Another movie about Elvis while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, this latest movie is written and directed by Baz Luhrmann so I may not be the other film you expect. Baz Luhrmann is an acquired taste to say the least. He is known for such films as the modern telling of Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio, Moulin Rouge, in the latest adaptation of The Great Gatsby. I admit that I am not a fan and watching his films is like looking through a kaleidoscope on an acid trip. Now that doesn’t mean that I automatically hate this film about Elvis, there’s a lot to like about it, but I think you have to like Baz Luhrmann’s style of filmmaking to truly appreciate this film. As much as I didn’t like it and we’ll get to that later, there’s a lot of things I did like about this film. Anytime you make a movie about Elvis Presley you know the soundtrack is going to be great. But there are two things that make this film worth watching. One is the performance of Austin Butler as Elvis and the performance of Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker. With Tom Hanks you’ll always get a great performance, I’m convinced that he doesn’t make bad movies. But this film is single-handedly rescued by the fantastic performance of Austin Butler as Elvis, from the way he moved and the way he sang. It’s hard to perfectly capture The King, Kurt Russell did a great job 40 years ago, but I honestly have to say that Austin Butler in many ways was damn near perfect!

Mini biographies focus on when the main character is born, but really the beginning of this story is when the Colonel discovered Elvis. He was already managing a country act when the son of the main country star he was representing had Elvis’s first record that he recorded at Sun studios. It’s at that moment that he realizes he has a gold mine on his hands. This particular story of Elvis is different because it’s mostly seen through the eyes of the Colonel who doesn’t see himself as a villain even though it’s a well-known fact that he completely took advantage of Elvis and worked him into a very unhealthy state that eventually led to his death. And unlike other Elvis stories, this movie for the most part is a musical wrapped up in fantasy so it’s hard to know what was actually true or or a truth told from a certain point of view. The one thing is for sure, the music is there. It’s Elvis and the music is phenomenal. It’s true that Elvis’s own music is used throughout most of the film, but Austin Butler does sing a lot of the earlier songs representing a budding rock star who’s learning to find his voice. This is where his performance really shines, not only from the music, but the moves. I can’t say that he’s my favorite Elvis, I still think Kurt Russell did a great job 40 years ago, but Austin Butler threw his performance makes this film better than it really is. We all know that Tom Hanks through any of his performances really drives the story in any movie he’s in. His performance alone can carry a film, but I honestly think Austin Butler did just as good and should be commended.

The real issue with this film is it’s not so much a biopic as it’s some kind of fantasy version of Elvis’ story. It feels more like a stage musical but through a kaleidoscope in order to make a film, but that is Baz Luhrmann’s style. I get it and this might be good for those who like his particular movies, but I also think a story about Elvis should be treated with more reverence and should be told as a biographical story, not a musical because Elvis is a fascinating character and it’s hard to capture everything about Elvis in the form of a musical. I think this would have been a great musical on stage and very enjoyable, but not as a film. Just like Moulin Rouge…. to me it’s better on the stage. I think that’s the real downfall of this movie and while you can make a bigger spectacle of it in film, it doesn’t make for a really good story about Elvis. As much as I praise Austin Butler for his performance, he doesn’t capture the older and heavyweight Elvis that well. There were two very distinctive parts of Elvis’s career, the up and coming king of rock and roll, and then when he made his comeback that landed him doing shows in Vegas until he became fat and bloated and strung out on painkillers. Unfortunately,  Austin Butler still looked too young play that particular Elvis. The real issue with this movie is you’re not really making a biopic of Elvis so much as you are making so in a lot of ways you gloss over important details about his life. But this movie is more about two warring perspectives, the life of Elvis seen through the king of rock and roll and Colonel Tom Parker’s perspective who didn’t think he did anything wrong. For me, while a musical about Elvis is fine, to really understand the the man and his life, it takes more than a two and a half hour movie. That’s why I think some of the miniseries especially the one with Kurt Russell is better.

If you are a fan of Baz Luhrmann films then you’ll probably like his take on Elvis. The performances of Austin Butler and Tom Hanks drive this movie and make it worth seeing. But as I mentioned before these kinds of films are an acquired taste and it only skims the surface of who Elvis really was and his legacy. Sometimes taking something from the stage and making it a movie ruins the magic of the stage production. There are certain stories or musicals that are met strictly for the stage and shouldn’t be made into anything else. I feel like this is something that would have been a really great musical on Broadway and done really well with touring. But a story about Elvis deserves better and not even the Great performances of Boston Butler and Tom Hanks can really save this movie. There have been better biopics of Elvis for film and TV. This movie is made for specific fans who like Baz Lurhnman films. The music is great because it’s Elvis, but that’s really the best part of the movie. If you’re an Elvis fan and you’re looking for a really good story to stick to one of the many series that have been made over the last 40 years. Honestly, I wouldn’t have loved to have seen Austin Butler Tom Hanks make that story for a streaming service over 4 to 6 episodes. That would have been epic. The only thing Worth revisiting with this film is an awesome soundtrack but then again, any box set or greatest hits of Elvis Presley or still do just fine.