Rocketman (And a List of the 50 Best Elton John Songs)

"I've always wanted to smash a guitar over someone's head. You just can't do that with a piano."
-Elton John

Rocketman, the biographical musical about Elton John from his childhood until the 1980s, is yet another rags-to-riches tale of a rock star who flew a little close to the sun. Fortunately, Rocketman, though not the best, is less dull than last year's similar film. It might be unfair to do so, but I do not know how to view this film and reflect on it without comparing it to Bohemian Rhapsody, the Oscar-winning biographical film on Queen singer Freddie Mercury. Both were directed by Dexter Fletcher (though he didn't receive credit for Bohemian Rhapsody because he replaced ousted Bryan Singer), both deal with real-life queer artists, and both, obviously, portray iconic British rock stars. But the similarities don't stop there. Both feature the manager John Reid, who is played here by Richard Madden. (Reid was portrayed, a bit more sympathetically, by Aiden Gillen in Bohemian Rhapsody.)

Rocketman is undeniably better than Bohemian Rhapsody. For one, it's far less stale (though inevitably at least a little too similar to all the other biographical films of famous musicians over the years). Bohemian Rhapsody was a realistic musical from the very beginnings of Queen until the famous Live Aid concert less than a decade before Mercury died. The songs you heard in that film largely showed the behind-the-scenes drama in making them. In Rocketman, the famous Elton John songs serve as impetuses for set pieces, often with energetic choreography to back them up. They are placed as if they would be in a Broadway musical, driving the narrative and that sort of thing. At the beginning of the film, for example, John shows up in one of his elaborate, camp show costumes to an addicts meeting. He's a smart aleck in his response to the leader's questions, shrugging them off with a joke that falls flat about how his dealer was out of town so the meeting seemed like the next best thing. But then he sees an image of his younger self (played by Matthew Illesley), and because one of his most famous songs contains the opening lyrics of "I was justified when I was five, raisin' Cain, I spit in your eye," the opening number is "The Bitch Is Back," one of his most beloved.

A better example of this is its use of "Crocodile Rock", which we see him play during his U.S. debut at the Troubadour in 1970. (Fact check: Elton John didn't play "Crocodile Rock" at the Troubadour in 1970 because the song wasn't released until 1972.) In a fantastical style, Fletcher and his crew channel the famous photo of John hovering in air to temporarily turn the film into a fantasy, before bringing it back down to earth for the fun we expect. Outside of the musical numbers, though, the fun lacks, perhaps justifiably. There's a serious amount of attention to the depiction of Elton John's parents (Bryce Dallas Howard as his mother and Steve Mackintosh as his father) as being unsupportive to one degree or another. And a biographical film about a famous musician (particularly a rock and roller) is not complete without a rock-bottom fall induced by drugs. The film more or less accurately depicts John swallowing a bunch of pills and nearly drowning in his pool a few days before playing to an enormous crowd at Dodger Stadium in LA.

But probably the most emotionally moving aspect of this film is the relationship between John and his long-time lyricist, Bernie Taupin, played here by Jamie Bell. John has claimed in interviews that the two of them have never argued about music, and in fact have likely never argued about anything. There is an argument depicted here in the film, though. Elton is dressed in another splendidly outrageous costume before heading out on stage, and Bernie questions why is behaving so. Elton blows up at him and marches past, but just before appearing in front of the adoring fans, he slightly turns back, places his hand on Bernie's arm, and quickly apologizes. Much attention has been given to the sex scene in Rocketman (not between John and Taupin), but the most moving love is the platonic relationship of these two musical geniuses.

Before concluding, it must be said that Taron Egerton is incredible as Elton John. That is all of him singing, and it's a performance in which an actor commits as much as is possible. To say he is impressive and among the best performers of the year is a severely gross understatement.

The Best Elton John Songs

Honorable Mentions: Holiday Inn, Tonight, Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word, Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!), Mellow, Passengers, Believe, El Dorado

50. Ballad of a Well-Known Gun
49. The Greatest Discovery
48. The King Must Die
47. Razor Face
46. Grey Seal
45. Bad Side of the Moon
44. Ballad of Danny Bailey (1903-34)
43. The Nasties
42. Can I Put You On?
41. Lady Samantha
40. Carla/Etude
39. Teacher, I Need You
38. Sixty Years On
37. Electricity
36. I Guess That's Why They Call Them the Blues
35. Sweet Painted Lady
34. Country Comfort
33. Don't Go Breaking My Heart
32. Elderberry Wine
31. The Cage
30. Rock and Roll Madonna
29. Border Song
28. Take Me to the Pilot
27. Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock and Roll)
26. Step Into Christmas
25. Can You Feel the Love Tonight?
24. I Just Can't Wait to Be King
23. Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters
22. Empty Gardens (Hey Hey Johnny)
21. Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
20. I'm Still Standing
19. Are You Ready for Love?
18. The Circle of Life
17. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
16. Your Song
15. Daniel
14. Benny and the Jets
13. Levon
12. The Bitch Is Back
11. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
10. Curtains
9. Better Off Dead
8. Philadelphia Freedom
7. Crocodile Rock
6. Honky Cat
5. Tiny Dancer
4. Candle in the Wind
3. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2. Rocket Man
1. Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)

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It Chapter Two

Twenty-seven years have passed since the events of It, when a malicious clown-monster named Pennywise emerged from the sewers to feast on people. Michael (played in adult form by Isaiah Mustafa and as a teenager by Chosen Jacobs) is the only member of the group of outcast kids called the Losers Club to have stayed in Derry, a sleepy yet picturesque town in Maine where adults seem to be oblivious to the fact that every thirty years or so numerous people end up missing and body parts are found. Michael, though, has kept a watchful eye, and it's time to warn his former friends of It's return.

Michael has no choice but to call them and remind them of the promise they made as children to return and defeat It, also known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgard). But Michael's friends have all moved on. Bill (James McAvoy as the adult Bill and Jaeden Martell as the young one) is a successful writer, Beverly (Jessica Chastain/Sophia Lillis) is married to an abusive man not too dissimilar from her father, and Richie (Bill Hader/Finn Wolfhard) is a stand-up comedian. The remaining members are Ben (Jay Ryan/Jeremy Ray Taylor), Eddie (James Ransone/Jack Dylan Grazer), and Stanley (Andy Bean/Wyatt Oleff). By the way, if you watched Wolfhard in Stanger Things 3 and/or Grazer in Shazam! this year and noticed that they've been growing up, you can now know that de-aging works on children, too. Incidentally, Lillis and Wolfhard both publicly stated two years ago that they wanted Chastain and Hader, respectively, to play the characters in their adult forms. Their wishes were granted.

Once Michael does make clear to the group that It has returned and again is consuming the people of Derry, the Losers Club members are reluctant to fight back. It's only when they are each individually tormented by Pennywise, who is terrifically delighted to see them return. These moments are either the best or the worst part of the film; it's difficult to say which. Some (like Beverly's) take place entirely in the adult form, as she returns to her childhood home and discovers that some things are not as they seem. Others (like Ben's) only take place when he's a child, being chased by Pennywise in his school. And some (like Richie's and Eddie's) show Pennywise's acts of malice against them both as children and adults. These scenes mostly work, but it takes up a lot of time (like the entire second act).

It Chapter Two, directed by Andy Muschietti and based on the 1986 novel by Stephen King, doesn't necessarily feel like an overly cumbersome horror film, but it is more than most. What ultimately harms it to the point rendering it mostly forgettable is how it adds nothing new from the previous film. It made perfect sense to adapt Stephen King's 1,138-page novel into two films, but the result is a sequel that feels less fresh. The climax especially feels like a simple repeat of the previous film. Even by deleting the infamous orgy scene from the adaption, the story can seem bloated at times (especially that dull ending). There's certainly no reason to extend this story into a third film, as some have suggested.

That being said, the cast here carries a lot of the weight (more on that later), but the production value of It Chapter Two really goes a long way. Horror films usually are among the highest (if not the highest) in terms of return on investment (ROI) largely because they are relatively inexpensive to make. The Devil Inside, for example, was made on a budget of about a million dollars, and yet it made over $100 million at the box office. It and It: Chapter Two take a different approach, not afraid to pour in loads of money. (It was made for $35 million and made of $700 million at the box office; that's a ROI of 1,900%.) The money poured into a movie like this works. The visual effects provided by Atomic Arts and Method Studios are stellar, Benjamin Wallfisch's score is alluring, and the production design by Paul D. Austerberry is haunting.

Chastain gives a stellar performance, as expected, and McAvoy also does well. But Hader's performance appears to be the most impressive to audiences, given that we haven't seen something like this from him. He's as funny and snarky as many of his screen performances have been, but he also has mastered the "shocked fish" look, as is when Pennywise haunts him in broad daylight. His paring with Ransone often works as comic relief, though sometimes it's oddly placed. Still, my favorite performance is Skarsgard's. Even without the ostentatious makeup, it's impossible not to be mesmerized by what he presents. It Chapter Two is even less scary than It (that may be a good or bad thing for you), and part of this is because all of Pennywise's tricks have already been revealed. Beyond that, the usual notes are followed: the music features a crescendo, and then there's silence. The clown might not be in front of you, but surely he's right behind you. Even with these flaws and that fact that Pennywise himself doesn't pack the cinematic thrill he did two years ago, it's still a masterful performance by Skarsgard. Clowns are scary (apparently even scarier than terrorism, death, and climate change), but a man dressed as a clown is not all that is required. Skarsgard commits, and should be rewarded.

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