A handful of people can go by just one name. Yes, nowadays, it’s more common (Rihanna, Beyoncé, Cher, the list goes on and on), but it was not as common back in the 60s and 70s. And regarding “the king”, many think of the name Elvis without even having to say his last name, Presley. A name that became a symbol of this legendary, almost God-like status; it’s wild to me that Elvis is the first biopic about him with a “proper” budget, meaning the first one ever to be released in the cinemas. Yes, we’ve had some TV movies made about him, but nothing as big, fancy and sparkling as this film. And boy, does it scream Baz Luhrmann from every frame.

Whether you love or hate him, one thing can’t be denied – his directing style is unchangeable. You don’t watch one of his movies thinking somebody else directed it; the moment the show (in every sense of that word) starts, you know goddamn well who is behind the camera without checking the IMDb. His unique flair (did you know cinema is derived from kinematic? Well, in Baz’s world, that sentence is true.), his mixing of old tunes with a new artist, his unusual transition shots and reflections… I love his style (after all, his Moulin Rouge! (2001) is still one of my favourite films), and it makes sense that it would be him; who would make a biopic about the bigger-than-life personality Elvis truly was.

Except now, knowing how much he was influenced by black music/artists, there is that side of that story. I saw people talking about it and landing all over the place; some were on the “he was clearly appropriating black culture” spectrum, while others didn’t judge him that harshly. Look, I am not his biggest fan, nor would I even call myself a fan. But from the little I know (and the film makes it quite clear too), he never “stole” anything; he sang songs he loved. What I liked, and this film makes that point well, was how he is reminded several times (by black singers): “If you were to sing this song, you would make more money than we can dream of.” The film acknowledges the divide and his inspiration and isn’t shying away from showing it how it was. But I don’t think for one second Elvis ever appropriated/stole anything from black culture. But we aren’t here to discuss America’s deep-rooted racism and many, many, many issues stemming from that; we are here to discuss this film.

Ever since Elvis opened in the cinemas, I’ve heard mixed reactions. Some fans loved it, others… not so much. It seemed that the majority of people at least agreed that Austin Butler did a great job, and Tom Hanks did not. And I agree with one and disagree with the other. Austin did a spectacular job as Elvis. He lived, breathed and ate the role, and I hope this is only the beginning for this (what seems like) talented actor. Regarding Hanks’s performance, I understand I am on the island, but I thought he did well too. Now, I am not saying he should have been nominated for an Oscar for this role, no. But I feel like had “The Colonel” been more known (and by all accounts, he was as sleazy as portrayed in this film), Hanks wouldn’t have been as panned. Yes, the accent is weird. Yes, the make-up job looks scary. But I thought both of those were supposed to be like that. I thought Hanks took a big swing and mostly landed the hit.

As a film, Elvis is the prime example of being either 40 minutes too long or four hours too short. I know I will sound like a broken record, but for a biopic about such a legend, I think a miniseries would have been more appropriate. Let’s say six or seven episodes, an hour or so each. Why? Because I loved the first hour. I was enjoying everything; Elvis’s youth, understanding of the world, the family dynamic, everything. And when the film goes through the “we need to hit these biopic markers”, that was when the film lost me a tiny bit. Don’t get me wrong; the film is still entertaining, primarily due to Baz’s directing. There is always something visually interesting happening on the screen. It felt like, for the most part, we follow a very stereotypical biopic setup, from “this is where he started to do drugs, here are the ladies, here comes the stress, here comes the pressure”. And I understand, for the most part, the film is pretty faithful to what happened. But I couldn’t help to think of someone who was anything but ordinary, whose name became a term for something special, something almost beyond this world; this wasn’t all it could have been. And that is why I thought rather than making a film that will skip through the time periods rather quickly at times (like when he is down and making “specials”, selling out), I wished we would have explored that more. Because had we done that, those clichés would have worked much better.

The other thing is, if you are a big Elvis fan and want to hear his most iconic songs, this (surprisingly) film is not the best choice for you. As discussed above, since Elvis’s music was influenced by black artists, I liked how Baz decided to mix his songs with a few of the most successful contemporary black artists of today (like Doja Cat). I actually had a conversation about that aspect with one of my co-workers, who said he was disappointed he couldn’t hear those songs sung by Elvis himself; he wanted to hear “the originals”. When I explained why he said he had never thought about it like that. And to me, that’s a (tiny) win. Whenever a film can start a discussion where people learn some facts about one of their favourite performers, that is always worth it.

Overall, Elvis stands slightly above the sweaty shoulders of most modern biopics. Sure, it does fall into the same traps, and I believe there is a good argument to be made that this should have been a limited series, but… Baz almost makes it all work. Yes, sometimes it can be laughable, sometimes it is wild, and sometimes it seems almost unbelievable. But if you read a few things about the real Elvis, you will see how much he managed to do in his extremely short life and, therefore, how this film (or anything made about him) can’t be “normal”. Also, I can’t state this enough, Austin Butler was great.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke