Elvis

After about ten minutes, I was both exhausted and terrified. Was what I had just seen - colourful but frenetic and haphazard going to continue? Well, it does calm down - and continues to quite cleverly interweave the early years and aspirations of this young boy with the openly racist political situation that prevailed in the Southern United States in the early 1940s. From here on in, I am treating this as a provocative and entertaining but entirely speculative drama about this man. Historians always argue about what did happen - or what might have, and I haven't any factual insight to add.…

MORE SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS @ https://www.msbreviews.com/ "Elvis features a glorious, electrifying, iconic performance from Austin Butler that will deservedly guarantee him all the awards of the year. Unfortunately, the actor isn't enough to overcome the many technical issues, besides Tom Hanks' massive miscast and the formulaic musical biopic narrative. Baz Luhrmann's style theoretically fits the legendary singer's vibrant aura, and the filmmaker's intention is clear. Nevertheless, the frenetic, choppy editing and the restless camera movements rather come off as a messy, confusing,…

Film ruined the career of Elvis Presley. In the 1960s, while The Beatles and Rolling Stones were airborne across America, he was caught in a trap: starring in over 20 inane film projects. This allowed the rock n’ roll revolution that centered on Elvis to pass him by. Ironically, this story and more were adapted to the screen last month in the biographical film, ‘Elvis’. The picture was directed by Baz Lurhmann (of ‘Moulin Rouge!’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’ fame) and stars newcomer Austin Butler as our favorite jailhouse rocker. It spans Presley’s career entirely, but with a rigorous focus on the…

**Good moments but WAY too long.** A spectacular performance by Austin Butler, fabulous costumes, and set design were all weighed down by a much too long runtime and the impending doom of focusing on Elvis’ crooked manager.