Rocketman Review: 8 Ups & 2 Downs

2. It's R-Rated Without Being Gratuitous

Rocketman Taron Egerton Jamie Bell
Paramount Pictures

Fans breathed a sigh of relief when Rocketman was confirmed to have an R rating - or "15" in the UK - shortly before release, ensuring that it would be able to firmly embrace the sex, drugs and foul-mouthed mayhem of John's more chaotic, troubled years.

The comparison to Bohemian Rhapsody once again bears repeating: the Queen biopic was rated PG-13/12A and felt sorely neutered as a result, yet there's no feeling here that anything has been curtailed for concerns of audience accessibility.

Yet at the same time, Fletcher doesn't take the permissive rating as an excuse to festoon the screen with mounds of cocaine, nude bodies and liberal drops of the F-bomb - it is certainly a mature use of the rating in more ways than one.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.