Elvis: Movie Review

Reel Rating: 8.0/10 | 3-min read

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ‘ELVIS’

Austin Butler (above) singing “Baby Let’s Play House” as Elvis Presley in Elvis (2022)

We can’t go on together… knowing there’s a chance Austin Butler doesn’t win best actor at this year’s Oscars for Elvis. Baz Luhrmann’s epic tribute to the King of Rock n’ Roll is a bright and colourful film that underneath tells a tragic story meant to strip away the iconography to truly reveal the man behind Elvis.

I originally saw Elvis when it first came out back in June, but in all honesty, it was a 10:30 screening and my first impressions might’ve been tainted by fatigue. So now that the film has been released on HBOMAX, it’s time I can properly react and cast my opinion. In short; this is a spectacularly average Baz Luhrmann show carried by an excellent lead performance.

Austin Butler rocks the stage as iconic singer Elvis Presley, in a film that somehow after 2 and a half hours, still has you yearning for more of its titular character. To say that this film had more potential would be too presumptuous, but with Elvis (2022) it’s a rare case where the lead performance actually outshines the capabilities of the director.

Austin Butler (center) filming the ‘68 Comeback Special as Elvis Presley in Elvis (2022)

Highlight of the Movie: The Musical Performances

“There were moments when you had to question whether or not you were looking at the real deal or just a performance”

— Reel React

Where this movie excels above others of its nature is in its musical performances, it’s here where Butler’s physical and emotional commitment to the role shines through the most. It’s also a big factor that will make this movie rewatchable for years to come. Every musical number is just a spectacle in itself, and Austin Butler just takes over and doesn’t look back.

In the musical genre, I believe this film will rank among the top for one of the best musical performance scenes in film. And the credit for that is equally distributed across the creative team; the colour & sound editing, costume design & makeup, and the camera movement, it was all near perfect in these moments.

Austin Butler (above) performing on stage as Elvis Presley in Elvis (2022).

Standout Performance: Austin Butler as Elvis Presley

I mean…what did you expect 😂. There was a lot of hype around this performance in the build-up to the release of the film. This was a 3-year preparation for Austin and it shows in every scene that he is in. From his movements down to the mannerisms, I especially admire performances like these that don’t rely on an intense physical transformation to convince the audience that you are who you say you are.

There was a great moment in an interview where Austin breaks down what it was like overcoming the physical boundaries of playing a real figure, Butler attributed this to some great advice he received from Bohemian Rhapsody star, and Oscar winner Rami Malek:

“There was this thing where I had an unrealistic expectation that I could somehow contort my face to look exactly like Elvis,” Butler shared. “Or I looked at other people, and I go, ‘They look more like him,’ that sort of thing – you start judging yourself. So for me, Rami was like, ‘At the end of the day, it’s not about that. You don’t want to go to the Wax Museum and just see that. You want to see your soul and his soul colliding and creating something we’ve never seen before. ”

— Austin Butler

After reading this, it just elevated Austin’s performance even more for me. You can see that he really nails the small things about Elvis that fill those gaps in his physical appearance. I mean even his laugh is 1:1 the same as recordings of Elvis.

Fun Fact: Austin Butler sings all the songs on the soundtrack from Elvis’ early career. From the 1968 special onwards, he dubs Elvis’ original performances. He gets a bonus .1 to the review for this!

Tom Hanks (left) and Austin Butler (right) as Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley in Elvis (2022).

Was Baz Lurhmann the right Director for this movie? Yes and No:

While I understand why they would opt to tell the story from the perspective of the Colonel, this only created obstacles for both the audience and the film itself. There’s so much focus on Elvis but it’s only the Colonel talking, at times I stepped back and wondered whether or not his depiction of events was even true or what exactly I was watching; a biopic? A period piece? Or a complete fantasy altogether.

This also came down to the pacing of the film, which I feel most will agree, was incoherently sloppy by Baz. Something he has struggled with throughout most of his career; The first 2 acts of a Baz Luhrmann film are usually Oscar-worthy, but he consistently loses his momentum in the third act hurting the overall film.

We spent so much time in Elvis’ early career that by the end of the film his tragic downfall needed to feel sort of rushed.

I like the idea of the consistent and repetitive musical performances to nail in the point that the Colonel worked Elvis like a horse until he died, though I haven’t found any interview by the director to indicate whether this was intentional or not. There were also noticeable moments where you could tell Baz had somehow started to exhaust Elvis’ catalog of songs. Something I had never seen happen when he works on a project without a real life character lead.

Baz Luhrmann (left) directing Austin Butler (right) on the set of Elvis (2022)

In all honesty, while I don’t consider this to be a flop by any means, I don’t think that Baz was the right director for this film, but I do believe that he was the only one who studios thought could sell it to an audience;

I can confidently say that if another director was attached to this film, my anticipation of the creative potential of the film would’ve been lower. And I feel this is what the studio was feeling as well.

The best of Baz’ style is definitely present in Elvis; his vibrant and colorful personality definitely was showcased well in the film, but in my opinion, his lack of ability to maintain historical accuracy clashed with Austin’s commitment to the role.

This is unlike Baz’s situation in previous works like; The Great Gatsby (2013), Romeo & Juliet (1996), or even Moulin Rouge! (2001) where he had the free will to exaggerate and remove as he pleased. As there was no

In making a movie about such an important figure like Elvis, it seems dangerous to stray away from that line of accuracy, and didn’t pay off well for the film.

Baz Luhrmann (left) directing Austin Butler (right) on the set of Elvis (2022)

If we compare this to recent Oscar Best Picture winner Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). It’s a case of polar opposites, that movie has better direction, but Austin Butler definitely captured me more than Rami Malek. I do wonder what Elvis would’ve looked like had it been helmed by someone like Bohemian Rhapsody director Brain Singer?…