Elton John: Never Too Late | Disney+ Original Review
Way back in 2022, Disney announced it had made a deal with Elton John to livestream his final stop on his last-ever tour at the Dodger’s Stadium in Los Angeles on Disney+ and to create a documentary about his career.
Now, two years later, the documentary “Elton John: Never Too Late” is finally arriving on Disney+. It looks back at some of the biggest moments in his career and gives us a behind-the-scenes look at his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road.”
This documentary is basically split into two: one half shows some behind-the-scenes footage from Elton’s final tour, with him chatting with his band and family, while the other half takes a brief look at his childhood and how he managed to break into the music business.
While this is a documentary for Disney+, it doesn’t hold back from some of the significant issues Elton suffered throughout the years, including his abusive parents, dealing with his sexuality in the 1970s, along with his problems with drinks and drugs. Obviously, if this were an unofficial documentary, this would be an area that would be covered in much more depth, but I’m glad this documentary didn’t just gloss over it and move on. However, it should be noted that the documentary was co-directed by Elton’s husband, so it tends to show things in a positive light.
One issue I had with this documentary is how it glossed over his life between the 1980s and his final tour. It all felt a little rushed as so much time was dedicated to his rise to fame and the perils of becoming so famous. It was also a little odd how much time they dedicated to the friendship between Elton John and John Lennon, as we get to see some footage of John’s performance on the stage with Elton. It’s nice to see this footage, but it did seem a little unnecessary when you consider some of the other parts of his career that could have been covered, such as his friendship with Princess Diana or his work with Disney on “The Lion King”.
We got to see a weird scene involving Elton John recording his weekly podcast, which I wasn’t aware that he did and shows how much he loves showcasing new music to his audience, but once again, this segment seemed to go on a little too long and bordered on almost becoming an advert for his podcast.
In order to do his long career justice, this documentary should have either focused on the making of his final tour or been an extended series like “The Beatles: Get Back”, allowing for a better, more in-depth look at the different phases in his career.
I was interested in seeing this documentary since I was lucky enough to finally see Elton John live during one of his concerts on his final tour, so it did bring back plenty of memories of a fantastic night out and reminded me of why I wanted to go see, as his music is amazing and I’m so glad I’ve been able to see him perform.
The final scenes of his documentary are very emotional, as we see footage from the final minutes of his Dodgers stadium performance (you can find the whole concert on Disney+!). While Elton hasn’t retired, it’s nice to see him so happy after seeing how unhappy he was during the earlier days of his career.
Overall, “Elton John: Never Too Late” is a nice, easy-going documentary. However, trying to squeeze his entire career into under two hours resulted in many major moments being skipped. I really enjoyed watching it and would easily recommend it to any fan of Elton John, it’s just a shame that too much time was wasted on some stories that didn’t justify the time.
Rating: 4 Out Of 5
“Elton John: Never Too Late” is coming to Disney+ on Friday 13th December 2024.
Roger Palmer
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