The new Elvis movie has arrived in theaters and it's coming out strong with its reviews, landing a fresh score at Rotten Tomatoes. When compiling the reviews of the review aggregator website's approved critics, Elvis currently sits with a fresh score of 78%. The audience score is quite a bit higher as it sits at 94%, a number that correlates with the recent A- grade bestowed to Elvis at CinemaScore.
"Austin Butler delivers a marvelous performance in this sparkling and extravagant spectacle about the life and career of the beloved King of Rock and Roll," writes Rene Sanchez of Cine Fin Fronteras in his review.
"Elvis is an irresistible sensation of music and style that serves as a flashy flick fit for a king," adds Film Inquiry's Mark McPherson. "The musical performances will obviously be a major draw but the stellar performances make it all the more intoxicating."
Some reviewers do have their qualms even if they largely enjoyed the film as a whole. Our own Julian Roman suggested that the focus was a bit too heavy on Col. Parker with not quite enough Elvis Presley.
"Luhrmann makes a mistake with Tom Hanks driving the story," Roman said. "Parker and Elvis are inexorably linked, but he's overrepresented here. I would have loved more of Elvis behind the facade. Instead, we see Elvis through Parker's eyes from start to finish. It's almost as if Luhrmann was afraid of giving Austin Butler narrative control... Tom Hanks will be divisive to audiences. He steals Austin Butler's thunder. No one wants to see a Col. Tom Parker movie."
The box office profits have been pretty kind to Elvis as well. The movie has performed higher than projections to debut with $30.5 million in domestic theaters. It managed to tie with Top Gun: Maverick to share the top spot at the box office.
Baz Luhrmann directed Elvis using a screenplay co-written with Jeremy Doner, Sam Bromell, and Craig Pearce. Starring Austin Butler as Elvis Presley and Tom Hanks as Col. Tom Parker, the film details the rise of Elvis through the eyes of his manager. Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Kodi Smit-McPhee also star.
Elvis Was Highly Praised by the Presley Family
No matter what the reviews at Rotten Tomatoes might say, Baz Luhrmann has already gotten glowing praise from the review that mattered most. Per Deadline, the director previously spoke about how the Presley family, including Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, and Riley Keough, had all loved the film. As someone who was married to knew the real Elvis perhaps better than anyone, Priscilla's praise of Elvis was the best review Luhrmann could have possibly gotten.
“No review would ever mean the most to us than the woman who was married to Elvis Presley," he said. "[She said], ‘I just wasn’t ready for that. Every breath about Austin, every move, the spirit of the person, the humanity. If my husband were here today he’d look him in the eye and say ‘How dare you? You are me.'”
Luhrmann added, “He was a father, he was a husband, and a grandfather and a person, and they have children. The greatest review I got from them in my life; now there’s something they can look to that is the truth of the humanity of the man.”
Elvis is now playing in movie theaters.