A Moment of Clarity
Hey freaks, I’m back. Thank god I remembered my password to this thing because it’s been a while. I’ve been preoccupied with my day job and this phone game called Toon Blast, but I’ve temporarily put those both aside to share some thoughts. This evening I decided to skip Barry’s Bootcamp and sneak out of work to see Rocketman. I was a bit hesitant to see it because I truly believe it is a bad omen to make a movie about someone who is still alive, but whatever. I didn’t watch any trailers so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was hoping it was something along the lines of (and don’t hate me for saying this) Bohemian Rhapsody.
Most people know that I hate on-screen musicals. The only one i’ve ever liked was Across the Universe. I don’t know why I liked that one over the rest. I just did. I’ve never entertained the thought of watching High School Musical. I’ve never even seen Grease the whole way through. I do love a good Broadway show and I’ve seen quite a few; however, on-screen musicals make my ass twitch. As a side note, I do not classify Bohemian Rhapsody as an on-screen musical because it wasn’t riddled with vibes of synchronized swimming choreography and the on-screen songs were performed in a recording studio / concert setting. Rocketman, on the other hand, took what could have been an educational testament to Elton John’s music and life and turned it into a distracting piece where literally every character breaks out randomly in song at one point or another.
Don’t get me wrong, there were certainly superior elements. When Elton John plays Your Song for the first time after reading Bernie’s lyrics, his brilliance and talent is palpable. But nothing gold can stay. As soon as the on-screen onlookers began chiming in with a verse here and there, my goosebumps vanished. This is no longer a bio-pic. It was trying too hard to not be Bohemian Rhapsody while borrowing all the wrong fantastical elements from Across the Universe.
I don’t want to bore you all with the details, but I had to get this off of my chest. I thought the people of Twitter would agree with me on this, but a quick search for “Rocketman” proved otherwise. The people are dropping panties for this movie. Elton john’s life and upbringing and struggles and torment and success are more than enough to create a captivating movie. Why’d they have to throw in some frilly dance moves and a kid at the bottom of the pool playing the piano while wearing a Sandy Cheeks fishbowl to breathe underwater?
Overall, I’d recommend seeing the movie. The acting is fantastic and I want to support Taron Egerton’s rise to fame. He deserves it. I suppose the film was intentionally distracting. I’m no film critic, nor am I very insightful, but maybe every now and then art imitates life. Elton John didn’t need to wow crowds with his iconic looks. He could have worn a t-shirt on stage and still sell out every show, but he didn’t, and we love him more for it. This film truly did not need to incorporate campy musical elements, but it did. Maybe that was the whole point. Now that I think about it, I only looked at my phone once. Did I actually like it?
And finally, I want to say a big f*** you to the director of Bohemian Rhapsody and to EJ’s parents.
