YNOT at the Movies

Labeled as the King of Rock'n Roll, Elvis Presley is one of the most iconic figures in American music history. Even impersonating him has become a profession. His life story and his music continue to be a popular subject in the entertainment world. The latest entry is Baz Luhrmann's dizzy biopic "Elvis" (Australia/USA 2022 | 159 min.), in which Austin Butler gave an impressive performance as an Elvis Impersonator, but not quite as the King himself. However, that's not the actor's fault. The entire movie lacks character building, and everyone seems to be impersonating somebody else. Even Tom Hanks is put into a giant fat suit to be Elvis's villainous manager, Colonel Tom Parker. More than two and half hours later, this movie still doesn't tell you much about Elvis as a person, nor about his music.

Like a blown-up Powerpoint presentation, the film shuffles slides, comic drawings, video clips, text blocks, and other objects as fast and as much as possible bombarding you, while the ailing Colonel Tom Parker's voice (Tom Hanks) narrates the life of Elvis (Austin Butler), in chronological order.

As a young boy, Elvis frequents the local black churches that are filled with Gospel music and dances. Later, he hangs out in Jazz clubs that also has an influence on his music style. When Tom Parker spots Elvis's performance, he slyly squeezes himself into the game and becomes Elvis's manager. With a charming personality, flamboyant costumes, electrifying dance moves, and alluring music, the very good-looking Elvis becomes sensational to his audience and often provokes young women to scream at his concert, among other things.

After Elvis married Priscilla (Olivia DeJonge), they have a daughter. But Elvis is never able to enjoy his family life. His fame and performance consume him and he begins to take prescription drugs to keep himself functional. His life gradually slips into misery as Tom literally grounds him in a suite in a Las Vegas hotel until his death.

Despite the exciting impersonation by Austin Butler, the film tells us little about who Elvis really is and how his music and his performance rose to iconic status. The director Baz Luhrmann packs so much into this film yet without much substance. On the contrary, in less than two hours, the documentary "The King" (2017) offers many more insights about Elvis's rise and fall, as well as how the black culture influenced his music and performance.

What's more disappointing is the forgettable usage of Elvis's music. The film almost never plays any Elvis song in its entirety to convey the magnitude of its power that captured the hearts of so many of his fans. If you are not already familiar with Elvis's music, you would be wondering what the fuss is about him after viewing this film.

Tom Hanks, America's nicest guy, is cast to play an overweight Tom Parker who you probably want to hate here. Tom Parker made a fortune out of Elvis and was clearly responsible for Elvis's downfall as shown in the film. In the first half of the movie, Elvis's performances on stage were full of energy and he enjoyed the fame and attention. It's quite a contrast when he performed in order to pay for the bill later in the film. It's extremely sad to see how Tom Parker sucks the happiness out of Elvis's performance in his career.

This instance of Elvis impersonation should not have lasted for this long without creating in-depth characters or compelling music.

"Elvis" opens on Friday, June 24, 2022.