Movie Review: Elvis

One-liner: a strong lead, exhilarating music and a seamless edit overpower a miscast co-lead in this lavish and lively chronicle

Elvis Presley is an enigmatic music icon whose pomp, hype and legacy made him a superstar, a myth… unknowable to some extent. World famous before the Internet, journeying back in time to his heydays, Elvis is a welcome blast from the past that will add some nuance to the performer’s meteoric rise to fame from boyhood to becoming a rock and movie celebrity in the 1950s. Under the thumb, Baz Luhrmann’s vivid tale zooms into the uneasy tension between the star and his equally mysterious manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

While the idea for this music biopic emerged in 2014, the film was delayed with Austin Butler eventually beating out the likes of Harry Styles and Miles Teller for the title role. Elvis is guided by a star-making performance from Butler who captures the essence of Presley from his dazzling stage presence to monumental turning points. He has the mannerisms and accent down pat without it sounding unnatural or manufactured, reportedly still speaking like Elvis well after filming concluded.

Unfortunately, as revelatory as Butler is… a distracting performance from Tom Hanks as the Colonel, awkwardly disguised by prosthetics and a non-descript accent, steals some of Elvis’s thunder. Luhrmann cast Jim Broadbent as his villain, Harold Zidler, in Moulin Rouge and it would’ve made more sense for the British actor to play the Colonel, sharing a better likeness than Hanks. Luhrmann probably opted to go with Hanks for more star power to offer support to the relatively unknown Butler as well as activate Academy Awards consideration.

“Thank you-thank you very much.”

A feast for the eyes, Elvis plays like a comic book with a swirling edit that recalls Romeo & Juliet, summoning up a youthful energy and zest that makes it ooze with cool in the here and now. Beautifully manicured from hair and wardrobe to production design, Luhrmann’s windswept epic looks and feels lavish in its attempt to capture snapshots from the King’s life from his lowly origins to luxurious superstardom. This exquisite tapestry is almost seamless, moving like a dream and capturing life-like performances that recreate classic Elvis moments from his Christmas special to playing the International Hotel in Las Vegas.

Elvis swathes audiences in the zeitgeist of the ’50s and ’60s, uncovering Presley’s rebellious side and immersing us in the socio-political context of the Elvis effect. Being demonised by the media, spurring merchandise sales, coping with his mother’s death, enduring the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy as well as making waves as a Hollywood star, Elvis delves into the deeper, darker and emotional side of the King’s story.

This Elvis Presley music biopic is a sensual, surreal and wild spectacle in the key of Lurhmann that recalls the auteur’s own greatest hits. In spite of the cringeworthy Colonel sideshow, Elvis succeeds as an entertaining and moody visual extravaganza, a heady and visceral chronicle of the greatest selling solo artist of all-time. For another take from SPL!NG, The Greatest Show on Earth.

The bottom line: Exhilarating