Bohemian Rhapsody is a 2018 music biopic that chronicles the years leading up to Queen’s legendary appearance at the Live Aid (1985) concert.
Movies always seem to trend in waves. Following the success of IT and Halloween, horror reboots are all the rage right now with another Friday the 13th having been announced. With A Star is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman all opening within a year, will musicals/music biopics be the next big thing? Well, if A Star is Born started the trend, Bohemian Rhapsody may very well end it. While there isn’t a glaring gap in the film, director Bryan Singer seems to struggle giving his film an “it” factor, which is ironic considering it’s largely about one of the most flamboyantly iconic singers of all time. While it still has its moments during musical performances (and I undeniably caught myself tapping my foot a time or two), Bohemian Rhapsody feels forgettable in the end.
The movie kicks off by rushing through the backstory of how Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek), by a stroke of luck, teamed up with Brian May (Gwilym Lee), Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) and John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello) to form Queen. Following a successful run of playing at small venues and pubs, they put all their money together to record an album that turns into a hit. From here they continue to build success and go on tour, giving them the opportunity to go back to the recording studio where they create their smash hit, “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
After the enormous success of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Queen starts a global tour on their way to becoming one of the biggest bands of all time. However, there is trouble in paradise after Mercury comes out to his then wife and lifelong friend, Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton), as being gay. Once she is out of his life, he struggles from loneliness and substance abuse, leading to issues between him and the band. Every time it seems as though they may be on the verge of a split, they come up with another hit song and all is well.
The good times can only last for so long until Mercury finally decides to try his hand at two solo albums, abruptly leaving the rest of Queen high and dry. Following their rocky falling out, Mercury continues his downward spiral until a visit from Mary helps him get his life back in order. With the Live Aid benefit concert coming up, Mercury manages to make amends with his band, while also informing them that he has contracted AIDS. Despite this, they go on to have a killer show at the concert that is broadcast to over 1.5 billion people worldwide, cementing their legacy in music history.
Right from the start the pacing felt problematic. Everything was just rushing along so quickly, it was hard to ever truly get interested in any of the characters. There seem to have been two sides to the movie, the personal life of Mercury, and the rise of Queen as they develop their unique form of music. Either of these would be a perfect focal point of a movie, but smashing them together doesn’t allow either story to fully develop.
Some of the best parts of the movie came about when the audience gained insight into how they came up with this amazing music, but it all happens so fast that their process isn’t done justice. One of the other highlights of the film comes from seeing their famous performances reenacted. When “We Will Rock You” starts blasting I had to fight the urge to stomp and clap in my seat. Again, these felt underutilized. Instead of showing clips of their performances around the globe, we just hear the music playing as global locations pop up in neon lights.
Obviously, the performance of Malek has to be addressed, considering the life of Mercury is such a heavy focus in the film. Overall, I would assess Malek’s performance as pretty good. Mercury is a little before my time, so if I’m way off, by no means am I trying to slander him. The portrayal of Mercury was that of a man who felt alone in the world, and allowed people to use him and abused his body to fill a void. If that is indeed accurate, then Malek does an excellent job of portraying this dark struggle. Another part that Malek seemed to capture well was the movement of Mercury. Whether it was merely how he carried himself in a room or his presence on stage, Malek manages to keep all eyes on him with his every articulated move. Having said all this, I do have a few gripes. Regardless of how accurate the fake teeth Malek wore are, they looked utterly ridiculous. This isn’t a knock on Mercury, but it was hard to keep my eyes off them, which distracts from what is happening in the film. The other issue I took was that it was noticeably being dubbed. I don’t expect everyone to pull a Bradley Cooper and do their own singing (not to mention it would be virtually impossible to replicate Mercury’s unique voice), but how apparent it was made it hard to fully buy into Malek’s performance.
Following some well pieced together trailers with classic Queen hits playing in the backdrop, this movie was hard to not get excited for. While Malek certainly shined at times, the best performance in the film may have come from a nearly unrecognizable Mike Myers. Because Myers was in the film for mere minutes, this isn’t exactly a great sign. While this movie isn’t terrible by any stretch, it fails to live up to the hype that a legend like Queen deserves.