Rock biopics tend to focus a little too heavily on the “creative process,” acting almost like VH1 Classic Albums reenactments and estranging laypeople who might not necessarily care how their favorite records were made. But Rocketman doesn’t only presuppose that its audience doesn’t know about Elton John’s music, it assumes they wouldn’t even care. The result is insulting not only to the intelligence and taste of moviegoers, but to Elton John’s legacy as a songwriter, showman, and immensely significant queer idol. Rocketman’s Elton John (Taron Egerton) is, instead, a coke-addled asshole who’s basically indistinguishable from any other rich guy whose ordinary problems are elevated and romanticized by our narrative-obsessed society. by Morgan Troper