‘Elvis’ Review

Stars: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Kelvin Harrison Jr., David Wenham, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Luke Bracey, Dacre Montgomery | Written by Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, Jeremy Doner | Directed by Baz Luhrmann

It would seem Austin Butler has used witchcraft to summon the very soul of Elvis to possess him in this larger than life biopic.

Biopics have been on our screen as long as the big screen has been around. From films like Joan of Arc (1900), The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and Amadeus (1984), to the modern burst of musical biopics like Ray (2004), Walk the Line (2005), and Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). The biopic seems to never go away and you can always expect them to be coming around near awards season, normally picking up a few acting awards. They never seem to stick around long in the audience’s conscious, yet they keep getting made, keep making money, and keep getting those awards. There are a number of these musical biopics that over the last 20 years have started to create their own formula, but that formula hasn’t really changed over those 20 years. If anything this sub-genre of biopics (ones about musicians) has become stale, boring, and predictable. In a single comedy film, 2007s Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, the genre was ripped to shreds, the film hilariously made fun of all the cliches and beats that each one of the films was hitting. It is now clear, that if anyone is going to take biopics seriously anymore then a new formula or take is needed.

The question then is, does Elvis manage to break free from this formula? Or is it simply another generic biopic, trapped in the laughable shadow of Dewy Cox. The answer, thankfully, amazingly, is yes. Elvis is the biopic I was hoping for. While Elvis does share a similar structure to previous biopic films, following Elvis’s life from pre-fame, to Hollywood, and finally showing us the Vegas years. It manages to take these beats and the structure and do it in its own unique way, that comes from The King himself and from Baz Luhrmann’s direction. Elvis is unlike any other artist that we’ve seen have a movie adaptation of his life. He’s The King, larger than life, mythical and legendary, so it’s only fitting Luhrmann treats him this way. Rather than stick to the ways of the last 20 years and try to get deep into these iconic figures minds, Elvis is like a giant, golden statue, built in honour of the legend of Elvis rather than the actual man he was. Of course, there are depths to the character, but a lot of the time subtlety and nuance aren’t things Luhrmann seems capable of, but they work. In fact, everything with Elvis works. Elvis was the world’s greatest showman and this film is just that, a grand show dedicated to the legend. There isn’t enough time to peek too far behind the curtain, but that’s because we’re so busy watching the show in front of us, wrapped up in the music, moves, and lights. Luhrmann has always been a director with flashy visuals and has sometimes been accused of being over stylised but all that works here. At times it’s like watching the latest superhero film, Elvis himself seems to conjure powers no man has had before, something Luhrmann shows off every chance he gets.

In the middle of all this show stands one of the finest performances of any musical artist I can remember. At times in musical biopics, performances can feel more like impressions than actual performances. I’m constantly reminded of the actor, seeing them try their best to bring that person to life but it often falls short. Here Austin Butler is Elvis. There were so many times that I forgot anyone was even playing Elvis, instead feeling as if I was actually watching the man himself come back to life before me. He captures the young and old Elvis, both feeling real and that brings out a genuine performance that doesn’t feel like a caricature. I first become aware of Austin Butler in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood where he plays Rex. That performance put him on the map but this one has surely catapulted him to the stars, putting him above all those who have played Elvis before him (even you Kurt Russell).

Alongside Austin Butler’s Elvis stands Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker. Parker, who was Elvis’s manager, has his eyes set on Elvis from the start, and as he narrates the story we even hear him utter the line “there are some who make me out to be the villain of this story”. And I’d say it’s not just some but most who would share that thought. Parker not only has his eyes set on Elvis as a way to make it big but soon has his claws in him too. The old former carnival hustler hasn’t lost his showman skills, just like Elvis puts on a show, so does Parker. His show is not the entertaining kind however, and throughout the film his slimy ways come to the surface. We even see Elvis literally “caught in a trap”, these very words Elvis sings on a vegas stage as his famous “suspicious minds” rings out to the audience that he’d be caught in a contract performing to for years. It’s this relationship that takes Elvis into the stars but also holds him back as an artist and can’t help you asking “what if”?

The directing and performance are on par with the script, written by Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner. The script shows the roots of Elvis, from being enchanted by gospel in a preacher’s church, to falling in love with blues in the heart of Beale Street. It doesn’t hide where Elvis got his moves and sound from, perfectly threading the inspirations together to show the man that it created. It also helped for me that the scriptwriters idea of Elvis aligns with mine, from his younger years and his ’68 comeback special’ (where there are some dramatic liberties taken), to the Vegas years and his relationship with Parker.

Luhrmann’s greatest weapon in this is Austin Butler, but everything Luhrmann choices to do only enhances the film and breaks it away from the rest in the biopic genre. It manages to leave the cliches of what has come before and polish everything that was dusty and old. The beats may be the same but they’re done by someone who knows the timing and isn’t afraid to give it the burst of life it needs, I already can’t wait to see it again.

***** 5/5

Elvis is in cinemas now.