Elton John.

I mean what else can you say the guy is a legend. His music is like poetry to generations, and his flamboyance paved the way for people around the world, who were possibly looking for an inspiration. He and his partner Bernie Taupin were geniuses and I was so happy to hear that this movie was being made. When they cast MY GUY Taron Egerton to play Elton it became my third most anticipated movie this year (Avengers and Star Wars C’mon Son).

Directed by Dexter Fletcher, who also saved Bohemian Rhapsody, this musical fantasy brings to life the story of Reginald Dwight aka Elton John. It is a classic music biopic in terms of artist rises from a tough beginning, has incredible success, is hindered by drugs and alcohol, then has a redemption in the end. This movie however does it in a very different way and it made it very enjoyable. It is basically a musical that is just telling the story of Elton John’s life and as a Musical guy I enjoyed that immensely.

Every scene is so memorable because you can pair each of them with a song that he sings and it immediately makes the scene stand out. However, the entire movie is set using an AA meeting to tell the story. So after each song or two it would go back to Elton reflecting on his life with his group. This was a cool story telling device that I actually thought anchored the movie on some level. Let’s get into the performances shall we?

Stock Watch

Stock Up – I had very high expectations for my guy Taron Egerton going into this movie and he knocked it out of the park. He captured all the intricacies and flamboyance of Elton, while also nailing all of the songs with his own flair. I have been so excited about this guy since Kingsman and I really think the sky is the limit for him. He should 100% be nominated for an Oscar this year for this role.

Stock Up – Jamie Bell played a very good Bernie Taupin opposite Egerton. He humanized Elton and also felt like he was really having a good time the entire way through filming. His singing was also surprisingly good so props to Jamie.

Stock Neutral – Bryce Dallas Howard was possibly the only American in this movie, but that did not stop her from turning in a solid performance as Elton’s mom. I do not think the role gave her a ton to do, but she did the best with what she had. Honestly, until the credits I did not even know it was her.

Stock Up – Richard Madden played John Reid, Elton’s Manager/Lover throughout the 70’s. Madden has been steadily on the rise and I think this will be his big breakthrough playing the quasi villain of the movie, He really plays the smug manipulator role well in this and he has a big future ahead of him (next Bond?).

*A couple other tidbits

• All the fantasy elements just looked so cool on the big screen.
• The Saturday Night is Alright sequence was incredibly fun, oh wait you can watch it already!

This is an incredibly fun movie where you see the rise of a superstar in real life and on screen. I also hope to see this in the future on Broadway.

Juice Rating:

*All of my movie ratings can be found here.