Elvis (2022)

[Eric Atreides]

Can't help falling in discussion with you

[Cap]

It truly takes an artist to create something this spectacularly terrible. Like it almost went full circle. It was so bad that it was amazing. Only never quite got there. Whatever the hell Tom Hanks is doing on screen is fascinating and horrifying at the same time.  it’s almost mesmerizing a bad.
 

I will give it to Baz Luhrmann. He is a visionary. He envisioned shit, but he visioned it. 

[Webslinger]

Like most of co-writer and director Baz Luhrmann’s past works, Elvis is an ambitious if messy affair whose best moments outweigh its missteps. The film’s narrative largely follows the typical musician biopic tropes faithfully enough that savvy audiences will be able to see its beats and its foreshadowing from a mile out, but Luhrmann’s go-for-broke style keeps the proceedings interesting and feels fitting for a performer who also lived a fast, flashy life. The film does also suffer somewhat from the fact that there are very obviously chunks left on the cutting room floor (I’d actually be *very* interested to see the purported four-hour cut and the extra material it would bring to the table), but the film pulls from so many interesting biographical details that it never feels lacking for content. The musical sequences are where the film shines brightest, as Luhrmann’s sensibilities meld just as well with Elvis Presley’s showmanship as one would expect. And of course, as always, Catherine Martin’s production and costume designs are sumptuous and evoke the most aesthetically pleasing elements of their period. In the title role, Austin Butler is impressive in a dedicated performance where he is clearing pouring his heart into what he’s doing and leaving it all on the floor. Elvis feels a bit underdeveloped as a character – especially early in the film, where we see him primarily through the perspective of Tom Hanks’s Colonel Parker – but Butler gives it his all and succeeds at hinting at layers that are not necessarily evident in the script. Hanks is also in fine form as the antagonistic manager, Colonel Parker; he clearly has a good time hamming it up in an against-type role, while also doing the work to make Parker feel pitiable in his struggles and how they inform his manipulation of his star client. There is also some affecting work from Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla Presley and Helen Thomson and Richard Roxburgh as Elvis’s parents, though one of the consequences of so much material needing to be cut from the final product is that a few of the performances outside of those of Butler and Hanks feel like they might have had more heft with more room to breathe. Though Elvis does not break much new ground in the music biopic genre (and will, no doubt, draw comparison with tropes lampooned in Walk Hard), it works as a fittingly bombastic telling of the biggest highs and lows of the star’s life.

 

B

[filmlover]

This was interesting and entertaining if ultimately a bit flawed, which is probably what one should've always expected from an Elvis Presley biopic from Baz Luhrmann. An issue with most biopics in general, it tries to cram an entire life's story into about 2.5 hours, and that means it can come across as a glorified Greatest Hits reel as it rushes through the highs and the lows of its subject's relatively brief but very much active time on this Earth. I'm also not sure the decision to filter his life story through the perspective of the devious Colonel Tom Parker was entirely successful either. But it has plenty of energy to spare, and Luhrmann's trademarked flashy filmmaking sensibilities ensures it's never boring. Arguably the best thing about the movie, and the main reason to see it, is Austin Butler's star-making performance that lives up to the hype. While he doesn't look much like the real Elvis, he's such a charismatic force of nature that he embodies the man without ever coming across as a Las Vegas impersonator. Any awards recognition he receives for this would be deserved. Tom Hanks is also solid playing very much against type, even though there are times where it seems like he allows his prosthetics to do most of the work and that much-derided accent remains a choice even after seeing the movie. I ended up feeling the same way about this as I did about 2019's Judy, another well-made if highly pedestrian biopic that mostly works thanks to a phenomenal lead performance. B

[Torontofan]

Think people rather prefer a more simple Evlis Bio Pic as Tom hanks character almost came off as a parody.

 

However when they focused on Elvis it was good

 

B