I’m sure everyone has heard the buzz of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis film in one instance or another. It was the movie event of the summer that left the film as a box office success. This slice of rock and roll history captured the attention of most of the internet. Elvis is also receiving a lot of Oscar buzz as Austin Butler obviously looks like a serious contender for Best Actor. Elvis is a standard biopic full of music and drama that follows the life of rock and roll icon and legend, Elvis Presley (Butler), that brings light on the controversial and complicated relationship between him and his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Hanks). The film is told from the perspective of his manager that shows the impact Parker and fame had on Elvis, his rocky relationship with his family, and the heartbreaking depiction of Elvis’ final years. 

Though director, Baz Luhrmann, has had some questionable period pieces in the past including not one but two modernized versions of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and even a take on Fitzgerald classic novel, The Great Gatsby. Critics can not stop praising Luhrmann’s cinematography as filmgoers are enjoying the biopic time and time again. However, the biggest thing to come out of the movie is Austin Butler’s uncanny performance as the King himself, Elvis Presley. Of course the visuals and costumes add to the feel of the movie, but Austin Butler was almost unrecognizable as Elvis. Between the motions, mannerisms, and most importantly the voice. Butler got Elvis’ accent down pat, which truly gave me chills. There are scenes in this movie where you have to take a double take to see if it is the King himself or just Austin Butler. Butler gave the performance of a lifetime and thoroughly shines in the role. His charisma and dazzling personality made the movie as over the top as it could be which fits the theme of Elvis perfectly. Butler embodies everything Elvis was throughout his entire career. All of this adds to why Butler’s name has been thrown around in the Oscar buzz for Best Actor. 

Sure Austin Butler can do the iconic lip curl and shake his hips to move like Elvis so effortlessly but two scenes in particular that show Butler incredulously become the King, almost exactly mirror some of Elvis’ most memorable performances. 

One of the most perfect scenes in the entire movie was the recreation of one of Elvis’ most astonishing performances, a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, “If I Can Dream”. As Elvis was recording a TV Christmas special he had an important message for the audience and even the country. He wanted to end the special with a powerful, meaningful song that would spread the message he was trying to convey. However, Col. Parker demanded to end the show with a Christmas song but Elvis and his crew had other plans. Elvis in fact ended this special with “If I Can Dream” which was the first time the public ever heard the song. Elvis was so moved by “If I Can Dream” he was lost in the song during his performance which shows. 

Butler did not only get the movements and the timing exact during this performance but the original feeling Elvis gave during his 1968 comeback special which was exactly what Butler portrayed in this scene. It’s one thing to get the motions down but Butler gave that raw emotion making the performance almost identical. What truly made this scene touching was the moments before the actual performance when Elvis first got the lyrics for the song and heard it, to see his natural reaction. Something that Luhrmann did perfectly with this scene was make it as spiritual as it was just hearing the melody and an instrumental played on the piano of “If I Can Dream” slowly leading into his comeback performance. 

The most climatic performance of the entire film was the final performance of “Unchained Melody” that led into the real Elvis’ performance. Elvis delivered one of the most remarkable performances of his career of “Unchained Melody” which was his final performance ever before his tragic death. A huge part of making this scene as accurate as possible was putting Austin Butler into a significant amount of makeup which once again made him unrecognizable. Some viewers didn’t even notice half way through the performance that they cut to the real footage of Elvis.

As a true Elvis fan my expectations were already high going into the movie, in which I saw in the theaters with my Grandma Lois, but I must say this is the type of film that is just over the top that needs to be seen on the big screen. It is a very frantic film full of thousand-miles-an-hour storytelling that resonates with Elvis but that sometimes can be a bad thing especially when we’re talking about Baz Luhrmann films. Yes, the story seemed disjointed and bounced all over the place, some even said the movie was like a “trailer that lasts 2 hours and 40 minutes.” I do not agree so much with that review but do understand where they are coming from since Luhrmann tried to inject too much of his flair into the film that just didn’t mix too well with Elvis. During some parts of the movie Luhrmann’s direction was clearly shown because everything was over the top and dramatic which is okay in terms for Elvis but after a while it just became too much. Something that proves how extra Luhrmann can be are the very first moments of the film with the opening logos that were bedazzled to resemble Elvis’ iconic jumpsuits. 

However, this biopic does replicate so many scenes with such detail with the wardrobe and events. Between the frilly shirt Elvis had on the day his mother died to the tablecloth Colonel Parker wrote and signed a contract on during one of Elvis’ Las Vegas concerts. As extravagant as a film this may be or dedicated to be, it is the small things that make the story as accurate as possible. Like most biopics, parts of the story are fictionalized for viewership but Elvis tried to stay as true to the original story as possible. 

The best part of the entire film was in fact the music, as suspected. As an Elvis fan and religious listener of his music, the music aspect of the film was for sure going to trump the rest of the movie. My favorite Elvis songs were always “Burning Love”, “A Little Less Conversation”, and “Suspicious Minds”. But to my surprise my favorite scene was in fact Elvis’ comeback performance of “If I Can Dream”. The way Luhrmann went about this scene was almost perfect. (As mentioned above) At first you just hear the melody and an instrumental played on the piano of “If I Can Dream” slowly leading into his comeback performance. My personal favorite scene that didn’t involve an over the top performance was the conversation between Elvis and Steve Binder (played by Dacre Montgomery) at the Hollywood sign. This scene isn’t entirely untrue but quite fictionalized for the movie, when discussing Elvis’ comeback. Elvis and his entourage are at the Hollywood sign in L.A. though this is creative it is untrue. The conversation between Elvis and Binder actually just happened in Binder’s Sunset Boulevard office. One headline perfectly states that ¨TikTokers are *hilariously* highlighting the less savory aspects of Elvis¨. The scene mentioned above being one of them. ¨Back when I was starting out, some people wanted to put me in jail. Even kill me for the way I was moving.¨

My biggest critique of the film has to be the soundtrack. This is not directed at the Elvis soundtrack specifically but in most Baz Luhrmann films. I call it the Baz Luhrmann treatment. Most of his movie soundtracks include modern hip hop covers that just sinks the movie lower and loses the initial feel. This was one of the biggest flaws in his 2013 The Great Gatsby film when Jay-Z and Beyonce did a cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Back To Black”. A song Luhrmann hilariously modernized in the film was Elvis’ “Viva Las Vegas”. “Viva Las Vegas” remixed with Britney Spears’ “Toxic”. This was actually a fan-favorite track from the film but was not included on the soundtrack but due to the high demand Baz Luhrmann confirmed that they might release the full track soon. In an interview Luhrmann questionably compared the two artists saying, “Just like Britney, who creates the quintessential ’90s pop music, you’re richer than God and you’re in the Hollywood bubble. That’s what happens to Elvis. He’s gone from being this rebel, this punk, deeply steeped with his Black music friends doing radical music, to suddenly being isolated in Hollywood doing pop.”

I can not say this enough but I do believe everyone, Elvis fans or not, should watch this film specifically for Austin Butler’s impeccable performance as the King. Is this an Oscar worthy performance? Possibly. I would truly like to give a round of applause to Austin Butler and Tom Hanks. This movie takes you on the life long journey and truth of who Elvis Presley really was. 

Elvis is on DVD and digital as of September 13th and is streaming on HBO Max as well.