Directed by Baz Luhrmann, Elvis chronicles the life and career of singer and actor Elvis Presley (Austin Butler), from his early days as a child to becoming a rock and roll star and movie star, as well as his complex relationship with his manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).
When it comes to musical legends one of the biggest and most influential of all is easily Elvis Presley, who captured the hearts of many with his unique style of music. He was an icon of his time and had a major cultural impact that continues to this day, but there’s a lot more to his story that many people may not know about, which is what director Baz Luhrmann attempted to explore with this musical biopic on the late icon.
Baz Luhrmann has been known to make many polarizing films but from the few I’ve seen I always considered him to be a great director, so I was interested to see what his take on the King of Rock & Roll would be like. For me personally, he delivered probably one of the best and most unique music biopics in recent years. A lot of music biopics in the past that I have seen have been very repetitive and formulaic, following similar tropes, narrative structure, and styles. But in the case of this biopic, Baz Luhrmann and his crew basically said “To hell with all of that let’s make our own thing!” And that’s exactly what they did.
This film avoids the tropes and has its own narrative structure and energetic style that really makes it stand out from others. Once the film begins it goes hard with its style and flash while not holding back a single second, feeling like a perfect representation of the person this film is focused on and the chaotic life he had. Behind the glory and the fame was a man who wanted to change the world for the better through music and would end up being wrapped up in controversy and personal life issues all while being controlled by an enemy disguised as a friend. But to play such an iconic man Baz Luhrmann needed someone truly special and he found that someone with Austin Butler.
Austin Butler wasn’t playing some random Elvis impersonator you could find on the streets of Las Vegas. He was Elvis. A perfect modern embodiment of Elvis that he fully committed to in his performance, right down to his physicality, vocal qualities, and rebellious nature. He was truly perfect in this role as he nailed every aspect of Elvis through all the different phases of his life, from his god-like influence on stage to his human moments in private with those close to him.
From the very beginning, you feel emotionally attached to him and experience all the highs and lows of his career, thanks to the combination of Butler’s spectacular performance and Luhrmann’s strong direction that reflects everything Elvis was known for. His performance is easily going to be the biggest thing everyone will take from this film and he truly deserves all the praise he has been given, especially from Elvis’s own daughter Lisa Presley.
The way this film was able to present the generational trauma he endured over the years in such a unique way without dragging the film down or falling for biopic tropes was masterfully done. It really took me by surprise with how they chose to handle major parts of his life, including his music and the cultural impact it had in America. You get to see the cultural influences, especially from the African American community, that inspired his music style and the insane physical work that would spark a lot of controversy which would radically impact his life going forward as well as his career.
You get to see the personal relationships with various people in his life that molded the man he would become, all of which are played excellently by their respective cast members. I especially loved Helen Thomson’s performance as Elvis’s mother and how emotionally impactful it is to Elvis in his earlier and later stages of life.
But of course, the biggest figure of Elvis’s life is the wicked Colonel Tom Parker, played shockingly by Tom Hanks. Hanks has had many brilliant roles over the years but has played mainly good guys in most of the films he’s been in. That streak changes with this unrecognizable performance as the Colonel who truly was a vile, gaslighting, and manipulative bastard who made Elvis’s life a living hell on multiple occasions. Every time Elvis tried to escape him he always found a way to pull him back and further abuse him for profit since he pretty much didn’t give a shit about music and was strictly a parasitic businessman.
Hanks portrays this so perfectly in his performance that it’s scary and really stands out from all his previous work. He truly was the villain of the story, despite his manipulative attempts to say otherwise directly to the audience as the narrator of the film, which was a bold but sensible choice for the film as he was one of the few who was truly close to him in his life.
The film is very lengthy and it jumps around a lot as part of the energetic style Luhrmann gives this film, especially in the beginning, but it does end up having grounded and emotional moments that are extremely effective, even more so than Luhrmann’s other works that I have seen. And at the same time, it respects and highlights the most crucial details of Elvis’s life without dragging down the film and without needing to rely on tired old tropes.
This film feels electrifying in many ways, with fantastic technical elements from the cinematography to the editing to the costumes to the visual effects, that all give this film its identity as an Elvis biopic and not just any old biopic. Most of the effects and transitions of this film are really damn good, keeping the energetic juices of the film flowing, though some effects did end up sticking out like a sore thumb and felt largely unpolished. It didn’t take me out of the entire film but it did become largely distracting in certain scenes.
And then we get to the music and soundtrack of this film which was not at all what I was expecting. Do we get to hear Elvis’s greatest hits? Yes, but not in the way you’d think. Rather than getting the full-on songs we know and can listen to at any time we only get lengthy snippets of famous songs, assumingly sung by Austin Butler himself, and very interesting remixes that may be jarring to some but I felt added to a lot to certain scenes. Again, this gives the film its identity that stands out among the other biopics and really reflects the chaotic life of Elvis.
The way this film was able to pack so much stylistic punch while also remaining emotionally grueling and impactful in a lot of ways really made this film work for me. I loved Elvis’s songs but now I feel a much stronger connection to him and his work, knowing the reasons behind some of his work and the truly unbelievable hell he had to endure that would sadly lead him to such an early death. He truly was a legendary figure that was lost too soon but will forever remain a part of our culture. Baz Luhrmann did an absolutely phenomenal job with this film and while it may not end up being everyone’s cup of tea, I still highly recommend it. I’m going to give Elvis an A = 96.
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