Student Film Reviews

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1. August Johnson 06.02.19 / 10pm

   This was a great review although I have not seen “Rocketman” myself I have always enjoyed listening to Elton John’s music and knew he grew up in period like Freddie Mercury, when being gay was widely not accepted or understood yet. I like your comparison of the acting of best academy actor Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody” to Taron Egerton’s performance in Rocketman because it encourages me to believe that this movie is better than Freddie Mercury’s biopic. I appreciate the breakdown of Elton’s character too to preview the harsh reality that many never knew Elton endured throughout his now highly famed career.
2. August Johnson 06.02.19 / 10pm

   This was a great review although I have not seen “Rocketman” myself I have always enjoyed listening to Elton John’s music and knew he grew up in period like Freddie Mercury, when being gay was widely not accepted or understood yet. I like your comparison of the acting of best academy actor Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody” to Taron Egerton’s performance in “Rocketman” because it encourages me to believe that this movie is better than Freddie Mercury’s biopic. I appreciate the breakdown of Elton’s character too to preview the harsh reality that many never knew Elton endured throughout his now highly famed career.
3. Erinn Myers 06.05.19 / 11pm

   I have never seen Rocketman. Just from the title, guessing that it is a movie about Elton John is probably achievable within just a few guesses, considering that is one of his most famous and well-known songs. Although brief, this film review gives just enough intriguing information to express what this movie is about without giving away any spoilers. I am familiar with his “Greatest Hits” album, but sparsely knowledgeable about anything in his personal life. I do not fully understand what you mean by the movie lacking continuity in some “weird scenes.” Does this mean that events within the film are presented out of chronological order? Do the scenes have a different feel due to it’s mise-en-scene and the totality of elements that make up the scene, or something more specific like the acting during that particular scene? It sounds as though Elton John had numerous uphill battles during his early life and into the first years of his career. His success is an amazing story, and I am now excited to add this film to the list of movies I’ll watch this summer!
4. Mitchell Walker 06.08.19 / 6am

   This is a very good review and represents/describes the film almost exactly the same as I saw it. It is a story of Elton becoming Elton and shows all of the nitty gritty behind the magical music he serves us. In regards to the “weird scenes”, I totally agree as there are moments when the movie is not in chronological order, as we skip out into either a memory or a dream of some sort. This and the musical sense to the film made me steer away from what I was really interested in which was a sort of biographical film about “The Rocketman” Elton John.
5. Caroline 06.08.19 / 2pm

   I have yet to see this movie but the review has me intrigued. I wish the review would have elaborated more on the “weird scenes”, because that was just thrown in at the end and left me a bit confused. I also wish the review was proofread because there were quite a few grammatical and spelling errors. Other than that, I found the review interesting and I appreciated the credit that was given to the actor for singing the songs himself. Overall, I thought this was a useful review and I now feel further intrigued to see the film.
6. Caroline 06.08.19 / 2pm

   I have yet to see this movie but the review has me intrigued. I wish the review would have elaborated more on the “weird scenes”, because that was just thrown in at the end and left me a bit confused. I also wish the review was proofread because there were quite a few grammatical and spelling errors. Other than that, I found the review interesting and I appreciated the credit that was given to the actor for singing the songs himself. Overall, I thought this was a useful review and I now feel further intrigued to see the film!
7. Rebeca Adam 06.08.19 / 10pm

   I somewhat agree with this review. I thought that Taron Egerton did a fantastic job executing his role as Elton John. He seamlessly portrayed Elton at various stages of his life. I thought this was very admirable because as each stage Elton was an entirely different person. The way the music was weaved into the story truly made it emotional and meaningful. I don’t believe the film could’ve been successful without using Elton’s music to tell the story. The “weird” scenes were meant to place the viewers into the creative, imaginative mind of Elton John. It’s a look into how he thought, felt, and dreamt. It’s anything but “unfortunate.” I believe it was effortlessly inspiring.
8. vvital1 06.08.19 / 10pm

   I personally have never seen Rocketman but by reading the review it has intrigued me watch it. Elton is a true icon. His story is absolute fascinating. This review shows his truthful life, despite the hardships he ever passed he still became successful. He has inspired so many. This plot is heartwarming.
9. Daniel Ekstrum 06.21.19 / 9pm

   I agree that Taron Egerton did a phenomenal job with the singing in this film. He has an amazing voice, making the movie seem as if the audience is actually watching Elton John and not Taron Egerton. This film really brings an awareness that Elton John did have a rough life. “Rocketman” is useful because it helps the audience see that there is a way through rough times and the importance of seeking help.
10. Forrest Johnson 07.13.19 / 9am

    I have seen the film “Rocketman” and it was one of the better musicals that I have watched. The form of the movie followed a chronological order perfectly considering it was a film based on a true story. I do agree that this is a story regarding finding love and passion. Elton John was struggling to find love which steered his career into a giant chaotic mess. In all Taron Egerton did an amazing job in recreating the events of Elton John.
11. Nico Andrada 07.16.19 / 2pm

    I was very excited to go watch Rocket man and learn about Elton John’s life. However, I did not realize the movie was going to be a musical and I thought it was particularly odd how they would go from an extremely serious scene, to having all of the actors breakout into song and dance. While I may not of been the biggest fan of the way this movie was directed, you can only appreciate the thought behind the scenes and cinematography. How they used Eltons music to keep the plot going, and showing how his life was portrayed by his music. Overall, this was not my favorite movie but it was enjoyable to watch.
12. Celia Noren 07.19.19 / 1pm

    Great review,
    I have always liked Elton John’s music, so watching this film was for me really interesting. I knew he had a hard time growing up, especially under the circumstances when being gay wasn’t accepted and at the same time not being loved by his family. I think this film provides you with the importance of love and the feeling of appreciation, or as you said, “It is not only a story about being loved, but also a story about how we can get lost being alone and not appreciated.”

    Taron Egerton did an amazing performance in this film, the acting was really good that it sometimes felt like it was Elton John for real. I highly recommend this biopic, the narrative of the story is told in a very personal way that makes you as a viewer to feel very engaged with the film.
13. Yuqiao Liu 07.20.19 / 1pm

    The opening slow motion is the way I like to play, with the background of the sun, exaggerated clothing, the first second is amazing, the glory moment is undoubted. From the perspective of biographies this’s a perfect film. In conjunction with Elton John’s gorgeous stage style, the film also features gorgeous visual styles, songs and dances and multiple imaginary clips. Pay attention to his talents, desires, childhood dissatisfaction and pain, and these love and pain have become the source of creation. Of course, the best thing is music. When those familiar music flows out of his hands, this is genius, only worship and touch.
14. Conner Roberts 07.22.19 / 8am

    In Response to Rocketman (Dexter Fletcher, 2019) USA|UK by Kaio Farkouh

    I chose to read this review because this is a movie I am looking
    forward to go seeing with my mom. My mom was a huge Elton John fan and
    even named her dog after him. The best thing I read in Kaio’s review
    was when he referred to the acting of Taron Egerton, “I looked at him
    [Taron Egerton] and I could not see Taron himself, but Elton John.”
    This is a huge part of this film being successful because many people
    who will go to see this movie will be Elton John fans and they will be
    disappointed if the two aren’t similar. Kaio also talks about the very
    important themes that the movie portrays which is very important for
    the movie because it shows it has true meaning behind it.
15. Trevor Shaffer 10.17.19 / 4pm

    Very good film and great performance by Taron Egerton, sounds exactly like Elton John which is just so crazy because he as such a unique and iconic voice. I love that didn’t just make it another biopic and instead made it a musical much I thought made it so much more interesting. I agree with how some times there were scenes that didn’t need to be there and just seemed completely unnecessary and ruined immersion at points. The way the film speaks about elton’s life was very passionate and well done and was done impartially which made it a great watch. Great review totally agree with almost everything you said.
16. Ashley Rogers 03.01.20 / 10am

    I chose this movie because I watched it with my mom, and both of us were very shocked about how it turned out. The movie starts out with him going into a support group, which doesn’t actually happen until the end of the film, and the film goes in the order he tells it to his group, from his childhood to his rise in fame. What I like about this movie is it’s not in chronological order, yet it is. This may seem confusing, but I found it very easy to follow, and sometimes it would skip as if it was his point of view, skipping weeks ahead after huge drug takes. I agree with Kaio where they say the film lacks continuity and has some odd scenes that almost took me away from it.
17. Lauren Fleming 03.03.20 / 9am

    This is one of my favorite films. I love the use of color in the film. The high-contrast mixed with the use of heavy blues and reds makes me feel as though his life is incredibly theatrical outside of the film. I also like how they rearranged the original songs to fit with the constant shift between reality, fantasy and dream states. I think that this film–despite having the same director as “Bohemian Rhapsody”–cannot really be compared to one another. With this film, you can see Elton John’s input as much as you can see the director’s, but with “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Freddie Mercury is not here to tell us his story and help us experience his life through his eyes.
18. Grace Morton 10.24.20 / 7pm

    I thought Rocketman was a good movie, but not as good as Bohemian Rhapsody. I think trying to turn it into more of a musical took away from the sad story that was Elton’s early life. I do agree that this film did do a great job of showing Elton’s struggles with his father, sexuality, and with his music career. This film showed very well how all that stress can lead people to drug and alcohol abuse. I think Taron’s performance was amazing, I’m no actor but I’m sure there’s much more pressure when you’re playing a real person, and when that person is still alive, I think he really did justice to Elton John.
19. Jascha Kostruba 03.20.21 / 11pm

    Rocketman review comment
    I wanna start off by saying that I love the movie Rocketman and also Bohemian Rhapsody. Both these actors did amazing jobs portraying their roles. I completely agree with what you said when you stated that when you watched Rocketman you felt as though you were looking at the real Elton John. Taron Egerton did a spectacular job matching the facial expressions that Elton John did in real life. The movie Rocketman follows Elton John’s life and shows the audience the struggles he had to go through. The mise-en-scène in this movie fits together perfectly. I would also say that to me was in the scene where Elton John is singing I’m still standing. We see their interesting view of what was going on side of his head while composing the song. The choreographer and cinematographer didn’t amazing job I started the song inside of the long narrow hallways and then taking us to the beach where the dancing starts. As Elton John opens the door exiting the long hallway we get a feel as if he is stepping onto the stage about to perform. This movie is a perfect example of when amazing acting and great directing skills come together!
20. Diane Schlemmer 03.03.22 / 1pm

    Your focus on the damage of not having love, search for love, the power of love, is how I felt about Rocketman and it can also be said of Bohemian Rhapsody. That summer was made even better by the two films about two such great talents. How you compared the actors and included the areas where the film disappointed you is well done. Elton John was known for his dramatic shows and his costumes. It was an important part of the film and Elton John’s transformation from a struggling songwriter to a superstar is something that made the film shine.
21. Keala Starr 07.01.22 / 3pm

    Dexter, your review on the movie, Rocketman, was just perfect. I noticed that you started out by explaining the film explicitly, but later towards the end of the review, you explained the deep meaning, aka the implicit meaning behind the film. From my experience watching Rocketman, I noticed that the film definitely is in chronological order of Elton John’s life. And I found that camera is the narrator, rather than a voice narrating the film. Rocketman is definitely one of my favorites!

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