I have been looking forward to seeing the movie Rocketman since I saw the first preview. I grew up listening to Elton John and absolutely love his music. I listened to his music and followed his career since the early 70's. So I was extremely excited for a movie that would hopefully give him the epic tribute he deserves since he is in my mind one of the best entertainers ever!When I saw there was an early access showing of the movie I immediately purchased my tickets. When the day of the movie arrived, I couldn't wait until show time. I sat down ready to be blown away by this movie.
As I watched Rocketman I kept hoping that it would do justice to Elton John. As I watched I tried to tell myself I was loving the movie, it was great. I mean it is about Elton John for goodness sake! It has to be great, right? As I watched the movie however I found myself thinking that it was not what I expected. It wa
s ok, but not great.
I tried hard not to compare Rocketman to Bohemian Rhapsody because even though both Elton and Queen are amazing, they are different and so the movies should be too.
As I watched though I did find myself comparing the two movies in many ways. I think this was because Rocktman was not meeting my expectations for so many reasons. Bohemian paid tribute to Freddy and Queen showing them go full circle from their troubled times to healing times. That was what I wanted to see in Rocketman. Rocketman did not do that.
Over the years Elton John has done so many great things. He has been involved in charity work, he because close friends with Princess Diana and they worked together on many different things. He is so much more than what the movie showed. I wanted to see that, I wanted to watch him go from his addiction to recovery, to finally find love, to be successful and happy. Rocketman however only seemed to focus on the negatives and I think that is what disappointed me. It did not do justice to Elton John.
When I left the theater I told my friend that the movie was ok. Not great, but ok I was disappointed it was rated R and full of the F word and I was not happy they added sex to the movie, I do not like to watch people have sex on the screen. It makes me uncomfortable hence the reason I avoid R rated movies. I was also disappointed that they really did not showcase the music much. It seemed to me like a bunch of songs were played but nothing really in completion. So it was ok.
There was really nothing in the movie about Elton's charity work or his relationship with Princess Diana which was an important part of his life. Nothing about him coming full circle from drugs and alcohol and the only way we as an audience knew things worked out for him were the pictures and captions during credits.
I feel like there was no character or real story development during the story. It just went from him being young, to him being famous to drugs and such. I find that there are really no memorable moments in the movie.
The more I think about the movie that I had expected to be epic, the more I find myself disappointed in just about every aspect of the show. I am disappointed that something that could have been such a tribute to the music and person Elton John is never really had a developing story line and only focused on the negatives.
I do have to say that the acting was great. Everyone did an awesome job. I just was not impressed with the story line. I wonder if I am the only person who feels this way? I see reviews and many people loved it so I wonder if it was just me?? I might watch it again sometime to see if I missed something but the language and sex might serve as a deterrent.
Regardless I still love Elton John and his music!!
+Rocketman
+Elton John
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