Das Rohr

Elvis review: 'A hyperactive sensory overload'
Tom Hanks and Austin Butler star in Baz Luhrmann's new biopic of the iconic singer, which is "terrifically fun" at times, but too careful overall, writes Nicholas Barber.
I
If you're looking for a sensitive and thoughtful biopic of Elvis Presley, you came to the wrong place. If you're looking for a hyperactive sensory overload, then you came to the right one, because Elvis is directed and co-written by Baz Luhrmann, and you can tell within seconds that the maker of Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, and Moulin Rouge! is taking care of business.

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And I do mean "within seconds". Even the Warner Bros logo is bejewelled and gilded, and the opening scenes that follow are a riot of captions and split screens, soundtracked not just by rock'n'roll but classical pomp and deafening hip-hop. What's even loopier is that the film is narrated by Presley's conniving manager, Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, a Dutch carnival impresario straight out of Nightmare Alley who awarded himself the name and rank of Colonel Tom Parker when he sneaked into the US. Parker is played by Tom Hanks with a fat suit, a long false nose, rubbery prosthetic jowls, and a high, squawking, vaguely European voice. Imagine a fairy-tale goblin played by Mike Myers, or a version of the Penguin that Tim Burton deemed too far over the top for Batman Returns.