Scott Anderson

My Review Baz Lurhmann's - Elvis My Rating 10 /10 10/10 for Austin Butler's portrayal as Elvis Elvis has the Baz Lurhmann brand all over it as it's bound to seeing Baz wrote the story as well as Directed and Produced the movie . Whether that's a good thing or not I'm not so sure but top marks for his choice of Austin Butler to play the title role of Elvis Presley. Austin Butler had big shoes to fill and Elvis fans won't be disappointed as he portrays the iconic singer over more than 20 years of his life covering the 50s, 60s, and 70s, eras from his childhood and meteoric rise to stardom to his long, Both stars burnt out prematurely both were exploited but their fame and legacy of music and film footage will live on for centuries as they are both true historical cultural icons. Austin Butler really does hold the entire movie together for me he gives much more than an Elvis impersonation which so many performers have done before. At times and at certain camera angles Austin Butler looks identical to Elvis Presley and he sings the early Elvis songbook in his own voice to perfection. Austin's voice is only blended with Elvis's own voice in the later Las Vegas years . Austin Butler's performance is what prompted the Elvis movie to receive a 12 minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival last month. so Austin Butler who sings in his own voice should at least get a Best Actor Oscar nomination in 2023. There were positives I liked in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis and negatives as much as I admire Tom Hanks as an Actor the role of Colonel Tom Parker who is the storyteller through whose eyes we see the rise and fall of The King of Rock is a despicable and ugly character . While of course he is a central character in the Elvis Presley story I felt telling the story through such an unsympathetic character was unnecessary and I found Tom Hanks Dutch accent not that much The Cinematography by Mandy Walker is stunning as are the costumes by Baz Luhrmann's 4 time Academy Award winning wife Catherine Martin . All biography movies stretch or modify the facts to a certain extent to add more dramatic content and while this story is reasonably accurate Baz has used some poetic licence in some scenes . The emotional meeting of Elvis and the Producer Steve Binder of his 1968 Christmas comeback show at the iconic rusting L. A. Hollywood sign never happened but it's effective.