Elsewhere it's song and dance, drink and drugs, important elements of any music biopic, especially Elton John's. Through these scenes, Egerton's steely, soulful performance — especially when he's in a haze of pills at an extravagant mansion party — captures the frustration, longing and despair in Elton John's soul, as well as his ability to light up on cue when he needs to be in rock star mode. The easy thing to do is hone an impression, but Egerton digs in deeper and finds the man inside the costume.
Adam Graham, The Detroit News
It helps that Egerton so masterfully rises to the challenge of inhabiting the role in ways that go beyond a certain more-than-passing physical resemblance to the man (although that clearly doesn't hurt) or the fact that he does his own singing and handles the choreography with ease. He's got his mannerisms down and really throws himself into the more flamboyant side of John's onstage persona. But perhaps more to the point, he conveys the emotional essence of the moment, whether that calls more for petulant pouting and throwing of fits or something far more devastating.
Ed Masley, Arizona Central
Egerton, with what can only be called flamboyant understatement — and also, I suppose, understated flamboyance — in effect plays both the Lady Gaga and the Bradley Cooper parts in a fresh iteration of “A Star Is Born.” His Elton is the hard-living road warrior and the preternaturally gifted ingénue, the sacrificial hero and the plucky survivor, the rock god and the camp icon. The actor delivers a tour de force of self-effacement, a bravura demonstration of borrowed charisma.
A.O. Scott, New York Times
If Rami Malek’s Freddie Mercury was good enough for an Academy Award, then Egerton might as well get an Oscar and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. He deftly handles Elton’s roller-coaster feelings, flipping from seething fury to wide-eyed happiness when he walks on a stage. And there are no lip-synced notes here: Egerton not only sings all of John’s most famous tunes but also makes them his own, at least for two hours.
Brian Truitt, USA Today
But it's Taron Egerton as Elton John who carries and sells the film — often backwards and in platform heels. Wild as it may sound to approach such a mercurial and marvelous character with beautiful restraint, Egerton's performance is meticulously calibrated — the vulnerability, the playfulness, the towering ego of the genius and the agony of the moments when his lifelong battles with rejection and shame get the better of him, it's all there.
Erin Keane, Salon
Egerton is commanding throughout. His performance is truly a marvel.
Soren Andersen, Seattle Times
