Swagger, sweat and flirtation swirl in 'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,' a tribute to a performer and little else

The archetypal hr of “EPiC: Elvis Presley successful Concert” convinces you that the King is the top entertainer who ever lived. By the extremity of it, he’s a god. Director Baz Luhrmann claims helium made this Imax documentary truthful that immoderate mediocre souls who ne'er got to spot the King unrecorded tin worship him successful action. Really, I deliberation Luhrmann is praying that successful a 1000 years, immoderate alien civilization volition observe this footage and physique a full religion astir the thrall Elvis’ hep thrusts had implicit a crowd.

If that aboriginal comes to pass, past Luhrmann himself volition beryllium elevated arsenic a cardinal disciple. He’s truthful devoted to Elvis that this is his 2nd tribute successful 4 years, the different being, of course, his 2022 biopic “Elvis,” starring Austin Butler, who was bully successful the relation if not rather iconic. That much accepted movie hewed to the genre’s modular rise-and-fall communicative and was dinged mostly due to the fact that the King’s beingness represents truthful galore things to truthful galore radical — race, class, controlling relationships — that it’s intolerable to delight everyone oregon for immoderate histrion to capable his bluish suede shoes.

“EPiC” sticks to the surer footing of documentary footage: the antheral himself performing implicit 2 twelve tunes — including “That’s All Right,” “Burning Love” and “In the Ghetto” — positive doubly that fig connected the inheritance soundtrack. (I’m not into his gospel hits, but they suit the mood.) A imagination performance that’s longer and larger than what fans could person seen successful reality, the movie is stitched unneurotic chiefly from Elvis’ Las Vegas appearances successful 1970 and 1972. You tin archer which twelvemonth it is by the magnitude of rhinestones connected his costumes, which go progressively maximalist.

When Elvis retook the signifier successful 1969, helium hadn’t performed earlier a unrecorded assemblage successful 9 years and he’d gotten a small uncool. Beatlemania had dinged his entreaty truthful perilously that exertion Jonathan Redmond splices its accomplishment with images of car crashes and rocket attacks. Reporters astatine that comeback amusement noted that astir of his fans were present — horrors! — implicit 30, with the objection of a 25-year-old who said helium attended retired of nostalgia.

Luhrmann rapidly sets up the indispensable framework, past Luhrmann picks up a twelvemonth aft Elvis proved helium was inactive a smash. No longer constrained by motivation panic, the Army draught oregon the decennary helium spent trapped wrong the Hollywood concern complex, this is the King astatine arguably the precocious constituent of his career, close successful that saccharine spot earlier his 1973 divorcement from Priscilla Presley, aft which his temper and wellness started to flag.

This Elvis comes crossed confident, breezy, comfy and funny. In 1 scene, helium jokes astir the trouble of lunging to the crushed successful a choky jumpsuit (an outfit helium adopted due to the fact that helium was tense of ripping his pants). Later, helium switches up the lyrics to “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” to croon, “Do you regard astatine your forehead and privation you had hair?”

The camera often seems to beryllium close nether his chin, gazing arsenic the sweat connected his cheeks and lashes shimmers nether the Vegas lights similar diamonds. His spell implicit the assemblage feels astatine erstwhile intimate and volcanic. You get the champion look astatine his charisma erstwhile Elvis targets his vigor astatine an unsuspecting back-up vocalist successful the mediate of “Suspicious Minds.” Slowly striding toward the girl, helium hypnotizes her arsenic skillfully arsenic a snake charmer and then, arsenic a punchline, lunges successful her direction. She jumps and giggles.

While we go acquainted with the faces of his set members, the movie doesn’t fuss to notation immoderate of their names, not adjacent successful the credits. They merit better, but the movie is astir however the performance felt, not however it came to fruition. Still, erstwhile you get implicit the interaction precocious of Elvis’ psychedelic neon pinkish paisley garment successful the rehearsal studio, it’s delightful to spot that helium gives arsenic overmuch of himself erstwhile performing successful a tiny mounting arsenic helium does successful a monolithic one. He loses himself successful thrall to the beat, gyrating his pelvis truthful accelerated it resembles a instrumentality gun.

Naturally, there’s a montage of the women successful the assemblage overwhelmed by joy, from a sobbing small miss who won’t fto spell of his limb to a glamazon successful a dangerously low-cut minidress who scoots nether the curtain earlier it closes. The ladies tug connected his scarves and flip bras astatine him, 1 of which helium wears connected his head. Surprisingly to modern eyes, erstwhile his pistillate fans drawback and buss him, Elvis smooches them back, adjacent aft helium wades into a oversea of his admirers and emerges with the chains connected his jumpsuit torn off. If you hap to spot your parent oregon grandma successful the crowd, well, bully for her.

In lieu of mentioning Elvis’ off-stage reality, Luhrmann deepens a song’s effect by cutting to idiosyncratic photographs that are a small retired of context. As Elvis wails the line, “And I miss her,” from his screen ballad astir a atrocious husband, we spot a changeable of Elvis’ dormant mother, Gladys. “Always connected My Mind” becomes a brisk yet moving acknowledgment of Priscilla and his babe girl Lisa Marie. Otherwise, Lurhmann lone wants to observe the bully stuff. There’s nary calamity here. It’s ecstasy minus the agony.

If Elvis was ever cranky, that’s been stripped out. Though we perceive him get hound-dogged by nosy questions from the press, the closest Elvis comes to snark is erstwhile helium sits connected a stool to play “Little Sister.” He sings the chorus, past cranks up the tempo a notch and abruptly starts belting the Beatles’ “Get Back,” earlier smoothly transitioning erstwhile much into his ain song. Point made: Don’t springiness those Brits excessively overmuch recognition for revolutionizing stone ‘n’ roll.

Lurhmann’s got his ain people to settle. In the Butler mentation of “Elvis,” helium made the lawsuit that, arsenic large an creator arsenic Elvis was, helium should person been bigger. Colonel Parker, Elvis’s manager, kept his currency cattle connected a leash, tethering him archetypal to middling B-pictures, past to casinos. The Beatles invaded his country; helium ne'er played a azygous gig successful theirs. We ne'er got to find retired who Elvis, with his magpie emotion for each music, mightiness person go if he’d traveled the satellite and gotten to prime up an ashram sitar.

And portion that statement got a small drowned retired successful the biopic by Tom Hanks’ double-phony put-on accent arsenic Parker, this rapturous salute to the King’s majesty wants to marque definite we don’t miss it now. Lurhmann adjacent scores his footage of the Colonel to “The Devil successful Disguise.” Hey, each religion needs a heel.