LOS ANGELES—Feeling that the scene wasn’t completely necessary to tell the famed musician’s life story, viewers of the Elton John biopic Rocketman told reporters Thursday they were not entirely convinced the film needed to include a 45-minute scene depicting Princess Diana’s death. “I understand she was a close friend of Elton John and that it was a pivotal moment in his life and career, but to devote that much screen time to a graphic, slow-motion recreation of the car wreck that killed Lady Di seems a little over-the-top,” said local moviegoer Liam Mazolla, who observed that the filmmakers didn’t even include John’s chart-topping Diana tribute “Candle In The Wind 1997” in the sequence, but instead drown out all sound with a high-pitched ringing noise as the automobile accident unfolded. “One moment, you’re watching Elton in the studio cutting ‘Crocodile Rock,’ and the next, it smash-cuts to that fateful car chase 25 years later. It definitely takes some liberties when it shows him arriving at the scene and playing a grand piano on the back of a flatbed truck as the rescue crews get to work. The costumes were great, though.” Viewers also expressed bafflement at the decision to roll the film’s credits over Diana’s funeral procession, complete footage of which continues for five hours before fading to black.

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