BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (2018) - Safe and filtered

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Bohemian Rhapsody is a 2018 musical biopic directed by Bryan Singer (and in part by Dexter Fletcher), starring Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello, Lucy Boynton, and Allen Leech. The film follows Freddie Mercury's life from the formation of the British rock band Queen in 1970 to their famous Live Aid performance in 1985. The film is not a completely faithful retelling of Mercury's life, with several changes made to better fit a film narrative.


I think this is a good movie for anyone who is interested in Freddie Mercury's life being told (and edited) to fit a nice two-hour runtime. And sure that sounds obvious, so let me explain what I mean by that. If you're looking for a great, enjoyable movie centering on the struggles of the life of a musical genius, there are probably better movies out there. If you're looking for a really accurate documentary about Freddie Mercury's life that isn't afraid to go deep into his psychology, drug use, sexuality, and sexual life, this movie ain't it. Bohemian Rhapsody is a good jack of both trades; it's a good enough telling of a real man's life that is edited and adjusted to fit a two-hour movie. 

And that's really all there is to this movie. And that's not really a bad thing.

I'm fine with sacrificing historical accuracy if it means a better story. For instance, the scene where Freddie Mercury first meets his future boyfriend/life partner Jim Hutton is totally inaccurate, but it's one of the best scenes in the movie because it's pretty much the first time in the whole movie--arguably in Mercury's entire life--that he's met someone who is willing to be authentic and personal with him. I wish there were more moments like that, but the limitations of Freddie's actual life prevented more of that.

Easily the shining gem of Bohemian Rhapsody is Rami Malek's performance as Freddie Mercury. I don't know what Rami Malek's personality is like in real life, but he so perfectly captures Mercury's eccentricity and social ineptitude to a tee. He is weird and eccentric and so, so flamboyant, a great reflection of the real life Freddie Mercury. On stage however, Malek perfectly captures Freddie Mercury's essence and stage presence so well that I felt like I was in an actual Queen concert. If there is any reason to watch this movie, it's to watch Rami Malek's excellent performance.

Other than Malek, the other actors do a fine job with what they're given, but the movie honestly rarely focuses on anyone else other than Malek. Everyone else feels like set dressing for Malek/Mercury, like these are the people in his life so we have to have them on there. Most of the time this works fine, but I do think it's a shame we don't really get to know any of the other Queen members considering they're supposed to be Freddie Mercury's "family". I walked out of the movie not even knowing any of their names, so that's a bit of a bummer.

The musical performances, as I've said above, are the second best thing about the movie. The on-stage performances are fantastic, and the movie takes liberal use of Queen's real soundtracks for the movie. Most of their most popular songs are used in the movie at one point or the other (Somebody to Love, Killer Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, Don't Stop Me Now, Another One Bites the Dust, We Will Rock You, We are the Champions, the gang's all here), and while there is technically a musical score composed by John Ottoman, it must have been really subtle or nonexistent because most of the OST is just renditions or melodies taken from Queen's songs.

Final Verdict

Bohemian Rhapsody is a fine movie, but not a must-see unless you're interested in Freddie Mercury's life (and aren't bothered by historical inaccuracies). The movie overall plays things very safe, only brushing over Mercury's drug use and sexual life, and his life with AIDS is mentioned but not really relevant. It's an enjoyable watch, especially with Rami Malek's stellar performance, but you probably could wait until it's on Netflix or something.

Score: B-


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