Review of Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) by David O — 11 Nov 2018

Should you see Bohemian Rhapsody? Yes. Does that means it's an amazing movie? Not so much. This Queen/ Freddie Mercury movie does what the band sets out to do, which is make a film that encompasses the entire journey but still telling Mercury's story.

Unfortunately, in trying to cover so many bases, the film (especially at the beginning) ploughs through the key events of the band, which results in some gimmicky and cheesy moments. The strength of the film comes in the latter half where the film decides to slow down and focus on Mercury's life but does highlight and make transparent the behind the scenes drama of the different directions the movie could take.

At many times the film feels like it's simply re-staging events, without doing so in a natural or emotional way, leading to the titled "Bohemian Rhapsody" or other song "We Will Rock You" to be dropped in the film for fun and information, despite the rest of the film focusing on Mercury's troubled personal life.

For casual movie goers, this shouldn't be as big a problem and why it is still important to see the film if nothing else than for the music and lead performance. Rami Malek gives a great interpretation of Mercury, portraying his trademark peculiarity and energy, while the other actors also look and act as the real band members.

If you are looking for a more in depth look at the journey of Queen or Mercury's varied lifestyle, then I'm sure there's plenty of documentaries that will inform you. But for feeling the spirit and energy of Queen then this is a great time, encapsulated by the live aid performance the film sets itself around.

It may not be the emotional character study we in some ways want or expect but does become a checklist for Queen fans, which can enjoyable but also detrimental to the film, especially when it lacks a single direction/ director for the biopic.