, so I will not provide a link.
It is a brilliant clip and it is available online, but I believe that it may be pirated and I cannot support that enterprise, so I will not provide a link.
Up next: Aladdin review
Trivia Questions:
What is Elton John's real name (I purposefully didn't mention it in the review, did you notice)?
Whose (as yet unreleased) Jukebox musical is called Once Upon a One More Time?
Leave your answers in the comments below.
Answers in the next review.
Comments
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