Review of Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) by Margaret S — 12 Nov 2018

Bohemian Rhapsody is not a bad film but it's certainly not a good one. It's a disappointing film that plays it safe much to its detriment. The story of seventies mega group Queen is loud and splashy but somehow feels very flat.

I think this is due to a poor script and uninspired direction. Apparently the original idea was for an account of the band that was truthful and unsanitised. But instead we received a film with all the rough edges sanded off.

The film basically covers ground from the early 70s when the band was first formed to their triumphant showing at Live Aid in 1985. This is probably the best part of the film. A huge crowd filled Wembley to the brim and the scenes are captured with great excitement.

Rami Malek is superb as the charismatic front man Freddie Mercury. I thought he captured the spirit of Freddie incredibly well. But the rest of the acting is rather over played, bedded down by a script that trades on cliches.

We do see somewhat of a picture of the story of Mercury, his strict upbringing and his battle with his sexuality. I just thought it could have been handled with more depth and truth. There are also a few music scenes that show the development of songs but even these don't feel inspired.

The worst aspect of the film though is the distortion of truth. Two scenes in particular. Mercury telling the band before Live Aid that he had AIDS and also that Mercury had left the band to pursue a solo career.

Both of these are blatant untruths, inserted to create some sort of false drama. I do realise biopics aren't documentaries but none of this seemed necessary. If you like Queen you will still probably enjoy this film for the music and laughs but for me it could have all been so much better.

If you want to check out a great film about a tragic rock figure perhaps seek out Control, the story of Joy Division.