So I intended to do this one right after I saw the movie, but I regrettably forgot. However, as it's easily my favorite movie of the year, I think I still remember enough to do a decent write up for it.

Rocketman is a biopic/musical about the life of rock/pop legend Elton John. It stars Taron Egerton as Elton himself, Richard Madden as his manager/lover John Reid, and Jamie Bell as his writer/best friend Bernie Taupin. It follows him from his early childhood into adult life.

Now, before we begin, I must say. SPOILER ALERT

Where to begin with this one. I truly loved this film. As a child my mother would always have me jam out, so to speak, to the Bee Gees, and one Elton John. Crocodile Rock is one of the first songs I remember memorizing the chorus of. Therefore I obviously had extremely high hopes for this film. And boy did it ever live up to them. Rocketman is tremendous in every facet. A very tight screenplay, amazing performances all around, and great musical numbers. This was no Bohemian Rhapsody playing the greatest hits, as it used each song to highlight different ups and downs of Elton's life.

This movie was surprisingly surreal at times. My favorite scene, as I'm sure it is also many others, is most definitely the Rocketman sequence. I loved the visual effects and the very slight changes to the lyrics to fit his situation more, and in that moment I would've believed the song was written with this moment in mind. The entire film was just superbly stylized, with another great number being Crocodile Rock. His first performance in America, and he "sweeps the crowd off their feet." Elton truly had such an effect and I loved seeing it happen in such an artistic way.

The movie opens with Elton in what appears to be some sort of Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, or the like. But it very quickly transitions into a great musical act involving young Elton and his entire hometown. The color contrast in this scene is just amazing. I absolutely loved this opening and it really set the tone for the entire movie. I definitely wasn't fully aware of his rough home life as a child, and the scenes with his parents throughout the movie really kept hitting you over and over, although I loved his grandma. Elton coming out to his mother, only for her to coldly say she already knows just truly hurt.

I also really appreciated the honesty about his sexual and romantic endeavors. The mistakes he made trying to lie to himself, the mistakes he made when he did accept himself, they didn't feel manufactured or "happy ending". They just sort of were. His and Bernie's relationship was just great, the really felt like brothers and I loved that Bernie never really gave up on him.

Also just a quick mention, the costume design in this was godly. I honestly don't believe it will be topped for me this year.

I'm trying to keep this shorter so I'll stop after we discuss this ending. I think ending it at rehab was a great choice, and obviously I'm Still Standing was the only way to go for the final musical number. It felt like a natural "redemption", and leaves us on a high note of happiness.

All in all I think this will go down as one of the greats for musical biopics, and will likely remain one of my personal favorites for years to come. But as for us, let's talk about it!

Did you enjoy the movie? What was your favorite musical number? Better or worse than Bohemian Rhapsody? Were you impressed by the vocal performances or just left feeling whelmed?