'Elvis' review: The King is all shook up in gloriously messy biopic

With Elvis, now playing cinemas nationwide, director Baz Luhrmann and star Austin Butler have created something gloriously messy. – Photos: Warner Bros Malaysia

The brief life of Elvis Presley is not something that fits neatly into a conventional biopic formula, though many have tried. It was, perhaps, always going to take a director as wild and visionary as Baz Luhrmann to do something that evokes the essence of the King’s 42 years.

Luhrmann knows better than to adapt a Wikipedia page when it comes to a such a singular, larger-than-life star whose legend has only intensified and obscured almost a half a century after his death. Plus, he found a perfect star in Austin Butler, who fearlessly embodies the icon without ever slipping into impersonation.